The thumb rule principle says ‘reject those political pinheads who have no sense of law or norm in the first place.
The headless contestants who keep loudspeakers blasting above 55 decibels in public and spoil public and private space including walls with posters showing pictures of glamorously photographed faces smiling like slaves, hands folded, be rejected first as they are lawless crooks likely to break more rules and norms when in power.
Further, any candidate using women and children in their rallies and processions have to be dismissed as unworthy creatures on grounds of being heartless.
More than all this, the ones that come on door visits with tall promises and blaming the rest of the world be discarded right away.
Those who organise to push lunches or dinners into their stomachs at poor households in full media glare are to be judged as theatrical characters only masquerading as do-gooders which they are not, be to thrown out of the mind.
The last sinister act they resort to is bribing gullible voters, particularly in the urban slums and backward rural pockets to extract commitment to vote in favour. In such events, better eat up the money and vote in favour of the best choice.
Interestingly, the moment polls were announced, as many as 149 new political parties cropped up within a month to fight elections. ‘Bharosa Party', ‘Sabsi Badi Party' and ‘Rashtriya Saaf Niti Party' are some of the 2,300-odd ones that India is forced to witness on the eve of the general elections.
The Election Commission of India declares there are 2,293 registered parties including seven recognised national and 59 regional parties.
The Modi Government has to face strength-gaining Congress all over and a number of extremely popular regional outfits across east, west and south India. Modi seems to have realised that the two big economic reforms he slapped on the people did result in grave economic distress.
Demonetisation billed as an anti-corruption measure did not go well with the masses. Terror activities did not diminish nor was black money recovered.
Lack of foresight resulted in poor implementation: new notes had strange sizes. So, ATMs had to be recalibrated, causing inordinate delays, which deepened the shock further more.
Economic activity in the informal, cash-based economy literally froze, leading to irreparable private and public loss on countless fronts.
This hurt small businesses and workers throughout the informal sector.
The second shock called the GST is not yet in place only because of poor execution without adequate prior orientation among the officials as well the public.
Voters do not seem to find the BJP’s return exciting or joyous as its religious nationalism-based agenda is distressing. Ram Temple, cow vigilantism, hatred for marginally-rising Muslim population and extremely indecent propaganda with morphed and doctored audiovisual products have irked sane Indians.
Some tips to assess bad leaders:
Anyone without vision as he will fail in doing good as he cannot inspire teams, motivate performance or create sustainable value.
One who lacks character or integrity will not endure the test of time. It doesn’t matter how intelligent, affable, persuasive or savvy a person is if one is prone to rationalising unethical behaviour.
Nothing smacks of poor leadership like lack of performance. Nobody is perfect, but those who consistently fail are not leaders. Someone who has consistently experienced success in leadership roles better be reconsidered.
The worst is the ‘know-it-all’ guys. The best leaders are acutely aware of how much they don’t know. They have no need to be the smartest persons in the room but have the unyielding desire to learn from others.
When there is a problem of communication, there is trouble. When leaders are constantly flummoxed by those who don’t seem to get it, there exists a leadership problem. Great leaders can communicate effectively across mediums, constituencies and environments. They are active listeners, fluid thinkers and know when to listen more than talk
If a leader doesn’t understand the concept of ‘service above self', he will not ever build the trust, confidence and loyalty of those he leads. Display of ego, pride, and arrogance is a most terrible trait. Real leaders invariably take the blame and give the credit to others.
Failed leaders as a class, suffer from lack of, misplaced, or misguided love, which contribute greatly to failures. Empathy, humility and compassion are magnificent signs of leadership strength.
The best leaders are flexible in their approach. They understand the power of situational leadership. The highway leadership styles don’t play well in today’s world. It will only result in a fractured culture and, ultimately, a non-productive nation, region or community. Only those who can quickly recognise and adapt their methods to the situation at hand will be successful over the long haul. Real leaders believe in open-source not proprietary, surrender not control and, of course, collaboration not dictatorial methods.
Leadership is less about balance and more about priority. The best leaders are ruthless in their pursuit of focus. Those who lack the focus and attention to detail will perish.
Political leaders not paying attention to the voters who chose him are plain crooks. Successful leaders focus on the voters' feelings, which in turn leads to satisfaction and loyalty.
Real leaders are accountable. They don’t blame others, don’t claim credit for the success of their team but always accept responsibility for failures of any kind.
Unfortunately, most of the qualities and traits have become completely invisible among the modern-day Indian politicians. The majority of them enter the lawmaking houses by guile and machinations. Only a miniscule few are chosen by the masses for selfless service.
Lately, only goons and hoodlums have been seen as the core strength of contesting politicians who find it easy to garner votes by intimidation tricks.
Though after the advent of the immensely potent social media having come in place due to magical information technology inventions like the smartphone, people have become a great deal smarter to know who is the devil and who the saint, not much structural reforms have happened to have crooks discarded by appropriate auto systems.
This year around, 45 sitting MLAs and three MPs have declared criminal cases relating to women victimisation according to a report by the Association for Democratic Reforms.
The ruling BJP has the highest number, followed by Shiv Sena; the Trinamool Congress is third; the Telugu Desam Party is just below.
The Congress and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) are at the bottom of the list with only four each criminally accused ‘power politicians'.
Pollsters seem to have been hired to sing praises for the Modi Government. They have forecast incredibly wild victory numbers for the BJP still clinging to the Ram Temple issue, which is not constitutionally acceptable.
The BJP has lost much if the Hindi, nay, ‘Hindu' heartland. Rajasthan, UP, MP and Chhattisgarh are gone. Goa is today virtually non-BJP. The southern States are in a commanding position with their powerful regional outfits. Eastern States of West Bengal and Odisha are formidably positioned.
As enigmatically as ever, the BJD, led by Naveen Patnaik, is virtually invincible. The forecast for Odisha is the BJD shall lead with at least 90 MLAs and 16 MPs. The primary reason for a BJD comeback is the dedicated cadres at the grassroots.
(The writer is a core member of Transparency International, Odisha)