Given the current political atmosphere in the country, I find
the above title apt to describe the mindset of a citizen who genuinely
understands the value of his vote and wants to cast it for the most appropriate
candidate. But seeing the double-speak and flip-flops of the political leaders
and their parties, he finds it hard to decide who is right and who is wrong.
Take the current hot topic - FDI. BJP when it was last in
power wanted to introduce FDI under the “India Shining” theme and the Congress
(then in opposition) was against it as it felt it would hurt the nation. Now
few years later, Congress is going all out to portray FDI as another wave of
much needed economic reforms after 1991. And the main opposition party BJP now
finds it a recipe for disaster. It is intriguing to see how in a few years the
same policy changed its possible impact.
With these things at the back of my mind, I personally found
the arguments, the data presented for the FDI debate in the Parliament
extremely hollow. It is then no doubt that the credibility of our policy makers
is going down in the eyes of an average citizen. Unfortunately, this is what is
giving strength to the voices who lament our democratic system. It looks like
the political parties’ ideologies stand on a shallow ground. What they might
oppose today, is what they will fight for tomorrow – subject to political
calculations. It takes no rocket science to know that a nation progresses only
when its leaders have a proper vision with a firm belief in an ideology.
But, what seems to be in force now is Populism. Populism is
the new common ideology for all. Though morphine in the short-term, it turns
out as lacunae in the long run. A perfect example for this is the Indian
Railways. It is appalling to note the dilapidated state it is in with its fares
not been increased for close to eight years. This is a very obvious logic that
for a business entity to be viable its earnings need to increase in proportion
to the inflation. What rationale is behind the stagnant fares is something no
one wants to answer to.
There are many such issues related to the people of this
country which are decided keeping the political arithmetic in mind. But the more
far-reaching decision has to be taken by the voter who on seeing the
irresponsible behavior of the polity is in more doubt than ever as to who to
vote for.
