My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Indian Elections: Hostage to Corrupt Politicians By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 18, 2014 We often talk of corruption pervading the electoral system in our country. We rue the criminals entering politics as we point out that 13 cabinet ministers in the present Union government face various charges of corruption. Further, as many as 186 MPs got elected despite facing criminal charges. In desperation, we expect a messiah a la Anna Hazare to stem the rot. Yet, corrupt and criminal elements manage to win elections, because we, the voters, elect them, even though we are fed up with corruption and criminalisation of politics. Do People Patronise Corrupt Politicians? Given a choice, don’t we voters most of the time opt for a benevolent crook who we perceive as a smart go-getter? Don’t we loathe an idealist simply because (s)he tends to go “too much by the book”?   Ask the Reserve Bank of India Governor, Raghuram Rajan! While  delivering a speech at...

September By-Poll Results : Is Modi Wave Losing Steam? By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 17, 2014 Poll reversals in Assembly by-polls in nine states have jolted the BJP after its splendid performance in the General Elections. What comes as the biggest blow to the party is undoubtedly losing grounds in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state Gujarat, where it lost three Assembly seats to the Congress. It also lost three seats in its stronghold, Rajasthan. In Uttar Pradesh, where the success in the Lok Sabha elections catapulted Amit Shah – the party’s then in-charge of the crucial state – to the elevated position of the BJP president, the party could win just three of the eleven seats in the by-elections. The only rosy picture presented to the party was in West Bengal where it could finally win a seat after 15 years! The by-poll results are the second such setback in quick succession to the saffron brigade. Only last month it had sustained poll shocker in the Assemb...

The Making and Breaking of Alliances in the Indian Political System By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 16, 2014 Recently, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ended its association with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) and decided to go all alone in the upcoming state elections in Haryana. Obviously, the party was guided by its unprecedented success in the state in the last general elections. It had won seven of the nine seats that it had contested while the HJC failed to open its account. The HJC unsuccessfully tried its best for the continuation of the alliance. But why should the upbeat BJP yield? It is true that under a powerful general there are no feeble soldiers! And it is equally true that the powerful are never faithful! Political Alliances : The Game of Possibilities Isn’t the craving for power a great uniting force? I recall a speech by L K Advani at a BJP meeting soon after the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance was dethroned after the 2004 general electi...

Haryana Elections 2014 : Tough days Ahead for BJP and Congress By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 15, 2014 The common thread between Haryana and West Bengal is that none of them is a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion. While the party is yet to gain a foothold in West Bengal politics, the only time it could do well in Haryana was when it had a pact with late Bansi Lal’s Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) at the insistence of Narendra Modi, who was then the BJP national secretary in charge of the party affairs in Haryana. Sujoy Dhar, Kolkata-based correspondent of a foreign news agency who has covered the West Bengal elections for the last two decades, says that  he had never before seen such a ‘charged up’ BJP cadre as he discovered recently while covering the assembly by-elections for the Basirhat South seat in North 24-Parganas and the Chowringhee seat in Kolkata. Will Modi Effect Work in Haryana? Can the same be said about Haryana where Assembly elections...

Electioneering in India By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 13, 2014 It is interesting that when the first General Elections were held in 1951-52, the whole purpose of elections was challenged in the face of a fragmented Opposition. It was the Congress all the way as a party of stalwarts who had liberated the country from the British raj and Jawaharlal Nehru was the star campaigner who travelled about 40,000 kilometres to cover almost a tenth of the country’s population. He had then addressed nearly thirty-five million people of the country! Birth of Anti – Congressism The Nehruvian era was the one that saw complete domination of just one man – Nehru, till he breathed his last. The Opposition was insignificant and for a quarter of centuries after Independence there was not even a Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha for want of the required strength for the post! In 1951, the only Opposition party to have opened its account was the Communist Party of India, and that t...

Political Campaigns and Elections in India By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 12, 2014 The general elections 2014 could well be remembered for the way Narendra Modi campaigned. His sabre-rattling did take the wind out of his opposition’s sails and this was reflected in the end result. He demolished opposition who cried hoarse over the style of his campaigning and alleged use of (black?) money to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore! According to Modi’s detractors, his campaigns often tested the limits of election laws too that provide two weeks of electioneering period to every candidate contesting the election and a stipulated amount for such campaigns. (Also remember the BJP releasing its manifesto on an election date and Modi flaunting the Lotus before television cameras outside a polling booth even when voting was in process). Modi’s Hi-tech Trend – Setter Campaign For months together till the election time, Modi was on a campaigning blitzkrieg across mediums. He seemed...

Indian Politics : Lack of Youth Representation By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 11, 2014 At a time when 50 per cent of India’s population is below the age of 30, why can’t we have dynamic and efficient young politicians in their twenties or thirties? The general elections this year saw the highest number of young voters ever, yet it saw the highest ever percentage of older candidates becoming Members of Parliament! A research by PRS Legislative Research – a New Delhi-based independent research institute – showed that the proportion of MPs aged 25-40 was the lowest ever in the 16th Lok Sabha with just 47 members of Parliament belonging to this age bracket. How can one explain the prevailing state of affairs in Indian politics? Doesn’t this suggest that there is either a leadership vacuum among the youth in the country or the established senior political leaders are not willing to give political space to the youngsters? You may also like to read Top 10 ...

Can Politicians in India ever be Honest ? By  Deepak Parvatiyar September 10, 2014 “Na Khaoonga, Na Khane Doonga,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently declared. Loosely translated, it meant the PM would not tolerate corruption at public offices and one of his cabinet ministers lauded his remarks saying it required “real guts” for the PM to make such public proclamations. Why can’t we have honest politicians? Consider a quote from Simon Cameron, who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War — “An honest politician is one who, when he is bought, will stay bought.” It does conceal less and reveals all! Role of Big Money and Lobbyists in Politics You may also like to read Politicians of India At this juncture I am reminded of American Gil Fulbright’s last year’s satirical crowdfunding campaign for his project, ‘The Honest Politician’, that sought to enable him contest for the Kentucky senate aga...