Exercising a choice!

We are on the threshold of another national election. In forty-eight hours from now, the first phase of poll to choose the next government shall begin. It is a momentous time in the history of a nation. One is expected to evaluate the performance of the party, which has been in power and to decide whether to give it another chance or to show it the door. It is not an easy job especially when there was a coalition ruling the nation. One has to be discriminating enough to give credit (or discredit) to the one who deserves it. Take, for instance, the financial reforms. Following the global meltdown, the Left parties claimed, not without some justification, that Indian economy would have been worse of had they not applied brakes on opening up some areas to FDI. The SP can similarly claim that but for their support, the govt. would have fallen taking along with it, the Indo-US Nuclear Deal that made the Left withdraw support to UPA. It must be admitted that no claim is totally bereft of truth. Ironically, it is not the total truth either. This calls for a serious debate over issues affecting the nation and BJP has been repeatedly a lot of noise demanding a live televised debate between the PM and Advani, who is perceived by it as the PM-in -waiting. Its penchant for debate went to such n extent that it threw the gauntlet later to Congress chief. However, the Congress refused to oblige claiming that Advani was not the only candidate for prime ministership. It also added that the real place for debate on issues was the parliament whose sessions had to be adjourned repeatedly due to disturbances caused by BJP members. The PM also conceded that he is not as good at public speaking as Advani and would like to be judged by his performance.

Well, nothing prevented BJP from raising the same issues during its campaign even if a live debate was not possible. What is surprising is that not once did BJP spokesmen or leaders raised the issue of nuclear deal or whether they would continue with it or renegotiate it? The economy did not figure at all despite the financial reforms and the global meltdown. There has been a vicious campaign full of attacks directed against the PM and the Gandhi family. The PM is weak and Sonia a foreigner. The Congress party is called one day a Budiya and the next, a Gudiya. It has been a calculated attempt to dictate an irrelevant agenda as conceded by the party towards the end of the campaign and the Congress fell for it. The BJP plan has been to reduce it to a Congress-BJP contest and it pulled all sops, including hate-speeches through Varun Gandhi of Pilibhit and Ashok Sahu of Kandhamal to spew venom against Muslims and Christians. To add fuel to fire, Advani wrote to hundreds of religious leaders, mostly Hindu, assuring them of consultation should they back him. The Third front led by the Left was ignored. So were the regional straps of UP, Bihar and Maharashtra. None of them is prepared for a truck with BJP so why bother.

The Congress party’s dilemma was understandable. The Yadav combine offered it three miserly seats in Bihar forcing it to go alone. The same thing happened in UP where BSP supremo herself is dreaming of becoming the next prime minister fuelled by the Left. With two large states virtually out of reckoning, the Congress decided to strengthen its organization inviting mocking comments from its former allies like RJD. As the BJP fired one fusillade after another at it, the Congress could hardly ignore them and found itself playing the game on BJP’s terms. While the two mainstream parties tried to score brownie points in a fake debate carried out in TV studios and public meetings, the voters were left uninformed on where the ruling party faltered or how the opposition would do things differently or better. It is a great pity and the onus for this lies largely on BJP. It clamoured for a debate but never raised pertinent issues affecting the nation. It lowered the level of debate to unfathomable depths while assuming an expression of injured innocence. One sincerely hopes the voter would be able to separate the chaff from the grain and the polls would throw up a stable government committed to national growth and prosperity.