sharad.gopal

The Indian elections are well on their way with four phases already over and as I write this only the fifth phase of the election remains. The 13th of May  will be this last day. The results will come out shortly afterwards, on the 16th, and it looks like it will be followed by a chaotic buying and selling spree of  candidates, by the leading political alliances so that they can reach the magic figure of 270. I say this not because I am an insider or a veteran of the Indian  Political Drama, but because even without looking at the million or so analyses by various entities, I know that no single party will get a clear majority.  That because, the leaders more often than not, fail to deliver their promises and the good deed of one candidate is undone by the hundred or so criminal  candidates

The main contenders to form the next Government are: the ruling coalition, known as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), and its main challenger,  another patchwork of multiple parties, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). Each alliance is led by one major party – the Congress in the case of the UPA, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the case of the NDA. Both are “national” parties, with a presence in most parts of India. However, there will be dozens of lesser parties in the fray, each seeking to represent a particular state, region or caste group. Over 700 million Indians will be eligible to vote. Perhaps 400 million will actually exercise their franchise, making this the greatest exercise of the democratic will anywhere and at any time in human history.

Democracy in India has more or less been a failure, speaking in general terms. Of course, a small pocket of the Indian population has experienced a rise in living standards, there’s been a huge boost in foreign exchange reserves in recent years, but the overwhelming majority of the Indian voting demographic is composed of labourers, villagers and agricultural communities.

Ultimately, the voting population relies on promises of development by candidates when casting the ballot, and when those voted in to power channel expenditure into building up their personal security and supporting foreign investors (mostly for selfish reasons) rather than increasing wages, mechanizing farming and construction, distributing security forces in public places and empowering indigenous industries, the only bracket of the Indian population that ‘shines’ is the one that’s less than 1/4th of India’s total population.

India has become a standing monument of corruption and inefficiency. As recent as last year, the  Corrupt Indians have stowed away astounding $1.5 trillion of their ill gotten gains in the vaults of Swiss banks, an amount which could wipe out US treasury deficit.

More than 300 millions Indians are poor and do not enjoy the same rights and privileges of their counterparts. Even 60 years after independence, the Government by the people has failed to do much for the people.

Politics in rural India is associated with raw power, if I may take the liberty of saying so. It is also a means to overcome extreme poverty. Don’t get me wrong here, India does have politicians that are do gooders and who not only lift themselves but their entire constituencies out of poverty, but they are as rare as blue diamonds.

The other politicians are in there for the power that comes with being an elected member of the House of Representatives. It has authority attached to it, which these morally corrupt people use to ask for bribes and do favors for the influential people who can in turn help them later on.

Then there are the other kind, the actors.turned.politian. Mr. X was an actor and now since he doesn’t get offered anymore roles, because he is older or because there are better actors, chooses to cash in on the fame of a bygone era to enter the Lok Sabha. PERIOD. Most of these people do not take the initiative to bring about any positive change in the lives of the ‘other Indians’; nor do most of these people attend a lot of the meetings of the Lok Sabha.

Other than these, there are tons of reasons as to why the Indian political machinery is flawed, but then no one is perfect, and I am not really here to complain, and ask for quick fixes or sympathy for my country.

The writer thinks the most lasting and viable solution to this problem is the search for good leaders and their election into the House of Representatives. And not just a hand-few because even though these will make a positive difference, their impact will be drowned by the criminal activity and acts of disgust by the ‘other politicians’. India needs a 100 Obama’s to make India come close to perfection.

Also, good leaders can not do too much good, unless governance itself becomes more transparent and accountable, because even if India does collect a chunk of good politicians to represent herself, India will continue to be plagued by corruption and inefficiency of a scale unacceptable in a modern state presuming to speak for and serve the people.