Perspective of Indias Elections

KOLKATA ― The absence of a political wave in favor of any particular party or group in the run-up to the Indian general election scheduled for April-May 2009 is indeed baffling.

By Seema Sengupta

KOLKATA ― The absence of a political wave in favor of any particular party or group in the run-up to the Indian general election scheduled for April-May 2009 is indeed baffling.

While analysts predict a fractured mandate that might alter India's post-poll political geography drastically, the parties are braced for yet another round of horse-trading to cobble together a ragtag coalition government.

Frustrated at the ongoing rat race among political heavyweights to position themselves as viable prime ministerial aspirants, a large chunk of the Indian electorate is gradually turning languid.

It is indeed frightening that voters in the world's largest democracy have started treating the political class with utter contempt. Perhaps the only way out of this mess is the restoration of strong single-party governance in India.

Though political pluralism might seem to be a natural phenomenon in a huge democracy like India, uncontrolled proliferation of political outfits damages the country's democratic plinth.

A rainbow coalition consisting of political parties promoting personal agendas is also detrimental to India's ambition of becoming a global economic and political powerhouse.

When gaining access to public office at any cost remains an end in itself for political personalities, it is natural that there will be multiplicity of parties resulting in frequent rearrangement of political equations.

This is precisely the reason why the last general election in India saw a whopping 230 parties in the fray and the number is going to be no less this time around.

With Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the two main pan-India political parties of national importance, losing their influence, the communists are trying to creep into the vacuum, riding an illusionary third alternative bogie.

To achieve this objective, the leftist forces, in unison with their right wing political adversaries, have initiated a surreptitious campaign against the Congress leadership.

They have lent their voice to the BJP demand for retrieving black money stashed in foreign banks abroad, thus shrewdly reviving the ghost of the Bofors gun scam.

It appears, the immediate strategy is to counter Rahul Gandhi's calculated and impending ascendancy to the throne by subtly using the internal Gandhi family feud and propping up the specter of defense kickbacks preceding the elections.

After all, the grand communist design is to establish a modified version of unitary socialism in India, having mastered the art of decimating administrative neutrality in the name of the proletariat.

To fulfill this aspiration they have no qualms about courting opportunistic and blatantly communal elements. Meanwhile, in a major development that can radically alter the political dynamics in India, the 350-million-strong middle class is trying to empower itself politically after a long spell of inertness.

This has resulted in a number of qualified professionals and social activists entering the electoral ring with the sole aim of transforming an ailing political system.

The intentional sluggishness of this stratum of Indian society in contributing toward achieving a transparent and accountable system of governance has encouraged a breed of tainted and wheeler-dealer type politicians to rule the roost.

Moreover, the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai exposed India's immaturity in crisis management and the apathy of the political class in dealing with such issues head on. While, the terrorists went on knocking down people at the roadside, in bars and restaurants, railway platforms and hospitals, the corrupt system failed to respond.

The educated elite was virtually jerked into the harrowing realization of how insecure this nation has become overnight in order for them to live a peaceful and prosperous life.

This apprehension prompted personalities like noted danseuse Mallika Sarabhai and CEO of ABN AMRO Bank Meera Sanyal to contest the upcoming polls.

By displaying such grit to confront the political decay, these representatives of the Indian middle class have at least refused to be taken for a ride by the power-hungry politicians.

They have taken the plunge into the electoral battlefield with the determination to bring about a qualitative transformation of the Indian political system and prevent unscrupulous forces from hijacking the political agenda.

This is also a war against those power brokers who treat the minority and underprivileged sections as a captive vote-bank and manipulate them into casting their mandate en-bloc, contrary to democratic ethics.

The fight to eradicate the existing vested interest of marginalizing and excluding the educated middle class from the electoral process, in spite of it representing 30 percent of India's total population, is gradually gaining momentum.

The desire for achieving an efficient and clean system of governance has reached such an enormous extent that Indian industry-sponsored audio-visual advertisements are almost teasing the public to go out and vote for honest public representatives.

Finally, as educated Indians desert their favorite version of armchair politics to introduce a fresh visionary political concept, it is surely a wake-up call for the busy bodies engrossed in extracting benefits from an ailing system.

Seema Sengupta is a journalist based in Kolkata, India. Her articles have been published by The Tribune, The Telegraph, The Pioneer, The Asian Age and other newspapers. She can be reached at seemasengupta@vsnl.net.