Politically speaking, right now India appears to be a theatre of the absurd. The toppling game taking place in certain States, including Goa, is acted out in dramatic fashion. It may look political madness, but one must understand that there’s method to this madness.
In the renewed strength of the BJP after the general elections, there’s elevation among its supporters. On the other hand, there’s also a dismal feeling among those belonging to other political camps. The BJP has now absolute majority in parliament and that gives it immense power. It’s this power that helps the party to go forward in its quest to have a Congress-mukt India, aka Bharat. The political machinations going on in Karnataka makes one wonder what the hell is going on.
The State is on a political see-saw. Though obvious that the BJP is all-out to grab power in the State by dislodging the ruling coalition government between Congress and Janata Dal (Secular), it’s doing an unethical and self-deprecating job. The party, which talked of talking a high moral ground and denounced the Congress for its scandals and scams, has shown its true colour. Political rhetoric at its best.
No doubt, the BJP is flush with money as it made hay in the first term of its governance. Besides, it has some of the country’s top industrialists in their pockets. With such financial strength and financial backing, it’s easy for the BJP to approach Opposition MLAs to join the party. The lure of money and ministerial posts has always been tempting in Indian politics for decades. It’s what makes MLAs offer themselves for sale for the inflated crores of money. A ministerial post is a gateway to riches. Ask the Goa ministers of past and present.
It’s rumoured that the going rate for a MLA in Karnataka is about Rs 30 crores, or perhaps more. Plus there could be other lucrative incentives. If the BJP captures Karnataka, it would be a big victory for the party. It will definitely be a shot-in-the-arm for BJP. The horse-trading going on there is just unbelievable, more like Goa’s marketplaces. That the MLAs have been flown to a distant place such as Mumbai and housed in a five-star hotel while some of them have been lodged in a resort hotel makes the political scenario in India very dramatic. It’s so amazing and amusing that one can expect a Bollywood movie on the way politics is played in India, since films have been made on India’s military might.
In the good old days when the Congress ruled supreme for long decades, there was not much of horse-trading as seen now. It was in 2011 that the famous phrase “Aaya Ram, Gaya Ram” came into the Indian political lexicon, thanks to Haryana. MLAs moved from one party to another with gay abandon. It vitiated the India’s electoral democracy. If the trend continues, it could destroy the democratic faith and trust.
Co-related to the political antics happening in Karnataka, is the sideshow of political tantrums by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Political sloganeering has come into sharp contrast as both the Tiramool Congress (TMC) and the BJP have gone on a warpath over the “Jai Shri Ram” issue. Innocuous as it may sound, it has deep political implications. The slogan is bandied about deliberately by the BJP in its forceful promotion of hardline Hinduvta, on which rides the Hindu vote. Bengal has become a political minefield.
The BJP got a much-needed push in Bengal by securing 18, gaining 16 seats, from two it secured in the 2014 parliamentary election, while TMC shrunk to 22 seats from 34. It definitely gave the BJP the much-needed inroad into the State that has been the fort of the Left Front, led by the CPI (M), which drew a blank in the general elections. With what the BJP is currently flexing its muscles in efforts to dismantle non-BJP governments, Bengal should fear that Amit Shah’s words of BJP bringing the State into its embrace at the next State elections.
One cannot dismiss Amit Shah’s threat lightly. He will have his fingers crossed today, awaiting Karnataka result, while the Goa slugfest is expected to continue as Congress will fight hard to get back its 10 defectors. The BJP believes in winner-take-all politics. A crisis is looming in Indian democracy. Religious intolerance is mounting and social society is under siege. The BJP’s act of poaching rival MPs and MLAs is undermining one of democracy’s core values.
As for Goa, some may say that the Goa Forward Party (GFP) deserves to be shunted from the corridors of power, as Vijai Sardesai was the prime betrayer of the Congress. I fail to discriminate as to who is good and who is bad among the 10 rebels. One thing I am sure of is that many of them, if not all, seem bent on their own personal enrichment instead of social and economic prosperity of the State.
(Eugene Correia is a
senior journalist)
