In the recent times, India is changing. The family-centric Indian politics has given way to person-centric politics
Now, this is what Winston Churchill had to say about Indian politics. “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low caliber & men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power. India will be lost in political squabbles.”
Perhaps, the biggest statesmen of his times said so for disdain he had for the colony that was wriggling out of the control of the British Empire. Nonetheless, he had some serious insight into the Indian polity. After all, his country ruled India for almost 200 years.
The 75 years of independence have been tumultuous. We have seen the good, bad, and ugly of Indian politics. The next 25 years to 100 are going to be challenging to say the least.
In the last ten years, the polity of India has changed. For 65 odd years, all political parties played by the rules set during the independence movement, irrespective of their ideology. It did not matter if they were left, right, or center. They showed allegiance to the constitution, respected the freedom movement, did not question Gandhi and his methods, and did not disrupt the basic nature of the society. The religious or regional idiosyncrasies or cultural fallacies were left alone. Though the system was not great, it worked.
But the last 10 years have been different. Nothing is sacrosanct anymore. Everything is under the scanner, there is a doggedness to rewrite, rephrase, and rebuild everything. From the scratch. From monuments to institutions, history to polity, textbooks to basic values everything is a candidate for revamping.
The biggest and most discernible change has been a paradigm shift in the perception of the people. The family-centric Indian politics has given way to person-centric politics. The BJP found in Narendra Modi an articulate and bankable leader; AAP was built around. The congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, DMK, Shiv Sena, and many other parties are still embroiled in their legacy, yet to come to terms with the new politics.
The rise of two nascent parties is a turning point. One, of course, is Narendra Modi-led BJP - the BJP’s new avatar, and the second is Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal. AAP started its journey in 2012, whereas BJP that we have today was reincarnated when Modi took over its control in 2013. So it took ten years to bring a storm in the teacup.
The two political parties have very different takes on contemporary issues. Yet they are very similar in their approach and have caught the people’s fancy. The way these parties conduct themselves is indeed new to India. The Prime minister in his early day used to say that he was an outsider in Delhi. He changed it inside out. Thanks to him political landscape looks and feels completely different. AAP started with its call to change the politics while Modi’s BJP changed the rules of the game and the game itself.
For new politics, a new narrative and new symbols had to be invented. The infusion of nationalistic fervor in politics, a deadly combination that Tagore warned about is back but with a twist. It does not cherish the freedom movement that we know. It is a new interpretation of the freedom movement that is in vogue today.
The constitution isn't sacrosanct either. Ideals of Liberalism, socialism secularism have lost their sheen. It is laced with Hindu ideology. It resonates with Hindu Rashtra with symbols drawn from ancient Hindu texts, leaving little or no room for the other social, cultural and religious groups.
It discredits leaders it can, throws up new leaders in Vir Savarkar, and usurps the leaders like Sardar Patel after dusting off some of the ideas that do not suit them. The BJP footstep follower AAP is appropriating Baba Saheb Ambedkar and Bhagat Singh’s legacy though it did not have anything to do with them until recently.
The new polity has PM’s mantra of ‘sabka saath’. It translates into the spate of cataclysmic narratives that keeps people engaged. They are opinionated like never before. They are discussing politics in family Whatsapp groups. Families are breaking over arguments on political issues!
Not very long ago the people’s issues were political agenda – unemployment, poverty, price rise, and so on. Not anymore. Today the elections are fought on no issues or at best ‘ non-issues’ which have nothing to do with people’s problems. The political parties are setting their agenda and fixing the narrative it has and brushing the people’s concerns under the carpet.
The BJP and AAP have discovered that it is easier to woo people with freebies rather than real development. Way back Jayalalitha started it in Tamil Nadu but AAP took it to the next level in Delhi and now the BJP is doing it on a national level. Thanks to the free ration distribution the BJP won the UP elections and AAP sweeps Delhi. Both use the exchequers' money to win voters.
Yet another new reality of new India is communal overtures in mainstream politics. The fringe elements and hate mongers are in the centerstage, inciting violence, creating a rift in the society, and getting away with it. Demonizing a section of society on one pretext or the other is now almost a routine.
Can India prove the fat old man wrong who also said at the time of the Bengal famine, “Why isn't Gandhi dead,” some resonance there with the party in power in India today!
(The writer is a columnist and documentary filmmaker. The views expressed are personal.)
