Opinion: Hunger for power discredits politicians

By P C Alexander

Political parties and politicians have never been so discredited in the eyes of India’s common people as they have been in recent months. The intensity of criticism has taken the politicians by surprise and they have been trying to pass on the blame to others, like the media, rather than looking for reasons within.

Let us examine the role of three leading politicians — Mr Kalyan Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Mr Narayan Rane of the Shiv Sena and Mr K. Karunakaran of the Congress — to assess the extent to which the top leaders themselves have been responsible for destroying the credibility of politicians and political parties. All three have been chief ministers in their respective states and held this and other high offices only because of the unstinted support of their parties. However, neither had any compunction in rebelling against their own party when they found that their parties may not satisfy their personal ambitions for power.

Mr Kalyan Singh, through his vituperative attacks on the Muslim community in the past, had created a trademark of his own for intolerance and acquired the image of an uncompromising advocate of extremist Hindutva. The role attributed to him in preventing the intervention of police to protect the Babri Masjid from demolition in December 1992 is a matter still before the court and, therefore, cannot be discussed here in detail. Suffice to say that even he would feel embarrassed and unhappy to listen to some of his old speeches on this subject. Also, look at the strident allegation he has been levelling against the BJP of which he was, till the other day, a top leader. He has now stated that his next agenda is the demolition of the BJP. In order to convince the minority community that he has indeed renounced his anti-Muslim stand, he has expressed remorse and apologised for the demolition of the Babri Masjid, though it took him full 17 years to do so. Most people may be more amused than convinced by such political somersaults. Till a few days ago he had been the vice-president of the BJP and their candidate in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Now he has suddenly owned moral responsibility for the demolition of the Babri Masjid and vowed to demolish the BJP next. Whatever may be the weight people may attach to his confessions on the demolition of Babri Masjid, one thing is certain: he has eminently succeeded in deepening the distrust and contempt for political parties and politicians among the common people.

Mr Narayan Rane rose in Shiv Sena to the very top and became the chief minister of Maharashtra after Manohar Joshi moved to Delhi to take charge as the Speaker of Lok Sabha. After elections to the state Assembly, a Congress-NCP coalition government got a clear majority in the legislature and Mr Rane, realising that there may be greater scope for him in the Congress for coming to power again, migrated to the Congress of which he was a virulent critic till then. Most people in the state were surprised at this move and also at the ease with which he could become revenue minister as a member of the Congress party.

The surprise was greater when he boldly staked his claim for the chief minister’s post when, after the shocking incidents of 26/11 in Mumbai, Vilasrao Deshmukh had to resign. Mr Rane seemed to have been promised by some Congress leaders that he could be considered for the post of chief minister as and when a vacancy arose. However, Mr Ashok Chavan was the ultimate choice for chief minister’s post and Mr Rane felt betrayed. He issued statements, in highly intemperate language, about being denied the office which he claimed was his legitimate due. Eventually, Mr Rane realised the limitations for a newcomer to become Chief Minister so soon after joining the Congress. The party itself lost patience with him and suspended him. He seems to be now waiting for his rehabilitation in the party as a minister, but the whole episode has left a big dent on the prestige of the Congress party and also shaken the already-weakened respect the common people had for political leaders. Many people have also strongly criticised the Congress for keeping its doors open for anyone who chooses to join it, irrespective of ideological background and convictions, as long as he brings some MLAs and votes along.

Mr K. Karunakaran in Kerala is one of those who probably believe that the chief ministership of the state should always be held by him whenever the Congress party wins a majority in the state Assembly. Some Congress leaders in Delhi seem to have accepted this line and Mr Karunakaran has been escalating his demands for more and more concessions from the party for himself and those who have chosen to remain loyal to him.

At one stage Mr Karunakaran had formed a party of his own, the Democratic Indira Congress, but it proved to be a non-starter. Later, he tried to merge his party with the NCP, but the Congress party again rolled out the welcome carpet for him. He then staked his claim for a seat in the Rajya Sabha, in spite of his age (he is over 90). Now that the Rajya Sabha seat has been denied to him, we should wait and see what moves he may make or what other offers may be made by the party high command. The manner in which the Congress leadership handled Mr Karunakaran’s defiance of party decisions which did not suit him has weakened the party’s esteem among the people of the state.

From these three cases of rebellion by senior politicians, one fact emerges clearly: if political parties and politicians have lost a good deal of trust of the ordinary people, the reason for it lies with the senior politicians themselves. Political parties admitting persons who have been openly holding opposite political views and doctrines or have been guilty of gross indiscipline has exposed the scant respect which top politicians have for their party’s ideology and principles. When political ideologies get relegated, the leadership of such parties gets devalued and, in the process, the basic principles of parliamentary system get subverted.