Indian Demo-Crazy: The Woes of a Citizen

The former president of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln, defined a democratic government as "a government of the people, for the people and by the people". But poor Lincoln must be turning in his grave on seeing how our Indian politicians have redefined democracy. In the Indian context, the word democracy is defined as "a form of government that puts off the people, is far away from the people and bids goodbye to the people". A stable government is a rarity these days. India is the world's largest democracy (or should I say 'demo-crazy'?)

Even the elections held in the month of April 2004 threw up an unexpected surprise. The Divided Regressive Split government, which was misleadingly named the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), came to power at the Centre, led by a brilliant and refreshingly honest 'Man'. But alas, after one year in power, the economist who became India's prime minister now seems like a puppet in the hands of a foreigner. It is a great excuse for the opposition leaders to raise the issue of the foreign hand in Parliament. This foreign hand, as long as it continues to hold the PM's reins, will ensure that the government will always be 'Sonia' to the targets it has to achieve, yet it will always remain far away from achieving them.

An Indian politician has for long been perceived as a corrupt unscrupulous person without either morals or remorse. Parliament has become a safe haven for such (La)loose characters, who are involved in so many scams that it has almost become a part of their resumes. For instance, it is 'fodder' for thought that the former chief mnister of Bihar, who later had his wife, a mother of nine, sworn in for the coveted post, eventually became the Union Minister for Railways in the present government. The question is: who gave the dishonourable minister the green signal to take the hapless Indian citizens for a (train) ride? And the lady who was once in power in Patna-well, her name sounds like that of a popular dessert, but the experience in the state of Bihar during the couple's tenure has been bitter. But as the man himself would quip, "Kaa karen, aur kounu chaara hi nahin hai na?"

On the other hand, we also have a contrasting image of the leaders who are as spotless as their crisp white dhoti-kurtas. But they are, sadly but truly, a rare and almost extinct breed now. One such shining example is our brilliant finance minister. He is the onl person in the entire cbinet with some credibility and who is worthy of being called an honourable minister. Mr. P. Chidambaram is a veteran and has held the finance minister's portfolio in the past as well. But the pressure is on him to prove himself as the only squeaky-clean leader amongst the ruffians in the political wrestling ring. He has to use his intelligence to bring India out of its long-standing fiscal deficit. He also has to work in tandem with the prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Sngh (himself a noted economist) and also, of course, with the real P.M., Madam Sonia Gandhi, whose Italian origin will continue to be the bone of contention for the leaders of the opposition parties.

I hope the current governemt, unlike some of its predecessors, remains 'Atal' and does not end up becoming a victim of its own (Ad)vanities. But for now, all I can say is Indian politics will be able to see the (Thacke)ray of light at the end of the tunnel only when our netas in Delhi, irrespective of whether they belong to the ruling party and the opposition, stop chatter(jee)ing when (Lok Sabha Speaker) Somnath is in his chair.