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‘More dignified’

‘Since his views are now bound to be politically coloured, not everyone may endorse Dr Manmohan Singh’s assessment of the…

‘More dignified’

Dr Manmohan Singh (Photo: Facebook)

‘Since his views are now bound to be politically coloured, not everyone may endorse Dr Manmohan Singh’s assessment of the present state of the economy. There would, unquestionably, be many more who appreciate his desire that the campaigning for the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat be “more dignified”. For there can be no two opinions that the manner in which the major parties have conducted their affairs in recent elections ~ not just in Gujarat, even polls to local bodies in UP ~ projects in pathetic light both Indian democracy and its parliamentary system.

To use that clichéd term: “no stone is left unturned” in the brick-batting to which electioneering has now been reduced. One fall-out is that the bitter divisions engineered with an eye on vote-amassing persist long after the ballot boxes, sorry EVMs, pronounce their verdict.

Those divisions on caste, community or religious lines have triggered such deep fault-lines in the polity that it takes little to cause an eruption of passions, and sometimes violence too. Elections have ceased to be an expression of the people’s aspirations. And the political stakes in Gujarat now are only surpassed by the Lok Sabha poll two years down the road.

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There is an overdose of prestige hanging fire for Mr Narendra Modi and Mr Amit Shah ~ though neither are directly in the fray. It could also be a make-or-break affair for the supposedly “resurgent” Rahul Gandhi, a failure of the Congress to break the BJP grip on Gandhinagar would offset his impending elevation as party president. The less-than-impressive show in the local-body polls in Amethi was a poor curtain-raiser to his assuming an office earlier held by national stalwarts.

Dr Manmohan Singh’s “more dignified” comment was directed at his successor, and perhaps rightly so for a Prime Minister does set a benchmark. Yet it must be noted that Mr Modi has never deemed himself bound by conventional practices, and along with Mr Shah has crated a new electoral dynamic. For all that Dr Singh may desire, his own party’s “strategy” in Gujarat has been far from pristine: certainly no great “quality contrast” is discernible to the voter. It has become a case of which side stands more “exposed”, or who uses invective more effectively.

Very limited are the “development” carrots being dangled before the voter ~ there is more of stick being wielded against the opponent. A cartoonist in a respected contemporary summed it up perfectly: the sketch was of a smug leader descending from the rostrum after an election rally expecting applause from his supporters.

But like the innocent lad in the fable about the emperor’s new clothes, one acolyte pointed out, “You spent so much time slamming our opponent that you forgot to ask the people to vote for you.”

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