Mainstreamed

Last two decades of Indian politics undeniably belonged to regional parties. The phenomenon, which began from south of Vindhyanchal, swept through North and East India after 1990s.  And the political march of regional parties gained force with weakening of the Congress was another tale of a weaker Centre in New Delhi.  

Arguably, massive surge in negativism in Indian politics should be singularly blamed on the weak Centre. A politically weak Prime Minister in Manmohan Singh for 10 years derailed the India story, which a surging youth population yearned for. 

But it will be short-sightedness if only Manmohan Singh was singled out for all the ills of the country. Because, regional parties largely remained slave to their poverty of ideas too. 

The story of Tamil Nadu is that of shoddy governance irrespective of the fact whether DMK or the AIADMK ruled the state. In Andhra Pradesh, beneficiaries of "good governance" of former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu were, arguably, entrepreneurs and landed gentries. Later, YSR Rajshekhar Reddy, with his thrust on foodgrains dole out, took the state further backward even though lakhs of engineering and medical graduates yearned for better lives.     

In North, Bihar under the rule of Lalu Prasad saw "dark age" for two decades. In Odisha, Navin Patnaik, enjoying legacy of his father Biju Patnaik, took refuge in cheap foodgrains dole out for his political security. In Jharkhand, misdeeds of regional parties took the state to worse days.

And the tales of Uttar Pradesh, which accounts for 80 Lok Sabha seats with a population close to 22 crore, are utterly saddening. "Mulayam ne londo (Akhilesh Yadav) no saara sadak kha gawo (Mulayam's son eat away all the roads". This is what the people in UP tell about the Samajwadi Party government, which came to power with massive mandate in 2012.

The mercurial Trinamool leader Mamata Banerjee had scripted history after decimating the 32 long years of Left rule in West Bengal. But she, after three years of being sworn in as chief minister, knows only one thing of her administration, that blame all for the ills of the state. For backwardness, the Centre and Left are responsible; for rapes women are responsible; for crime Left "goons" are to be blamed and so on.  

But these regional satraps are now feeling the heat as the 2014 Lok Sabha elections are near their last leg. They are finding much to their discomfort, that people in their states are expressing openly their views to vote for "Modi Sarkar". 

"Sab ko mauka diya...ek mauka to Modi ji ko bhi milna chahiye...Behenji to PM nahi banengi (Mayawati) naa...(all have got opportunities...Modi too should get one...Mayawati can't become PM," said a Jatav woman in Mathura, who gave her name as Dolly. Incidentally, Jatavs (Dalit) are the core constituency of BSP.   

Jatavs in Mathura

The road to the political power in New Delhi surely passes through the rugged terrain of UP. And this will be better known to no other but Manmohan Singh, who lasted two full terms on the magnanimous support of both Mulayam and Mayawati.

Incidentally, Akhilesh Yadav rode on massive support of all castes, barring Dalits, to power in Lucknow in 2012. He carried the hope, that he would bring in a change in "backward-oriented" politics of Samajwadis. And, hints in the form of distribution of laptops, tablets were there. But he lost all zeal for governance or may be just got overawed in the presence of too many party stalwarts very soon. 

So, children in Mainpuri study squatting on the floor, because they do not have government schools near their villages. Those who got laptop are still learning MS Office even after one year in the hope of getting a data entry job. A course worth Rs 2,000 would have trained them for the job they appear to be seeking.

A pvt school in Mainpuri

In Puri, an executive engineer of the state rural development department lamented that the poor just did not want to work, as they got almost free rice, and even there were no zeal among them to work under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). 

"Modi PM banega to Gujrat ke tarah yahan bhi tarakki hoga...yahan candidate se hamen matlab nahi...vote Modi ke naam par denge (If Modi becomes PM, even our place will develop like Gujrat. Candidates are not important, as we will vote for Modi only," said Vinod Ghiyar in Mainpuri in UP. Ghiyar was not alone, as most people on the campaign trails in UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, AP, etc., have to say the same about the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Incidentally, it was the Congress, which brought "welfarist" mode of politics at the fore of its governance model. Regional parties gleefully aped the Congress, for that made them to reap the windfalls by tapping into pilferage and seepage. Many ministers in Mayawati government were booked for National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) scams by the CBI. The MGNREGA is a much bigger pilferage funded by tax-payers. 

"We are about 1,000 families here and none get jobs under MGNREGA, nor any elderly get pension," said Sarvar Khan in Konchhi village near Etawa in UP.

Muslims in Konchhi village in Mainpuri (UP)

The Modi campaign surrounding development easily swept through length and breadth of the country, as people grew tired of "welfarist" politics of the Congress and regional parties. And, so, Mamata Banerjee seems losing her nerves in West Bengal, while Navin Patnaik was pushed to the wall in Odisha. Mulayam is fighting for survival, while Mayawati seems clueless to the march of Modi bandwagon in her backyard. 

Even though Nitish Kumar did some amount of development works in Bihar during his first term, complacency took over him in the second term. And that set in an anti-incumbency wave in Bihar to the extent that it's a puzzle to find out which Lok Sabha seat in the state has his party, JD (U), in real contention. 

After the JD (U) had parted ways with BJP last year, Sharad Yadav beamed with confidence that regional parties would win half of the 545 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. In the winter of his political career, Yadav seems pushed to third position in his Madhepura Lok Sabha seat. 

And, writing on the wall is that regional parties are no more in a position to stop the Modi juggernaut. 

Narendra Modi bike rally in Etah (UP)

While the Congress went into the 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign in a defeatist manner, larger story is the wilting of regional parties. And that augurs well for Indian democracy, as the country appears set to leave behind the political legacy of the last two decades, that of the caste and linguistic identities weakening the march of the India story. 

Chasing Indira mirage

Political icons outlast their lives. They are more powerful even long after they are dead. 

John F Kennedy is still powerful in memories of Americans. That Bill Clinton during his first bid in the US Presidential elections got quite a leg up, after Americans found that he looked like Kennedy is being talked about far from Washington and in the unlikely land of mother of all democracy, that India is, should not come as surprise. Because what Kennedy was for America, Indira Gandhi was for India.

And the last hope of Congress and of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and also of numerous other dynasties in India seem pinned in Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Even before the noise in Congress for Priyanka becomes louder, her fans are growing in numbers among leaders of regional parties.  

That BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has emerged as the numero-uno threat to dynasty is being admitted in the political corridor and with quite considerable concern. Modi seems to have taken BJP to such places where the party never existed and that makes him a foe of regional forces as well. 

Arguably, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has lost his political plot. And as if Indian politics is still that gripping soap-opera, his sister and occasional campaigner Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is showing quite an eagerness to jump into politics. 

It will be a mistake not to see a pattern, because there is a clear orchestration to prop up her into the political arena.

"Rahul kuch jyaada hi make-up kar liya tha...bilkul babua lag raha tha...16 ke baad ham khul kar bolenge ki Priyanka ko leading role lena chahiye (Rahul looks a kid...after 16th May, we will openly demand a larger role for Priyanka," said a top ranking Samajwadi Party leader, who liasen with top Congress leaders.

Regional parties have thrived with the weakening of the Congress during the last three decades. They built dynastic political parties on caste identities and survived even after they faced corruption charges. 

But the lurking decimation of Congress in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections is being seen as a clear threat to various dynasties. They apprehend that if Nehru-Gandhi dynasty can be politically made irrelevant, they will face the similar fate in coming months or years. And, hence, it makes a strong case for rallying behind Priyanka.

"India is full of emotional people. Priyanka styles on Indira's lines. People can flock to her if she jumps into active politics," confided a seasoned politician. 

From Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab to Haryana to Uttar Pradesh to Odisha to Jharkhand, Indian democracy tells the sorry tale of electoral politics being hijacked by dynasties. While Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru pushed his daughter Indira Gandhi into politics without a clear motive to establish a dynasty, she later did make it happen in 1980s. 

And since then the beneficiaries of the JP movement formed dynasties of their own. So, Mulayam Singh Yadav clan in Uttar Pradesh, Lalu Prasad in Bihar, Devi Lal in Haryana, Shibu Soren in Jharkhand established their hegemony in their respective states. 

But the rise of Narendra Modi has sent shock waves in these dynasties. "After decimating the Gandhi dynasty, Modi will next target dynastic politics in states. He poses serious threats to all those who have carved out political dynasties on caste identities. 

Therefore, all such leaders will make a beeline to demand a larger role for Priyanka after the verdict for the Lok Sabha elections is out," confided a senior Samajwadi Party leader.Arguably, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could be an easy target for Modi to further crush the Congress. 

"Will she not being a Mrs Vadra prove counterproductive for the Congress?" To this, the reply comes: "This is a land where the likes of A Raja wins with record margin. So, being Mrs Vadra does not matter much. People are emotional and if Priyanka can reinvent herself as Indira, there could be a recovery," said one advocating a larger role for her.

Incidentally, a weak Congress gains a lot of friends. And in the coming months the Congress may be pleasantly surprised to find a lot of new friends. They may also like to do business together. And that will happen because when faced with an existential crisis, lesser foes do not mind joining hands together. 

Thus, Navin Patnaik can have an understanding with Congress, as BJP beings to make deep inroad in Orissa. Mamata Banerjee may also revive her relations with Congress, as ground reports suggest BJP likely to fetch a minimum 15 per cent vote share in West Bengal in the Lok Sabha elections. Also, Mulayam will have no choice but to seek help from the Congress to keep the rising BJP in UP at bay.  

But the Congress will not be in a hurry to launch Priyanka into active politics so soon. That Rahul will get another five years to re-build the Congress is acknowledged in the party. And, therefore, the Congress will like to titillate the people with Priyanka's name for a while. 

You don't run all your best horses in the same race.

Red ant eaters

Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi did not believe that a lot of people were eating red ants in many districts of Orissa in 1980s during famine. 

Three decades later, there are still people in parts of West Bengal and Orissa who eat red ants and their eggs. That, off course, is not a delicacy. but extreme human survival compromises. 

And these men and women are mostly Scheduled Castes and Tribes (SCs & STs). That they remain at the bottom of the development pyramid is a telling blow to the road-map, which Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi had laid as part of the "Poona Pact". The duo may not have imagined that their road-map would be hijacked by pseudo leaders, who in later decades, would exploit their castes to build fortunes for themselves.

On the outskirts of Lucknow and in the midst of a paddy field, three men were idling away their time with beedi. That was on the eve of the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Two of them sat on a raised cemented platform, while the third squatted at a distance on the ground. The two were Yadavs and the squatter was a Dalit. But they all worked for the state government and were fourth grade employees. For over two weeks, they all did the same job; that of covering larger than life size statues of "Behen" Mayawati in and around Lucknow.

"We will vote for Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav), but he will vote for Mayawati. You can ask him. He will vote for her despite covering her statues himself for over a fortnight," said one of the Yadavs. The squatter shyly confirmed. That he will do so, because, he said, Mayawati is the honour of his caste.

In five years that she ruled Uttar Pradesh with an iron fist, all that Dalits got have largely been impressive BSP party offices in their villages. Dalits in UP villages, while living in mud-hut like shelters, take pride in these double storey offices of the BSP. Even though Mayawati ran a scheme called Dr Ambedkar Gram Jyoti Yojana in which the state government gave Rs one crore for a village's development, the sorry tale of embezzlement is there for all to see. 

In the close neighbourhood, wily Nitish Kumar attempted his grand plan to politically insure his party by stratifying Dalits into Mahadalist. Though there was nothing Maha (great) about this political move, what he did was weaning away the support base from another Dalit political contractor Ram Vilas Paswan.  

Sugriv Harijan

But nine years after Nitish carved out Mahadalit for his political stability, lot of these people look much worse on the ground. "All that we have got in the name of Mahadalit is one radio set for a family. We were better off till government made us Mahadalit," quipped Sugreev Harijan, 65, of Kulharia Mahadalit village in Banka district of Bihar.

Incidentally, Nitish claimed that he distributed land to Mahadalit but in two villages of such people none had got either land or job. And they mostly work as labourers for which MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) comes handy.

Arguably, Nitish Kumar in the name of Mahadalit proved a bigger villain for them, as he allowed country liquor shops to be opened up in their villages. So, Mahadalit youths, who have got education till school, will not work on farm field and in the absence of regular jobs they will idle away their times during days and by dusk will be high on country liquor. And, while the most productive age group has arguably become a lazy class, senior citizens among them toil hard on the hard land.

Mahadalit MGNREGA labourers 

So, a little walk through a farm field full of human defecation takes one to about two dozen Mahadalits working to dig land for minor irrigation. And they reveal the paradox in their lives, as men are mostly 60+ working with their daughters-in-law. None of them are Mahadalit male youth.

"My son is a graduate but is jobless and a drunkard. At this age, I work as a labourer to feed him and his family. If the liquor shop was not opened so near our homes, he may have worked for livelihood," said Bharat Das, 65.

In another Mahadalit village in Bhagalpur district of Bihar, Manoj Kumar, after having returned from Delhi where he worked as compounder, has opened a clinic and prescribes medicines to villagers, who have no access yet to trained doctors. Local BJP MP Putul Devi believes at least there is someone to give medicines for minor ailments.

If these Dalits still struggle with their livelihoods, one can not resist to admit the fact that they have been victims of Nehruvian politics perpetuated by his daughter Indira Gandhi by turning them into a herd for votes. And to ensure that they remained a herd, they have just been given enough doles in last six decades just to survive. Nehru-Indira model was later hijacked by the likes of Mayawati, Nitish Kumar but no change took place in their real motives.

That if Dalits break off from their sub-poverty level, their aspirations could split the herd, which makes a poor political sense. But there lies the failure of the nation to allow a great number of people to live sub-human lives. And so the red ant eaters live in India.

A sacred ritual

He has seen days of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru and Rajendra Prasad. Though Congress has lost base in Bihar, Bhola Prasad Jha, 84, can't think of any other party. He voted first time in 1952 and wants to vote for Congress only till he dies. Voting for Congress is his private ritual!

"As a ritual, I cast my vote for Congress. In this age, I do not want to break my loyalty for the party I worshiped due to its ideals and role in India's freedom," says Jha.

He was a Sarpanch of Koendha Birma Panchayat in Banka for 10 years. True to having been a political activist in the prime of his life, Mr Jha holds strong opinion about current politicians. "Politics has changed. And it has changed for worse," rues Jha.

In those times, politicians respected people and vice-versa, but now respect is out of politics, Mr Jha, who was a farmer, adds. Though a staunch Congress supporter, he had liked the JP (Jay Prakash Narayan) movement in 1970s for its objective. "The JP movement could not go in the right direction and petty politicians hijacked the plot later," Jha believes.

Bhola Nath Jha

He listens to long speeches of BJP's PM candidate Narendra Modi and likes his oratory. "Even Nehru ji used to deliver long speeches in Hindi and English of more than an hour. People used to come from far away places on their own to listen to Pandit ji," recalls Jha.

This octogenarian is, however, sharply critical of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. "In Nitish raj, there is no governance. Officials are looting people. He has divided society. Murders take place in broad day light," Jha claims.

Having seen RJD chief Lalu Prasad's days also in Bihar, Mr Jha believes Mr Kumar's rule is worse. "Lalu used to say BHURA baal saaf karo, but that was only for saying. Nitish is exactly doing that without saying so," Jha laments. BHURA stood for Brahmin, Bhumihar, Rajput and Kayastha castes in popular lexicon.

As a true Congress follower, he wears Khadi but has turned a pessimist now. "I don't see great future of this country. There are no leaders left now. There is no administration. There is no discipline among the people also," says Jha, with a few drop of tears threatening to roll off his eyes.

However, he says that he no more asks anyone in his village Kulhariya to vote for Congress as he did earlier. That he does not do anymore, because the Congress for him is no more a party that it was. 

In the winter of his life, Jha finds the party he worshiped all life let him down and the nation too. 

(NOTE: This had appeared in The Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle also.)