Blaming all the politicians all the time has become our favourite past time. The Anna Hazare movement has re-validated our belief that all the politicians are corrupt and dishonest. It is a different matter altogether that many of us do not bother to define corruption with full intellectual rigor. Many of us can justify the inevitability of paying small bribes in government offices. But what about the politicians? Do we really want them to be honest? Are we ready to hear the truth? Are we willing to accept honest politicians and vote for them?
If I were a Prime Ministerial candidate, here is what I could deliver as an honest political campaign speech.
Friends, ..... well some of you are actually anti-social and perhaps enemies of the state. So the rest of us will have to deal with you separately.
Our nation is going through a very difficult phase and we are facing many challenges. But then there is nothing new about it. It was true in 1947 and it will be true in 2047. In fact most of you are actually better-off as compared to the people in last many centuries. Our government may not have done anything worth mentioning. But the world community that includes some dedicated scientists and some blood-sucking corporations, has provided vaccines, antibiotics and pain-killers. This has dramatically improved our lives.
It is true that half our nation is hungry. Many children do not get the basic education. The US and Euro economies can completely wreck our economy also. Frankly I do not have any solution for this. And I do not believe anybody else is also having any solution. We do not even know how to predict the economic conditions. Therefore we do not have any concrete solutions to offer. We can try out a few things. If luck is with us, some of them may even work. If not, we have to try out a few other things and the cycle will continue.
There is no rule-of- law in many parts of our country. Our borders are in totally dangerous conditions. Our military and our nuclear power are not good enough to check our enemies. If the mighty US could not take care of Iraq and Afghanistan, there is no way we could solve the Pakistan problem using military or nuclear weapons. I really do not know what could be done to win the hearts of Kashmiries and bring them back in the mainstream. Same thing applies to the north-eastern states. In Mumbai and Bengaluru, I do not know how to address the concerns of “sons of soil” and the migrant workers at the same time. Somehow we have to muddle through these situations.
Personally I shall try to induct only honest members in my cabinet. However, there is no way of telling who is clean before the media and CBI find out. True, there are some leaders who are already facing prosecution. But unless you give me a solid majority, it may be difficult keep them out and still make the government survive. I am not as charismatic as Raj, Jaya or Mamta. I am not as entertaining as Lalu or Diggi-raja. I am not as competent an administrator as Narendra-bhai or Nitishkumar. I am not as scholarly as Manmohan-ji or enjoy the royal background of Prince Rahul.
But I am sure you will vote for me and give me an overwhelming majority so that I could try to govern. At least I shall make a sincere attempt. Jai-Hind.
With a totally honest speech like this, I am sure you all will vote for me. If that happens, the new era of Indian politics (where we shall continue with the current state of affairs) will begin.
