Tone from the top

I seldom watch TV news anymore. I find myself skipping the front page of daily newspapers most days. Partly this is on account of Twitter taking over as my primary newsfeed. More importantly though I have had more than my share of dark news with incident after disgusting incident making headlines and fodder for debates. Never before in my living memory has the country gone through more depressing times ( I was a toddler during the Emergency). Food preferences are (violently) regulated, free thinkers are killed in succession, musicians are not allowed to perform, electioneering has touched a new low while governance is restricted to shrill rhetoric or sweeping streets annually at best.

We seem to be living with the hate-mongering of the partition era, the Orwellian nervousness of The Emergency and the inaction of the immediate preceding regime. We are no strangers to communal tension, our governance has never inspired awe anywhere and the odd high profile killing has always been used as an instrument to send home a message. It is when all of these repeatedly come together that  the scenario turns unbearable. It turns scary when you look at the perception of most occurrences being state sponsored , or at least implicitly blessed.

The tone from the top matters. One could argue that we are too large and too complex a nation to be governed by a single individual. Hence laying the blame squarely there may seem grossly unfair. But hold on. This was a mandate sought practically for a single individual. Having received the mandate, the heels have dug in sharper and individual supremacy even more authoritatively established. No minister is empowered and civil servants are moved before they get their feet under the table. Hence, if the 1st solar powered district court has to be inaugurated by the man himself , I am afraid the expectation will be for a personal reaction to every individual polarising or regressive incident. The so- called right wing cannot be allowed to run amok simply because they supplied the boots on the ground for campaigning. If fund contributors during elections are not being granted special favours now, the violent voices of regression need to be publicly silenced too.

The Emergency was relatively short lived because the opposing voices had stature and could garner resources and intellectual firepower to counter excesses. That is sorely lacking today and a few regional leaders need to up the ante if there is no credible national statesman. Some members of the ruling government should also publicly voice their opposing point of view and boldly face consequences if any . Contribution to the country by stopping cultural regression in its tracks will be way greater than any short term achievement in a ministry. You don't need to look too far- the RBI governor speaks his mind and does what he has to without fear or favour. We do need cohesive action to change course now.

Or perhaps, the tone from the top could change and we can live happily ever after. After all we live in hope.

BJP's pAAP

It fills me with anxiety to live in a city ruled by AAP. In the last 10+ years, Delhi is one city that has improved every year as a city to reside in. To now leave it at the mercy of a bunch of street protestors is frightening. No harm in staying optimistic though. While my impression of Modi's governance has deteriorated substantially for now, one always thought he got the political art and science right. AAP had caught Delhi's imagination a year ago and had equally managed to lose its appeal with almost the same pace. A plethora of miscalculations by BJP have let them claw back in and actually emerge way stronger than 2013. This despite the BJP winning every single seat in the Parliament polls riding on massive resentment against Kejriwal's irresponsible antics.

The BJP had a very creditable Lok Sabha win and followed it through with a series of successful Legislative Assembly elections. The "Modi wave" certainly had a palpable impact but its effect was overestimated by the BJP leadership. The country was governed by the UPA for a decade. Maharashtra and Haryana were also governed by Congress led regimes for two terms or more. There was significant anti-incumbency that helped the BJP way more than merely the Modi wave. Modi was the instrument used to usher in the anti-incumbency message. He read way more into the message than he ought to have.

Last time round, the anti-incumbency vote in Delhi was against the Congress. By delaying elections till 9 months of their own rule, the disenchantment with Modi's "high oratory low delivery" model translated itself into an anti-BJP vote. Modi knows the short public memory better than most. The CWG scam has faded from public memory just the way 2002 riots have. To compound matters, they decided to air-drop a CM candidate with no political experience and thrust her on the soldiers. A cadre-based party does not take kindly to a last-minute import and the silent mutiny began . The strong personality of Modi and Amit Shah coupled with their reputation for mercilessness prevented a public rebellion. Surprisingly, the RSS remained a silent spectator and permitted Ms Bedi to be foisted and supported Modi's bid to stymie popular mass-leaders like Harsh Vardhan.

The Prime Minister of India is under incredible scrutiny. Every gesture or action is observed, scrutinised and dissected by all and sundry. The electorate across the country is watching the PM's publicised parleys with Sajjad Lone or even the "flexible" coalition being worked out with the PDP.  Delhi voters do realise that elections were called for only when all attempts at horse-trading with AAP legislators failed. The people of Maharashtra would have made a silent note when the BJP colluded with the NCP to win a trust vote. A challenger can resort to dirty speeches. The PM taking cheap shots at opponents make him appear like a better dressed version of Kejriwal. If manipulation, mud-slinging and inconsistent values have to be the order of the day, the PM ought to maintain arms-length and leave the overt trench fighting to his satraps. It is never too late to attempt statesmanship.

The stern demeanour and overconfident body language of Modi help cultivate the strongman image that the country so desperately craved in its leader. Add to that an Amit Shah (with very similar traits) and its an amplified overdose of arrogance. In his PM hat, Modi allocates ministries at whim, replaces officers unceremoniously (including to Andamans) and runs his government like a monarchy. Amit Shah brings the same cocky approach to political machinations. Shah brazenly dismisses a core poll promise like "black money back in 100 days" as an "election stunt". This, on the eve of a high-profile election.  Something has got to give. With the BJP increasingly operating like the Gandhi-family led Congress, how long before we see the first breakaway faction?

It will be unfair not to give Kejriwal credit for a brilliantly scripted campaign. Apart from creativity and punch, there was an element of unprecedented boldness in his approach that rattled everyone's cage. He is the only politician in the country who has Modi's combination of political vision, guile and earthy charisma.The battlelines were long drawn but the battle has just begun.