Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Mind-set of our politicians' that was published in Newsband

Mind-set of our politicians

In the Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat the Bharatiya Janata Party won the two seats it was expected to and lost only the one it was meant to. The BJP president, Amit Shah, and Union Minister Smriti Irani got elected. The third seat went to the Congress candidate, Ahmed Patel. The EC demonstrated independence and institutional strength amidst tremendous pressure mounted on it by both parties.

The run-up to the vote saw attempts to win over rival legislators and counter-poaching tactics. The Congress packed off its 44 MLAs to a resort in Bengaluru, where it is in power. This was followed by an income tax raid on a Karnataka minister. The Congress had nominated Mr. Patel, a close confidant of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and a power centre in the party. The ultimate outcome was a morale booster for the Congress.

Buying elected representatives has become the norm. None of the parties refrain from this disgusting practice. Remember how NT Rama Rao had to whisk his party men from the preying forces of Indira Gandhi. History repeats itself; this time the Congress had to adopt the same practice.

More importantly it shows the mindset of the politicians. Their allegiance is to money and power and not to any ideology of the party on whose name they fight the elections. Frankly neither of the major parties Congress and the BJP have any true ideology. The Hindutva ideology is facade for Hindu majoritarianism and the Congress is only paying lip service to secularism.

When it comes to BJP, the advice, admonitions and accusations are free-flowing, fast and furious. Moral high-pedestal, such as there should be no cross-voting in RS elections, is freely the norm. Words like 'coveting' and 'luring' are easily used without pondering over such an accusation or waiting to even think why the INC is unable to hold on to its own legislators and partymen. Jairam Ramesh said that the INC is facing an existential situation. A pathologically trenchant critic of the BJP, P.Chidambaram says that the organizational structure of the INC is no match to that of the BJP and this one win in Gujarat RS poll does not turn around the situation for it. Does a festering wound in the Congress palm need a BJP mirror? The INC might have survived the scare and even rejoiced at the routine turning into hard-earned victory, but it is moribund.

It is ironic that only BJP is blamed for making it a prestige issue. Indeed, Congress made it a survival issue and after triumphing they are going around as if they have already won the 2019 LS elections. During the heat of the battle, one of the spokespersons of the Congress party said that in the land of the Bapu justice shall be done, while seeking invalidation of the two disputed votes. He forgot that in the land of the Bapu there would never have been such a bitter relationship and rivalry between the ruling party and the opposition. In the land of the Bapu, 44 MLAs would not have been carted away to five star comforts for nearly 10 days even as the State was reeling under unprecedented floods. In the land of the Bapu winning a RS seat would never have been elevated to such a status for personal glory.

This is not the way election to RS ought to have been fought. Media tends to lash out at BJP only but not a single word of condemnation of the unseemly herding of the Congress MLAs in the remote Karnataka resort, which is nothing but enslavement of the legislators. It sees wrong in the raids by Income Tax of the Karnataka Congress Minister, it does not have a word of condemnation of the role of this minister in amassing towers of currency notes in his premises. Is unearthing of black money condemnable?

The election to Rajya Sabha unveils the ugly face of horse trade and obdurate authoritarianism. It raises a question on the relevance or otherwise of our system. A routine election has been converted into a prestigious one and the parties contested tooth and nail. The face saving victory for Congress by the successful outcome of Patel serves as booster to the party. Cross voting shows the thankless job of the legislators. BJPs power play may have slowed down and this is the right time for it.