30 March 2014, 07:11 PM IST
In a report carried by this newspaper about the current health of Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, we learnt that one of those that called to ask about his health regularly was Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The act of calling on one's ailing predecessor might ordinarily be seen as nothing more than a simple act of courtesy, but in today's environment where politics has become an arena of hate enacted loudly, this too becomes a rare sign of grace, a harking back to an earlier time.
It is natural to feel a little nostalgic given the tenor of the current election campaign. We have had name-calling of the worst kind from all sides as well as threats to dismember rival leaders. What makes this surprising is that this time around, the elections are almost certainly about a deep desire for change. The discontent runs deep, and is not limited to the quality of administration provided by the last regime- more fundamental questions about the meaning of democracy have been systematically raised in the last few years.
The two main faces of change in India are currently locked in a direct combat in Varanasi. Although Arvind Kejriwal is by no stretch of imagination a contender for the top job, he is very much the person around whom both hopes and fears about a new kind of politics rests. Over the course of the last couple of years, he has stirred urban India in a way not seen recently, and has asked questions of the system that hadn't been articulated so far. He speaks to the need for a radical cleaning up of the system, an idea that produces great resonance with a significant part of India. Narendra Modi comes from a very different side of the political spectrum, but his appeal too lies in the need felt for effective leadership that has a plan for the country. His promise has been dazzling for many, and the kind of passionate loyalty he evokes is unusual at a time when most politicians are surrounded by cynicism. A significant proportion of his support base support him without expecting any narrow returns in turn- they sincerely believe that he holds all the answers that the country needs today.
Given the hope that surrounds both these new forces in Indian politics, it is striking that in their own way, both have chosen to take the low road when it comes to the setting the tone of their respective campaigns. Kejriwal's style has always been confrontational, and he understands the need to have an enemy to work against. But even by his own yardstick, his national campaign has substituted invective for substance. His earlier attack on corruption and the complicity of the political establishment was equally strident in tone but at least it rang true and was of relevance to the electorate. His current diatribe against large business houses might be rooted in some truth, but it has been articulated crudely; besides it is simply not an issue of great interest to his constituency. In today's India, it is the politician who is the enemy, not the industrialist. Also, attempts to contrive outrage all the time compromises his fundamental premise, and makes it seem like an exercise in expediency. The AAP seeks to take the high ground, but does so in a manner that is increasingly not very high-minded.
Narendra Modi's campaign is by all accounts doing very well. In part the aura of strength that he radiates needs him to be unsparing in his criticism of his rivals. But increasingly his speeches are taking on the appearance of bad advertising copy. The AK49 coinage was illustrative of the level at which his campaign is being pitched. To label Kejriwal a Pakistani agent is ridiculous enough and to do so on the basis of Prashant Bhushan's statement (which Kejriwal has publicly dissociated himself with more than once) and a map put up on the party website reeks of desperation that Modi has no business feeling. Criticism of this kind is dishonest; if the Modi campaign feels it necessary to attack Kejriwal on this front, someone other than Modi could have been put up to it.
Worse, the desire to convert everything into populist sound bites is now reaching epidemic proportions. There are only so many slogans a voter can remember, and dreaming up 5 new 'coinages' in every speech has the danger making the speaker sound juvenile. Modi's success in connecting with a national audience is based in part on his ability to convert abstract policy issues into emotionally resonant promises, but there comes a point when the simple becomes the distressingly banal.
In a larger sense, Modi's challenge is to start looking not just like a strong challenger but as someone who looks and feels like the leader of the entire country and not just of his own fan base. This means being able to cope with criticism, and being open to dissenting voices. This is no longer an optional virtue; it is increasingly a basic necessity, given the diversity of interests that need to be juggled at the national level. There is no question that the current honeymoon that he enjoys with the national media is not of a permanent nature. The Gujarat model of manufacturing silence 'by unanimous consent' is unlikely to work nationally. The instinct to deal with opposition by eliminating it, as he is doing within the BJP may be a useful one right now, but it is not a viable long term strategy. Modi has striven to evolve his style as his ambitions have changed; it is time now to evolve some more.
As things stand, India may get a strong leader and at least symbolically, one that offers radical cleansing, but there is no statesman anywhere on the horizon. Perhaps everything cannot change at the same time
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