It’s not the violence of few but the silence of many that scares me….Martin Luther King
The elections are round the corner and we see election manifestos being released every other day. If you are wondering how elections are related to what Martin Luther King. Read on… if we’ve just cared to pass a glance onto the manifestos of our nationalist parties they are anything but a manifesto instead these are a collection of populist promises which are reflective of the pertinent myopia that our politicians have been nurturing for ages. We claim ourselves to be moving on a path of development but these things are a poor reflection of our current democratic set up and not even a fraction of the maturity or intelligence expected from a would be superpower.
A look at the congress manifesto and it doles out reservations as if it’s a joke. There definitely is a lot that has to be done for the emancipation of rural people and the underdeveloped class but just wiping out your hands by giving reservations is no answer, its infact the easiest way to do nothing and not being held accountable. The perpetuation of the quota system represents a total political and institutional failure since this should be the last resort to build a level playing field but our politicians always understand otherwise. Rather than measures like strengthening primary and secondary education and other investments to create an enabling environment the political honchos choose the easy and populist route. There is reservation for the muslims- is inequality and poverty community partial?
Beyond this we have the announcements of rice at Rs 3 per kg that would place a burden of 5700Crores on the state. Populism doesn’t stop here- there are attempts at intrusion into India inc’s space, where would all this lead India to, when economy stares at recession we expect the politicians to come up with an intelligent manifesto, apart from the NREGA which again is a highly debatable issue the congress manifesto has been a bouquet of disappointment. How do they plan to bear the fiscal deficit that shall arise as a result of these populist measures? What shall be the source of funding these subsidies?
All this is not important for the Indian voter our politicians understand this. Caste which remains a big trump card has been played to the hilt. But with such things in place the country shall prove to be the ultimate loser. But who cares and perhaps these things don’t garner u votes.
It remains clear that socialist underthemes serve the politicians best- they help them win elections, come with no commitment tags and the whole burden lies with the state exchequer. So whether it was obama’s Wall street vs the main street or India’s omnipresent Garibi hatao=amiri hatao socialist and populist promises send our politicians laughing all the way to Vote bank, but what bothers is that such policies shall continue to weaken the nation beyond repair.
Lets wait for the BJP’s manifesto it won’t be any different. We’ll see populism touching new heights these elections, well as of now I can place my bets on BJP announcing a free or Rs2 per Kg rice …wat is ur take!!!
All I can say is- Here in our country the silence of millions would rather scare the shit out of Martin Luther king...meanwhile the FEW continue to be violent on the Nation itself!!!
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