Rajnithi

Welcome to the game where all players are some of the most devious minds ever to grace earth, yes guys the game is Indian politics. The most interesting game in Indian politics is now going on "Battle ground Uttar Pradesh". Can it get worse.

Do elections in the largest and most populated state of India stand for anything? Yes they do. Corruption, Casteism, Pseudo Secularism, Fanaticism, Vote Bank politics, Minority politics and abysmally low ethics set by politicians.

Who is to blame, it is not the politicians, it is we who elect the politicians, the people have to take the blame. Once elections are over, the feelings of caste and religion don’t emerge as much as topics of greater concern like governance, law and order, roads, water supply, electricity. When the election bell rings again, these factors play no role when the public decides to vote, it is back to caste, religion and social factors. It is because of this attitude of people that the ruling bureaucracy just does not cater to aspects of development and standards of living, rather it formulates policies that divide people even more, plays games with people’s sentiments so as to get itself a voter base for the next election.

All these factors surface to the core particularly in some states of India and the best example is Uttar Pradesh. For example just look at the voting pattern and concerns of people in states like Punjab, Uttarakand with states like UP and Bihar. Uttaranchal is a place less affected by caste and religious differences and the politicians pre poll campaign was rather more about issues like development and other constructive issues. But the foundations of the pre poll in UP started way back when Manmohan Singh made minority appeasement statements to BJP’s anti muslim hate campaign.

Rahul Gandhi does his part by adding oil to the fire from time to time with his irresponsible statements. The quota issue at the centre found such a long time even to reach a partial solution despite supreme courts stern orders due to this on going election in India’s most divided state. Regional parties wanted to make maximum mileage out of the quota issue for this ongoing election.

Yes, it is indeed surprising that a national party like congress is dancing to the tune of its allies on this issue, but one would argue, what stake does the congress have. It is not looking for bread packets in UP, all it is looking for is crumbs here and there so as to have a say when the pie is assembled. Affairs in the state are so disappointing that, whatever the outcome of the election, it is not going to be in favor of the people of the state. Democracy cannot have an uglier face than this. Even if a brute like Hitler ruled the state, it would have a better state of affairs than it has when clumsy parties like this run it.

One of the solutions to this cracking system (which in the first place was never stable when someone like Nehru donned the mantle), is to get rid of all these buggers and fill the parliament with educated young people who will do something constructive. But as I said before the onus is on the people, they need to think beyond petty politics of caste and religion and think as a fellow countryman. Every aam aadmi should feel proud to be an Indian and make a resolve to contribute his bit to the system. Instead of identifying oneself as a thakur or Brahmin or a dalit or a yadav, one should think as an Indian and say, I am just going to vote for the party that will provide me basic amenities, education and a good quality of life. The old saying goes “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja”, but now I think the ground reality is “ Yatha Praja Tatha Raja”. The day the people decide they need a clean government which will do something for them, the government officials are bound to do work, but if people decide to be stupid and keep creating divisions amongst themselves, the politician is going to be no better, in fact he responds by increasing the divide.

It is time to stand up and ask, who is responsible for the deplorable system in place, is it the people who are elected to power or the people who elect them.