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People and society by
Hari
Posted on Sun, May 15, 2011 at 18:46 IST (last updated: Sun, May 15, 2011 @ 18:47 IST)
Now that the State Assembly elections in four states are over and the results declared, I think it is time that our political classes stood up and paid attention to what the people have to say.
I know it's cliché to say "people's will" in a democracy, but I think in a bigger sense it works out that way in the long run. Even the ancient and medieval rulers didn't underestimate the power of the people: we've all heard stories from childhood of how kings and emperors used to disguise themselves as common folk and walk the streets in an attempt to feel the pulse of the people and their day-to-day problems and issues. The biggest problem, as I see it today, is that the top political leaders of our country are basically disconnected from the pulse of the people. Strange, that in a democracy, the people who rule us are so unaware of what the common man on the street is thinking.
The television interviews of the losers in particular were most enlightening in this regard. Most of them were either in denial mode, or refused to acknowledge the true reasons for their defeat. The common refrains were: change is inevitable in a democracy, that they didn't get our message across well, that coalition arithmetic went wrong or that the opponents/media misled the people. Seldom were real issues acknowledged. Widespread and rampant corruption at all levels of governance and administration as a cause of discontent and simmering anger among the people was dismissed outright by a few politicians while others half-heartedly admitted that it might have played a role. Price rise and inflation was hardly even talked about except by some media experts. Administrative issues and lack of development were touched upon only in the most superficial way in these discussions. But the fact that these issues are slowly starting to gain momentum in the public debate is in itself heartening.
In a way, what the results showed was that people will tolerate mistakes only to a point. Beyond that, they will throw out elected leaders at the next possible opportunity. To be sure, I don't think it's quite as simple as that but one sign of a still-maturing democracy is that issues take a longer time to resolve. It's another issue that India, as a country, is not yet tailored socially, administratively or politically to cater to the needs of a growing middle class. I think that is what makes the recent results more heartening. That issues that were earlier deemed to be only pertaining to the educated classes are now starting to play a bigger role in election results and it shows that even people from the so-called economically and socially backward classes are starting to demand higher standards of administration, less corruption and actual development from our Government. I, for one, sincerely hope that this trend does continue and that our politicians and political parties take note that their support base among the people can no longer be taken for granted.
2 comment(s)
Comment by Sudipta Chatterjee (visitor) on Mon, May 23, 2011 @ 01:48 IST #
Comment by Hari (blog owner) on Mon, May 23, 2011 @ 10:28 IST #