Mesmerizing Mandate

You will excuse me, I think, for the title. In fact, even more quixotic titles crossed my mind but I settled for this eventually.

At 8 PM on Saturday the 16^th, my limbs, weary yet mindful of the fact that revolutionary proceedings were round the corner, shunned their torpor. I didn’t require an alarm. My conscience woke me up on its own accord. Reaching my TV set (which was unsurprisingly on) I conspicuously saw Rajdeep Sardesai et al aggrandizing the possible results even before the first vote was counted. The tumult that was created by various news channels alike was of massive proportions. That was when I fathomed what an election meant to the billion people of this magnificent nation.

In my blog post titled-‘Of Deceit, Decimation and Disillusionment’ I had gone overboard, I think, on my blarney on L K Advani, whom some (me included) viewed as the most deserving resident of the eminent bungalow of 7 Race Course Road. In the post, I did also go overboard in my incisive criticism of the Congress party and its ‘reign’, if I might clepe it so, in the last 5 years. All that might seem woefully piebald now after the thumping victory the Congress party has registered in Mandate 09.

In the exit polls that I had been very ardently following, there wasn’t much separating the two sides. Most of the exit polls that were done predicted a photo finish between the two enormously pugnacious coalitions. What we got to see, however, was a trouncing meted out to the presumed ‘communal’ Bharatiya Janata Party and an argosy of roses to the ‘secular’ side of the battle-the Congress party. Might we presume that the electorate has understandably admonished the BJP because of their ‘communal’ and Hindutva image? That might well have been one of the reasons for the second consecutive downfall of the party that once was a force to reckon with. The reason I say ‘once’ is because I cannot see where it is headed from here.

The debacle of the BJP was actually written on the wall, conceive some, and I will not shy away from buying that theory. Varun Gandhi’s communally inspired speech (I’m giving it too much dignity…it was actually a repugnant vomit) was the factor that principally dented the BJP’s prospects. I know it isn’t conscientious to attribute one reason to a debacle, but this one undeniably engendered resentment and retribution towards the BJP, in the minds of people across the country. The support that the party gave its horribly irreverent scion post the incident only gilded the grotesque lily with more dirt. Besides, the premeditated assault (if I might be permitted to use the verb) directed at Dr. Manmohan Singh all through the last year-year and a half had inflicted incorrigible wounds on the credibility of the BJP, whose attempt to sabotage a genteel Prime Minister were viewed as ‘desperate’ and ‘inappropriate’. Another grave aberration of the BJP was to project Narendra Modi (‘communally infamous’ Narendra Modi) as the future Prime Ministerial candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party, for 2014 perhaps. All through the election campaign, the cynosure as far the BJP are concerned, was Narendra Modi himself and not the Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani. Also the 2008 riots of Kandhamal, in which the BJP allegedly played a role, seemed to have taken a great toll. The riots were succeeded by a breakup of alliance with Naveen Patnaik’s ‘Biju Janata Dal’ which bagged a staggering number of the Lok Sabha seats of Orissa this time around. The fact that the BJP alone got a paltry 120 seats is a culmination of these tactical gaffes.

The Congress party, however, was composed and scrupulous throughout the election campaign. The reason I say ‘scrupulous’ is because they never premeditatedly or maliciously maligned the BJP. In all the campaign speeches, we saw the Congress party elucidating their own landmarks in the last five years, while the BJP had just one agenda-that of attacking and accusing the Congress party. The difference was evident, be it for the Quattrochi issue or this bizarre issue of Manmohan Singh being a ‘weak’ Prime Minister or the cancellation of the IPL in India. In all the election rallies, we saw the Gandhi family patting the back of the government and the Prime Minister, and reaffirming that the welfare and development oriented programmes will continue for the next 5 years, should they get back to power. The rather clean election campaign of the Congress party and the radically contrasting blasphemous campaign of the BJP make a statement themselves.

Through this election season, one ‘boy’ from the Congress party has undergone metamorphosis immaculately-Rahul Gandhi. The senior leaders of the Congress party aren’t incorrect in stating that a lot of credit for this victory goes to the blue eyed scion. His decision to slug it out alone in Uttar Pradesh after breaking apart from a rigid political party was a decision that displayed much chivalry. His sheer enigma and charisma that appeases the youth of the nation has played a benefic role in the resounding conquest of the Congress party.

And yet, amid this hullabaloo, I feel awfully piteous for L K Advani, who in my view is irrefutably among the greatest Indian politicians of this century, for he in all probability will exit Indian politics without for a moment getting a feel of the Prime Minister’s throne. That will be throbbing for a man who deserves the august hospitality.

Sonia Gandhi, a few weeks ago, bought the rights for the song that has now become the unofficial anthem for all triumphs worldwide. Madamoiselle Sonia, you might as well sing it now.