Democracy is Sweet & Sour

“A functioning, robust democracy requires a healthy, educated, participatory followership, and an educated, morally grounded leadership.”

The recently concluded polls in the state of Karnataka and the by-polls and municipal polls concluded in different parts of the country speak of a more robust and vibrant democracy today than few decades ago. This election had something sweet and something sour for almost every political party in the fray. This ‘sweet & sour’ nature of the electoral mandate is something that makes a democracy. From a general voters’ point of view almost every Indian is a politician in his her own way. The knowledge of rajneeti and raj-dharma is something that is in genes of every Indian. Irrespective of the caste, creed, religion, socio-economic status and other criteria every citizen has his own small or big observation of the political situation of the country. The existence of every such ideology is something that makes a democracy democracy. The recently concluded elections have to my understanding laid out some very clear messages to our practicing politicians;

The election campaigns have become a high voltage affair, while the quality of speeches being made by the leaders have become mediocre the level of intolerance amongst the workers is a matter of concern from the law & order point of view. The big constitutional offices like that of the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition are stooping down to very disgraceful levels in the heat of the elections which is not healthy for any democracy. The election managers must understand that the era of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Jawaharlal Nehru and Jyoti Basu,Laloo Prasad Yadhav are gone, they were leaders with strong oratory skills that had the power to change the mood of the nation. Prime Minister Modi is a good speaker but the substance of his speech especially during the elections is not very moving, unlike Vajpayee or Pramod Mahajan. Rahul Gandhi is no way even 1/10th of his grandmother and great-father when it comes to public speaking, additionally the arrogance in which he deals every people near him as a subject of his royal affairs is something that makes him India’s most ineligible national leader.

With this background let us understand the result of the present election: when the leaders lacked substance in their speeches there is an obvious shift to the ground reality. The obvious shift reflects the people’s opinion on the incumbent government, its governance and the future needs of the people. In this election there were two distinct results- 1.Karnataka: challenger( Congress) shattered the Incumber( BJP) breaking every permutation combination. 2. Uttar Pradesh Local Body: the incumbent ( BJP) bulldozed the challengers( SP-BSP-Cong) squarely to ground zero.

Anyone with a little understanding of politics can well understand that people’s mandate is now work oriented, not talk oriented. The same Priyanka Gandhi who is being credited for Karnataka and Himachal was actually incharge of Uttar Pradesh and the result we all know. Narendra Modi was a face in Karnataka as well as UP, the result is again not the same. So our national leaders need to take home some messages: firstly they need to respect regional aspirations and regional leaderships- minus the likes of D K Shivkumar congress would have never been able to pull up the stellar performance, which for BJP was missing with the absence of Yeddiyurappa. Secondly the leaders should appreciate the local problems and speak of the specific problems in the specific elections- Modi bringing in issues of Bajarangbali against the Congress’ issues of gas and petrol was a failure. Thirldly when you have done work on ground your confident body language is attested by the public support- the charisma with which Yogi Adityanath clean swiped the local body polls is an attestation of his good work especially in law & order. Fourthly right selection of candidates at the right time. Lastly the regional leaders and parties reach to the general people should not be neglected- Naveen Pattanaik’s BJD wins election after election in a state like Odisha not because the people don’t bother about national politics but because the people clearly know whom they want in Delhi and whom in Bhubaneswar

Thus this election of May2023 may not be referendum for what will happen in May 2024 but this will certainly work as a eye opener and eye catcher for different peoples and different parties. No one in democracy can have all the sweetness or all the sourness, democracy is always ‘sweet & sour’