You get what you
deserve
How often have we sat back with
dismay and disdain at the actions and cockiness of our political class? How
often have we been left stranded without an explanation as to the logic of
certain decisions taken by them? How often have we considered painting them all
with the same brush simply because there is a common finality in all their
actions? Think a while and ponder if anyone is different including the ones
like the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
They all claim to be different
from the others; they all claim to act differently from the others; they all
claim not to encourage nepotism, dynasty and follow the rule book. But facts
are different and do not reflect their initial exuberance and clean speak. The
AAP candidate Santosh Kohli died in an accident and the party names her brother
as the candidate- why? Obviously to garner sympathy votes and work on the
legacy of the lady who passed away, being an active member and staunch
supporter of the righteous.
How can the AAP claim to be
different from other parties? All the national parties blame the Congress of
dynasty politics, but aren’t they themselves with the probable exception of the
Marxist party following the same path. Lalu Yadav when out of power anoints his
wife. Now he has inducted his children into the fold. Mulayam Singh has made
his son the Chief Minister of one of the largest states of the country. He goes
one up by appointing his brothers in prominent positions in the party and his
daughter in law (son’s wife) into parliament. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
has the same problem in numerous states where the father son duo in Himachal
and Husband wife duo in Kerala are only some of the examples. The Marxist,
somehow seem to have been able to buck the trend.
Double speak- All parties are
famous for their doubles speak, they will go hammer and tong at their rivals
when it suits them and remain passive when their own members or sympathizers
are involved. The AAP had members been questioned on certain land deals, the
party is yet to come clean on this. They famously claimed to fight for the
lokpal and vowed to install one in their own party. Unfortunately we fail to hear
anything from them on purported questionable land deals of their members in
Mumbai. They however have the cheek to question the land deals of others
including. Robert Vadra. The appointment of lokpal in Gujarat was challenged by
the government and the lokpal appointee put in his papers out of sheer
frustration.
The BJP famously unleashes its
women brigade in case of rape and molestation when other party members are
involved, but chooses to stay silent when their own backer a fraud god man
Asaram is allegedly involved. Here they say law will take its own course. Why
should the law take its own course only in the case of Asaram and not when the
leader of a rival party had been involved?
Organising funds for elections-
Here in spite of the election commission’s directives, all parties spend more
than the sanctioned limits and cheekily admit to it in public forums. The AAP
has just got into the mode and we have to wait to pass a judgment in this
context. So what is different in any party? It is very hard to spot the difference;
they all behave the same, speak the same language and bare their claws in the
same manner. Or is it that to be in politics you have to follow the old phrase
‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’?
It is the public who are foolish
to think that anyone is going to be different, because what we forget is that
the leaders come out of society a society that you and I are represented in.
Charity begins at home, so let everyone strive to make the changes that he
wants to see in society in him/her to be able to crave for changes in society.
Leaders, parties and ways will not change unless we ourselves as individuals
change and thereby change society.
Robin Varghese
30th August 2013
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