Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Political Imbroglio in 1999

The political scenario of the year 1999 could be easily adjudged as the worst possible existing since 1947. What we see is the net result of a continuous degeneration of the politicians and political parties. The mushroom growth of political parties each one with its individual agenda and its own partisan ideologies has added to the already political chaos on the central scene in 1999.
We know that, in the year 1999 till now the government was of the BJP and its allies, and the Congress and other parties were in the Opposition. Now, the obvious question that arises in the mind of any literate Indian is, why was it felt necessary to remove the Government. Why was the Vajpayee Government toppled when, it was in no way worse than any Government that held the reins since 1947. Why did, a State party that allied with the Government withdraw its support? Besides all this on the government side, the question that arises is that, why did all the other parties that were in the opposition concentrate all their efforts and fullest attention on the programme of toppling the Government? Above all, when the Opposition felt a desperate need for a change in the Government, why was there no alternative made before the fall of the Government, was manipulated? Above all, when all the parties on the Opposition held together tilt the Government, why did they break apart after the fall? What happened to make these parties fall apart? All these steps that were undertaken by the parties in the Opposition very clearly indicate how much our politicians are genuinely looking after, or are even interested in looking after the interests of this poor country that India is. They do not seem to realize that, a poor country like India can ill afford the hobby of annual elections. However, the caretakers of the country do not seem to feel any remorse at what they have done, and continue to do. Instead of at least, verbally repenting for what has been done we see each day each party only blaming the others for the dilemma, as if that sorts out all the problem.
The situation as it stood in March 1999 was that, the Vajpayee Government was starting stabilizing itself, and getting applauses for its multi-dimensional achievements and its policies, and this the Opposition could not just quietly swallow. Some political mischief makers started playing up the sentiments of possible changes and lo ‘and behold’ the desires of latent leaders took the clues and started the imbroglio plans, with dreams of high chairs in the offing. This saw the getting together of all the parties in the Opposition joining hands to dislodge the existing Government. They went to the extent of even saying that, Mr. Vajpayee must go, and “within the next one minute”, a Government will be in position. With this sort of comments it is not difficult to understand the logic behind the activities of the Opposition. They just could not bear to see the Government to stabilize as they were not used to staying without power. As far as the Opposition parties were concerned all of them had their own designs, aims and objectives in maneuvering the ouster of the Government and as soon as Mr. Vajpayee was out there was a list of contenders for the chair of the Prime Minister. What does this show? Is it not the hope of putting their own man on the chair of Prime Minister that prompted all of them to oust the legitimately elected Government? Finally on this point only they broke as, the Congress nominee was not acceptable to all. This so very clearly indicates that, the chair of the Prime Minister was the only concern of all and sundry and the country of course the concern of none.
It is so obvious that, if the Vajpayee Government was really doing so badly and did deserve to be throughout then, the Opposition parties should have fixed up an alternative before throwing out the Government. For a simple example, all of us want to continue to improve our careers but, we do not leave a job before getting a new one and that also better than the one in hand. However, this basic theory defies the understanding of our great politicians. They did not seem to realize that, a country cannot remain without a Government so, if they really wanted to do good for the country, they should have at least made a shadow Parliament and a shadow Government – no, but this was not found to be necessary by the opposition as, their sole purpose was to destroy rather than to make. Their purpose was not to give good governance to the country which they say that the Vajpayee Government was not giving, but, their only objective was to undo what was being done. They had no imagination of what they would plan for the future. Their eyes were just pinned on a simple destruction project.
In India after independence, Governments have come and gone but, the Vajpayee Government has set a record even in its losing the confidence vote as, it lost by just one vote, which in turn indicates that the opponents all together even were not enough to give a thumping defeat to the Government, by a large margin of votes.
Is this not enough indication that, the Vajpayee Government was not bad enough for the country to have to indulge in the very expensive hobby of annual elections. If it was not bad enough or unstable enough to be dropped at the ‘drop of a hat, is it not clear that the Opposition parties had some ulterior motives in the enacting of this big drama., which has to cost the Exchequer thousands of crores. This once again confirms to us the very callous attitudes of the modern politicians. They have already drained the Central and State Exchequers by their corrupt practices and their show of status and now their attitude towards the expenditure to be incurred in the elections. This is just another blow on the financial bankruptcy of the Indian Government’s Exchequer. With all this happening in the country and the country being in the hands of such vultures who only look for prey to kill and eat, then what can be the fate of the poor Indian people. It is only the bad luck of the Indian people that they have after 1947 never got a good and stable leadership.
Now this talk of leadership will lead us on to the stable Governments the Congress proudly professes to have given to India in the last fifty years. Yes, we must admit that they have given India a Government throughout but, has it been the party’s rule or a single family rule. I say no other party has such an extreme bankruptcy of leadership like the so called century old Congress. In a century or more of existence, it has not been able to produce a single leader.
All leaders of the party and the Prime Ministers of which the Congress boasts, got the chair of the PM on a platter as a reward for their birth in a family. Now where has the party given stability, yes it may be said that a single family has given a forced stability. Now, this is the last straw on the camel’s back that now a novice and a Roman born has been elected the President of the erstwhile party the Congress, and now in 1999 the so called age old party is presenting to India a gift of a Roman born Prime Minister. How great I’d say is the magnanimity of the Congress that they do not mind a foreigner to rule them. Besides being a foreigner, what has this foreigner done for India except moving about with her Prime Minister husband? I do wonder if this could be classified by the Congress as a sufficient reason for becoming the Prime Minister of the biggest democracy of the world?
At this juncture I would like to point out that, no country in the world yes, no country would ever allow a foreigner to become the head of the state. It is only we poor Indians who could allow such pranks to take the country for a ride. To add to this, the common man, the voter has been retained by the stable Congress Governments for 45 years as uneducated as possible – for just one single reason that, as long as the masses are illiterate they will provide a solid vote bank, as they do not have the capacity to think for themselves and are easily swayed by hollow promises made – so much so that, even after fifty years of promises made and not kept, the illiterate common man is still a good vote bank for the Congress.
In 1999 till now the politician was and is corrupt and the masses ignorant so, the corrupt are able to play up with the ignorant and make them dance to their tunes, I dare say that, it is this combination of corrupt politicians and the ignorant masses that has kept the Congress Governments on their saddle for the last fifty years, and it is this stability that the Congress boasts. If the Congress has been conscious of its duties as a responsible Opposition and as the oldest political party, instead of helping in the toppling of the Vajpayee Government, it should have advised the Government wherever it faltered, instead of joining hands with the rag tag opportunist parties. This action of the Congress has put to question their integrity and consideration for the country. The stability of the Government which Congress talks of, was really the stability of the Governments in the fifty years but the stability of a so called great family, in the shadow of whom, God alone knows how many more Prime Ministers will take birth. This is in my parlance the brazen misuse of a name only for, after Jawaharlal Nehru, no one, yes no one of his kin really deserved the chair, as they occupied it only because they happened to be his kith and kin.
If a country has to be lead like this by just one single family then why do we call it a democracy a better and more appropriate name for such Governments would be Monarchy or even to call it a dictatorship would not be very wrong, for the ruler has to come from there and no one else will ever be accepted. It is really shocking to note that crores of people from India are unable to produce one single individual to head the State that, we have to go back to the family, even if it be outsiders in the family.
This situation of the political scene in India in the year 1999, for one, depicts India’s absolute bankruptcy of leadership, and secondly we can see how an illiterate mass of people can be held to ransom by generations of one family. For this unhealthy situation, the greatest credit has to go to the oldest political party which has failed to produce a single leader in the last fifty years and has to go back to the family for support even if it be with just crutches. It is a shame for us Indians to have reached to this level of political insanity at the turn of one century and beginning of next. When the world is talking of Globalisation of the world, the world becoming one family, we have to continue to hold on to the apronstrings of one single family – without whom it seems India will die out.
In this situation as it stands in the middle of 1999, the elections were held in – October 99 and could not give us Indians relief of wish of single party stable government. This election again gave us a hung or to say a multiparty government but with the grace of almighty God is stayed for more than five years and is likely to complete its full term in November 2003.

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