Those castigating the current defection saga in Maharashtra need to reflect whether they were not, once upon a time, skilfully playing the same game of power grabbing. Who can forget the toppling game of the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties and beyond when “aaya ram gaya ram” was the backbone of politics practiced by these same political parties who are shedding crocodile tears at the decline of political morality, writes former IAS officer V.S.Pandey
The changing chameleon colors of our political community are brazenly being displayed yet again. It is déjà vu. What has happened in Maharashtra has been happening in our country for several decades now. Winners and losers, both trumpet their respective opinions about the drama which has been unfolding in Maharashtra for nearly a year now. The losers dub it a murder of democracy while winners label it as acting in nation’s interest. Those wounded in this episode of political hopping were known for being master practitioners in this selfsame art of musical chairs. Alas, their chelas have tricked the master with the same “daon”/ knockout blow on the eve of Guru Poornima fittingly. In our cultural tradition, the success of guru is optimal when his chelas surpass him. This is now on display in full public glare. The guru should be exulting on the success of his protege but it seems the chela is no mood to pay his guru the “Dakshina” that is due to him and wants to usurp his position.
Those castigating the current defection saga need to reflect whether they were not, once upon a time, skilfully playing the same game of power grabbing. Who can forget the toppling game of the sixties, seventies, eighties, nineties and beyond when “aaya ram gaya ram” was the backbone of politics practiced by these same political parties who are shedding crocodile tears at the decline of political morality. The question that needs to be asked now is was there ever a time when ethics, morality and principles defined our politician’s choices? The answer sadly is “never”. When those entering politics had never ever displayed moral behavior of any degree, at any stage of their lives, how can we expect that after joining politics they will start acting morally now? Ethics and morality are qualities which require years of rigorous practice to become part of a person’s ingrained culture. Those using false hood and deceit as their sole armory to gain power should not be expected to make honorable choices leave alone strive to deliver justice and welfare to the people.
Politics is basically a means to attain power by reaching out to the people through their manifesto detailing their programs and policies but unfortunately, it has never been so. Politics has become a tool to grab power somehow and remains devoid of ethics and morals. Its very nature pushes an ambitious aspirant into immoral and antisocial conduct because lust of power just blinds people of weak morals. The father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi, believed that politics should be suffused with ethical and moral principles. He was not only a strong believer of the concept that politics should be imbued with truth and moral conduct but he practiced the politics of Truth. He wanted to change the nature of politics and base it on truth and morality. Gandhi ji was of the strong view that only honest means should be used for attaining political objectives. Contrast this with today’s political culture. Money power, muscle power, casteism and false propaganda define every political party. One cannot imagine politics today minus caste, religion and black money. Once these are the integral foundation of our political culture then any talk of ethical political behavior has no meaning because there is nothing ethical about today’s politics. Political culture is degenerating rapidly and seems to be in freefall.
The citizenry needs to worry about the state of politics -which is the most important institution in any democratic country’s life. The famous political theorist, Rousseau in this passage from “The Social Contract” had centuries before warned about the self-centered behavior of members of the government who will inevitably use the power of their position to pursue their own private interests (their “particular will”) at the expense of the people (the “general will”). He calls this “the unavoidable and inherent defect” which afflicts all political organizations just like aging afflicts the human body. So, the kind of degeneration visible in our political land scape is not surprising. What is astounding is how can We, the people, be so silent? Have we resigned to this fate? We must take counter action and begin to correct the rot that has set in. Unless the politics in our country is cleaned up and the scourge of corruption removed with iron determination, we will suffer the ignominy of continuing to be a corrupt nation whose political class has failed the nation and prevented it from attaining its full potential. Whether we become a rich country or not in the near future or become fully developed, the moot question is whether our governments worked at and facilitated people in attaining their potential. To do so, politics will have to be cleaned and ethics and morality made its foundation. Wheeling dealing in the name of politics has been played out in our country successfully for decades now, and has retarded us tremendously. Let us Act and clean up politics. The worth of the state, in the long run, is the worth of the individuals composing it. Let us elect the worthy henceforth.
(Vijay Shanker Pandey is former Secretary Government of India)
