Travellers and Magicians

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Friday, May 05, 2006

Lots More on Lok Paritran

Now to consider Prasanna's all-important question - 'if not lok paritran, if not the established degenerate parties, what is the alternative?' Below, I state my sincere opinion without claiming divine infallibility. Also, I choose to answer in a Tamil Nadu specific flavour as I am best acquainted with the political history of my home state. But at the outset, I'll briefly restate the obvious.

If Lok Paritran stands on weak ideological ground, so do the ADMK and the DMK. In addition, we have a slew of allegations of impropriety, corruption and vendetta that are incessantly being exchanged by the pharisaical TV channels(and newspapers, of late) in each camp. As if this was not enough, we are being flooded with promises of 'free this' and 'free that' every hour. We desperately need to realize that there is no such thing as a free lunch, to get ourselves out of this quagmire of internecine rivalries.

Objectively speaking, Lok Paritran is not a viable alternative. In spite of our aspirations and wishful thinking, one can't but accept that the chances of Lok Paritran making it big are infinitesimal. Even if they did win, they don't seem to have sound ideas about achieving their ends. If they don't have ideas now, you can't expect them to work miracles while in power.

The root problem is that the political culture of TN has stooped beyond the limits of civility. Our assemblies and corporation councils have become a farce - the playground of personality cults and open favouritism. Politicians from opposite camps are so indoctrinated that they never so much speak to each other civilly.

However, the political milieu at the centre is reasonably healthy and constructive. Suggestions/charges from all corners are heard. The opposition gets its due space. Right from independence, we have selected eminent and clean personalities for the Prime Minister's post. Why isn't there an osmosis of this healthy climate into the TN legislative assembly?(rather sadly, there is a definite reverse osmosis).

(A minor digression - most of us would concede that we have some eminent statesmen and untiring leaders in various parties at the national level. Why did the founders of Lok Paritran found a new party, instead of joining an established outfit?? I can only think of two possible reasons - 1. 'different ideology' or 2. 'all other parties are corrupt beyond redemption'. 1 can't be the reason as I have tried to reason out in previous blogs. And I personally do not think 2 is true. Each party, atleast at the centre, definitely has sincere leaders and workers who are trying their best. Indeed, if 2 were true, we would never have had an 'India Shining' Campaign. We have definitely shown all-round progress and that has stemmed from firm political will).

The problem with TN is that its political setup is disconnected from that of the rest of the country. Jayalalithaa or MK stand tall here without having to bow down to a higher power centre. Consider the case of Ajit Jogi who was thrown out after being caught bribing on tape. AK Anthony was politely asked to step down when he lost popularity. Uma Bharti was told to put in her papers when a case was filed against her. These never happen at TN simply because we have leaders here who are not answerable to any higher authority within their parties.

To my eyes, TN's welfare can best be assured by reinstating a national party. The Dravidian parties, at any rate, have lost their ideological moorings and are obsessed with personal rivalry. The TN congress, unfortunately, is faction-ridden and alliance-addicted. The BJP may well be our King David. The TN BJP leaders have so far retained some semblance of propriety and vision. Though sidelined at home, they have proved to be good organizers at the national level. The Hindutva card may strike a jarring note here. But, I do hope they reorganize and establish a base here. Comments are welcome!

5 Comments:

At 8:40 PM , Blogger prasanna venkatesh.b said...

I beg to differ on some things
"Right from independence, we have selected eminent and clean personalities for the Prime Minister's post."
Indira Gandhi was the first olitician to institutionalise corruption and the most arrogant woman this country has seen.In that way after Nehru I guess Vajpayee was the only untainted leader we have had.
Second point:I am not sure what national parties can do to Tamilnadu.Tamilnadu peoples' first statement was an anti-centre or anti-hindi one.Hence I beleive no national party can suceed like the dravidian parties.There is an inherent north south divide which will prevent this.The first few succesfull congress govts were because of two huge factors that dont exist now 1)Kamaraj-He Was the first and only nationally recognised politician from TN and he had huge caste backing from Nadars.
2)Independence hangover fuelled most Congress victories.
Hence to me the only way out seems a basic shift in the fuctioning methods of the Dravidian Parties i.e. if they become more professional and down to earth cutting down on trivial fights then TN will flourish :)

 
At 8:43 PM , Blogger prasanna venkatesh.b said...

In the second point Iam basically talking about the fact that the first peoples political uprising in TN post-independence was a statement against the centre/hindi.
Whereas if u see other cong/cpi(M) ruled states like kerala they had different movements.For e.g kerala had a huge communist wave and hence it came under rule of a national party.

 
At 3:10 AM , Blogger Hari Sripathi said...

I frankly do not understand the need for ideology in a political context.

 
At 12:20 PM , Blogger R Ganesh said...

you have a point there prasanna..i was half asleep and i didn't even consider indira gandhi. but except for the gandhis and deve gowda, i think we have always chosen eminent statesmen. On the brighter side, making deve gowda PM was a master stroke - the 'dignity of the office' preventing him from sleeping through duties of any other post. indeed, the ex-PM tag has effectively sidelined chandrashekhar, vp singh, gujral and gowda.
except for the dark indira years, the morality of the central polity has been much better than that at the state level anyway.
it is true that the just anti hindi agitation shook the state. but the centre's attitude has since changed. and the dravidian parties have lost their locus standi. in andhra and karnataka, we see naturalized south indian bjp and congress units.
if the national parties throw up one extraordinary charismatic leader, i think they can come back in a big way.
to state it otherwise, the dravidian parties used the anti-hindi agitation as their launchpad. but much water has flowed since; the national parties will do well to find a launchpad for themselves in today's setting.

 
At 12:27 PM , Blogger R Ganesh said...

and hari..i suppose you find it perfectly reasonable that the phenomenal mudslinging between the DMK and the ADMK is rooted in undiluted intense personal hatred.

on the other hand, we have the pigheaded left parties heckling the congress simply because they are mortally scared of prosperity.

i would prefer the latter, how abt you?

 

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