On India's 67th birth anniversary, I have a confession to make. In the forthcoming assembly and general elections, I want spectacular wins for Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi elections and for Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nationally.
At the outset, I must make a disclaimer I am not a person of black and white inclinations. I prefer and trust the greys in discourse more than the shining whites and the seductive blacks.
I do not believe that either of the two will provide a panacea for all of India's ills right now. No, they cannot. They are after all mere men. Yet, there are a number of reasons I want to pin my hopes on them.
Let me list them as methodically as I can.. In this grey monologue, I hold no brief for either, yet as a selfish Indian citizen I want both men to succeed for India and of course for me.
1) Both Kejriwal and Modi are self-made men. If the academic brilliance of one is attractive, so is the story of phenomenal rise of the other from being an ordinary, lower middle class man to the chief minister of a state. As leaders they just do not talk of possibilities, they show us the possibilities.
In a country where most persons of eminence are sons, daughters and nephews or other sundry relations of the rich and powerful, it is refreshing to have two politicians centre stage whose claim to our attention is not parentage or pedigree. They do not need to talk of the under dogs—they themselves have been underdogs. Their popularity in one fell swoop demolishes centuries-old privilege structures of religion, caste and other regressive categorisations. They augur in a true meritocracy in politics. That can only be good for India and its politics.
2) Both are men of strong convictions and drive. They are not afraid to rub more than a few the wrong way in pursuit of an objective. If Kejriwal has taken on the high and mighty including the likes of Robert Vadra with impunity, then Modi has not been shy of taking the entrenched holy cows (secularism being one, after all which political party is genuinely secular in the spirit of the Constitution?) not just in his own party but across the spectrum. And, both of them are willing to pay the price for sticking out like sore thumbs. I do not think that they are infallible individuals. In fact, they are as deeply flawed as many of us, yet I like the fact that they offer us their imperfect selves without any self consciousness.
3) Both men are willing to engage, to talk and debate. They offer their logic, their arguments and their convictions. And we are free to criticize them and demolish their carefully constructed rationale. Even though they can be faulted for offering a flawed vision, yet they are courageous enough to offer it to us for dissection. It is decidedly something that I prefer over the death-like silence of the top three leaders of the ruling government.
4) Both are exceptionally smart men, who are clued in to public sentiment and aspirations. They are men of ideas and solutions. They offer alternatives. They offer a discourse, at least partially based on current facts and reality, and not empty rhetoric, crass pandering to vote banks or some mythical la-la-land. They offer action points, if not real action. If Modi offers solar power, resurgent agriculture and power, then Kejriwal offers the Lokpal Bill, the right to recall and other thoughts on democratic functioning. For a nation which has nearly a million people coming into the workforce very year, these two gentlemen do not offer karmic sops, they offer free will and self-determination.
5) In very different ways, they both stand for development and good governance. And those are desirable goals for Indian society. Modi has managed to rise to a possible PM contender in spite of the blot of 2002 riots. Despite an aggressive (and I do not use the word hostile) central government and media, Modi has managed to usurp (and I do use the word usurp) the development plank. Surely he has not been the first chief minister to do the right things and to make the government machinery perform, but the fact that he has made these into his calling cards does say something of his consistent abilities and convictions.
It is for a similar reason that Kejriwal is admirable. For a nation which had learnt to shrug off governance and accountability as casualties of a developing economy, he has chipped away at middle class indifference quite assiduously. He has upped the benchmarks for probity in public life. Sure, he stands on the shoulders of several others who prepared the fertile ground for his movement, yet he has to be given full credit for pushing the anti-corruption agenda to an unprecedented national level.
Both stand in stark contrast to a majority of the entrenched political class which displays only politics of convenience and finds it useful to continue to peddle outdated ideas.
Their rise together in the national politics is fortunate. Significant influence of both Kejriwal and Modi in Delhi in the state and central government respectively has the potential to refashion the operating framework of Indian politics.
Not only will it keep the two men away from any megalomaniacal tendencies, but their combined presence might well lead the political elite of India towards greater virtue and credibility. Since they owe their political rise to none, their allegiance towards established power structures is already weak.
Power will only refine them. If coalition compulsions might trammel Modi's autocratic tendencies, then Kejriwal will need to become more pragmatic as he transitions from a puny challenger to a credible and weighty opponent.
The rise of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rise will also help with another unintended consequence. A new, smart and agile political player will keep the existing political players on their toes. They will no longer be able to game the system by setting up prefixed matches.
It is time that the political discourse in India changed from homilies to some real discussion and debate. More power to Kejriwal and Modi.
At the outset, I must make a disclaimer I am not a person of black and white inclinations. I prefer and trust the greys in discourse more than the shining whites and the seductive blacks.
I do not believe that either of the two will provide a panacea for all of India's ills right now. No, they cannot. They are after all mere men. Yet, there are a number of reasons I want to pin my hopes on them.
Let me list them as methodically as I can.. In this grey monologue, I hold no brief for either, yet as a selfish Indian citizen I want both men to succeed for India and of course for me.
1) Both Kejriwal and Modi are self-made men. If the academic brilliance of one is attractive, so is the story of phenomenal rise of the other from being an ordinary, lower middle class man to the chief minister of a state. As leaders they just do not talk of possibilities, they show us the possibilities.
In a country where most persons of eminence are sons, daughters and nephews or other sundry relations of the rich and powerful, it is refreshing to have two politicians centre stage whose claim to our attention is not parentage or pedigree. They do not need to talk of the under dogs—they themselves have been underdogs. Their popularity in one fell swoop demolishes centuries-old privilege structures of religion, caste and other regressive categorisations. They augur in a true meritocracy in politics. That can only be good for India and its politics.
2) Both are men of strong convictions and drive. They are not afraid to rub more than a few the wrong way in pursuit of an objective. If Kejriwal has taken on the high and mighty including the likes of Robert Vadra with impunity, then Modi has not been shy of taking the entrenched holy cows (secularism being one, after all which political party is genuinely secular in the spirit of the Constitution?) not just in his own party but across the spectrum. And, both of them are willing to pay the price for sticking out like sore thumbs. I do not think that they are infallible individuals. In fact, they are as deeply flawed as many of us, yet I like the fact that they offer us their imperfect selves without any self consciousness.
3) Both men are willing to engage, to talk and debate. They offer their logic, their arguments and their convictions. And we are free to criticize them and demolish their carefully constructed rationale. Even though they can be faulted for offering a flawed vision, yet they are courageous enough to offer it to us for dissection. It is decidedly something that I prefer over the death-like silence of the top three leaders of the ruling government.
4) Both are exceptionally smart men, who are clued in to public sentiment and aspirations. They are men of ideas and solutions. They offer alternatives. They offer a discourse, at least partially based on current facts and reality, and not empty rhetoric, crass pandering to vote banks or some mythical la-la-land. They offer action points, if not real action. If Modi offers solar power, resurgent agriculture and power, then Kejriwal offers the Lokpal Bill, the right to recall and other thoughts on democratic functioning. For a nation which has nearly a million people coming into the workforce very year, these two gentlemen do not offer karmic sops, they offer free will and self-determination.
5) In very different ways, they both stand for development and good governance. And those are desirable goals for Indian society. Modi has managed to rise to a possible PM contender in spite of the blot of 2002 riots. Despite an aggressive (and I do not use the word hostile) central government and media, Modi has managed to usurp (and I do use the word usurp) the development plank. Surely he has not been the first chief minister to do the right things and to make the government machinery perform, but the fact that he has made these into his calling cards does say something of his consistent abilities and convictions.
It is for a similar reason that Kejriwal is admirable. For a nation which had learnt to shrug off governance and accountability as casualties of a developing economy, he has chipped away at middle class indifference quite assiduously. He has upped the benchmarks for probity in public life. Sure, he stands on the shoulders of several others who prepared the fertile ground for his movement, yet he has to be given full credit for pushing the anti-corruption agenda to an unprecedented national level.
Both stand in stark contrast to a majority of the entrenched political class which displays only politics of convenience and finds it useful to continue to peddle outdated ideas.
Their rise together in the national politics is fortunate. Significant influence of both Kejriwal and Modi in Delhi in the state and central government respectively has the potential to refashion the operating framework of Indian politics.
Not only will it keep the two men away from any megalomaniacal tendencies, but their combined presence might well lead the political elite of India towards greater virtue and credibility. Since they owe their political rise to none, their allegiance towards established power structures is already weak.
Power will only refine them. If coalition compulsions might trammel Modi's autocratic tendencies, then Kejriwal will need to become more pragmatic as he transitions from a puny challenger to a credible and weighty opponent.
The rise of Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rise will also help with another unintended consequence. A new, smart and agile political player will keep the existing political players on their toes. They will no longer be able to game the system by setting up prefixed matches.
It is time that the political discourse in India changed from homilies to some real discussion and debate. More power to Kejriwal and Modi.