Divided We Stand, Untied We Fall* 

Having grown up in Sindri (erstwhile Bihar, near Calcutta), reing Statesman, learning about Naxal movement and rent-a-protestor cholbé na, cholbeé na (won’t work) politics, I was t surprised when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee dressed recent Mahagathbandhan rally in Bangalore thus.  

Humse jo takaraega, choor, choor ho jayega. In or words anyone who clashes against us (re me) will be blown to smireens. I found it rar interesting that Banerjee me that call from Karnataka that returned former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi riding on a similar slogan. In 1978, she contested Chikmagalur by-election and won. She was back in politics after being banished, imposing Emergency – India’s darkest political hour that denied civil and political rights, imprisoned thousands, devastated our hard-earned democracy to serve interests of a w servile, w cunning few. slogan she rode on was ek sherni sau langoor, Chikmagalur bhai Chickmagalur (one tigress and a hundred monkeys). 

It is vital for all politicians to te that 1978 is t 2018. t one – t one – seat in any Indian election has ever been distributed without taking in caste and class considerations. t one political party h h cour to promote talent devoid of two. math is to promote mediocre and best example of that is Mahagathbandhan has fallen apart under weight of its own contrictions, ambitions, greed, power and fear of losing it.  re will be re-alignments and much maligning of all and sundry. Eventually, leers will align on caste and survival lines. In run-up to elections 2019, India’s first nationwide approval ratings conducted by Republic show that governing National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is poised to make a comeback and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is unable to stitch up a sustainable political alliance. approval ratings are a rolling roll call. Against that background, I have two points to make. 

One.  Making fun of remarkably limited Congress Party President Rahul Gandhi is t a political strategy. For w, he is largely irrelevant to national public discourse and I have often wondered how and why, a person who has faced so much trdy, continues to expose himself to bullets and worse, ridicule. During last state elections in Karnataka held earlier this year, a garland was thrown at him and it landed around his neck. If that is t a huge security breach, what is?  

, I really don’t buy his story about how he is willing to sacrifice himself for his country like rest of his family. r do I buy his new love for poonal (janeu which are sacred thres worn by Brahmins). And his anuncement that he has always been a worshipper of Lord Shiva is insincere, if t comic. We, Indians, deserve better than that so Sir, please spare us agony. And frankly, I couldn’t care less about which god, goddess, power or universe you revere. I can’t be bored if you are an agstic or an aist. Of little importance to me is what you do in confines of your home where your religion or absence of it should be. What matters to me is a person’s capacity to le world’s largest democracy. Gandhi simply does t have it.  

second point is dressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. re is better time than w to say this to him and his team. Listening just to courtiers and echo chambers is a very b idea for a politician. Remember Hillary Clinton of United States (US) and Brexit? A small group of people speaking to each or at same watering holes reassuring each or that US will soon have a woman President and re’s way United Kingdom (UK) would leave European Union (EU). Complacency cripples thought and action. It is neir a capacity r confidence builder.  

Winning one Lok Sabha seat is a Herculean task and Modi went after each seat in 2014. w, surrounded by courtiers who say NDA may lose plus or minus 50 seats, new data experts are reassuring mselves of ir derriere. clowns including in NDA (and some mir sabot is rar visible) have built empires of jesters and parvenus who are behaving in exactly same manner as very Lutyens’ circle y pretend to despise. Same parties, same literature festivals, Khan market, same trips around country, same winks and nudges, Indian International Centre (IIC), same contracts, same hope for crumbs in forms of jobs or grants, India Habitat Centre (IHC) same of civil society, Bangalore, same of journalists, mostly.   list is long. Be a little brave on twitter, but t too brave, say a few things here and re but make sure its in jest. Praise ors who are out re fighting on frontline with hash-tags. Yes, social media (SM) is important, but re is as much instant fame on it as re is crushing hubris.  

What has never been clear to me – and I have written about it elsewhere – is why and how, a Prime Minister who has built a reputation as a communicator, is increasingly appearing as distant? Why is he talking down to us, we people of India, inste of with us? se are t good signs. For a Prime Minister who fought on corruption as a major election plank, it is t eugh for troops to say re’s corruption at ministerial level in India. Where does government stand on bringing back fugitives from Indian justice – people who fled major airports after looting our money? This cops and robbers game is for children.  

One of biggest failures of this government is job creation. Ecomists – real and faux – will write about it. One of biggest successes of this government has been Clean India Campaign. As someone who is deeply interested in public health and follows issue internationally from political, tre, developmental, resource mobilisation, implementation, access, and simple awareness raising, I can say this without batting an eyelid. Swachh Bharat effort has entered langu. That is small achievement for a country India’s size and diversity. Ayushman Bharat health programme – world’s largest public health call - can be a game-changer for India, but re are many questions.  

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It is important for Prime Minister to tell us, we people of India where resources for this programme are going to come from, how many jobs are being proposed to be created, medicines, access and costs.  If fizzy drinks, beer, and chips can be delivered to remote parts of India where re are neir ros r electricity, why is it difficult to deliver life-saving drugs?  

It is time India’s politicians to eng in real discussions of nation and capacity building and stop with ludicrous sloganeering. Le Mr. Prime Minister. Le.  

*Ajit Ninan, cartoonist, India Today, coined this phrase