Saturday, January 03, 2009

People hate the dirty face of partisan politics, says Priyanka Rai

The muck started flying from the time the first bullet sang. The Sangh Parivar went into a celebratory mood, as it felt sure that now the Congress had had it… clean sweep for the saffron, they partied. Congress leaders were going through the last motions of the Delhi polls, and pundits in both 24 Akbar Road as well as 9 Ashoka Road went into huddles, working out intangible election mathematics. And in the end, Congress felt that the solid, uncompromising hit back by the country got it the edge and Sheila Dikshit could, just could, win.

After his Mumbai visit, Advani said in his Rajasthan campaign, “Despite the Supreme Court verdict, Afzal has not been hanged. I often feel if Afzal were named Anand Mohan or Anand Singh, he would have been hanged a long time ago." Incumbent Vasundhara Raje, in a tight battle, said: "Though the terrorists got into Taj and Oberois hotels in Mumbai, we have seen how this government has failed to check terrorism." Interestingly, Narendra Modi had described Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare as antinational a week back. But today, Karkare is a martyr for whom Modi has offered a crore of rupees in compensation. It is precisely this kind of filth that got the public’s goat.

And there seems to be a reason for this sort of politics. What the public is saying – though may be not in so many words – is that none of the national parties have a national agenda: they just stick top their partisan interests. That's the real tragedy of democratic India. Each party seems so insecure that for them national security is a non-issue. By hook or by crook, they want the votes, come to the power and stick to it.

The people today do not believe Shivraj Patil’s ‘owning moral responsibility’ and resigning. Sonia Gandhi’s ubiquitous hands were obviously turning the strings that ran the puppets to stem a Congress slide during the coming polls. Media coverage of Patil changing three suits in a span of a few hours of the serial blasts in Delhi had enraged the masses, but there was no expression. BJP points out to the more than 200 blasts during the UPA regime. Home Ministry’s official statistic says it has come down quite a bit from the blasts during the BJP-led NDA regime. Then why resign now? ....Continue