It would be an understatement to say that social media has been hijacked by posts related to the upcoming general election in India. Every day and every passing minute, keyboard warriors take to their devices and plop out another in a long list of 'allegations' and 'expose' against a politician of their choice (usually a name starting with an A or a N). Somewhere in this huddle to defame the other camp, we are losing track of the bigger picture -This is the first real election a whole generation of millenials is looking forward to, and to make decisions solely based on rhetoric does not benefit our country as a whole.
Let's look at some of the bigger issues that should be dominating this electoral contest. Economy would be the highest on anybody's list, especially since in the last 10 years, the Indian middle class has tasted the extravagance of air travel and leisure shopping, and we are in no mood to give it up. With slumping GDP growth and job creation, coupled with anemic inflation, these luxuries face the risk of falling off the accounting book of an urban household. Social equality would also be a important question, especially in the areas of women security and female foeticide. India's polity is sharply biased in the favor of continuing with the policy of caste-based (and now religion-based!) reservation in education and jobs, so that's a topic of concern for the educated voters. And finally, there is the issue of national security and maintaining the sovereignty of India in a hostile geography. With the Indian navy in dire straits after the recent unfortunate incidents, and the deal for the MMRCA fighter planes stuck in the limbo, we most certainly require an assertive government that goes beyond lip-service and meek surrender.
The two principle parties, the Congress and the BJP, have nuanced differences on most of these issues, such that you need a much deeper analysis of their positions to really identify a difference (it certainly doesn't help that voters in India don't like to be given contrasting choices, and almost every election in the past five years has been won or lost on the image of the party's leader). It all then comes down to the next in line to replace Dr. Manmohan Singh come June. Rahul Gandhi has had a series of unfortunates gaffes in the public sphere that have transformed him into an object of derision and ridicule on the social media. Moreover, his apparent lack of public pull and popularity has to be hurting the Congress party (look the electoral drubbing the party received under his command in Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh to name a few). With the lack of intestinal fortitude among other able leaders becoming more glaring, it seems like the Congress is saddled with his leadership until their numbers dwindle to obsolescence.
The BJP has finally been able to acquiesce its ever-growing band of prime ministerial candidates to come up with a clear number one in Narendra Modi. The three term chief minister of Gujarat has a battle going on at two fronts, against the opposition comprised of the Congress and other 'secular' parties, and a larger battle within the BJP's camp. If there ever was a problem of having too much intra-party democracy, the BJP is a fine example of it. To give credit to Modi, he has managed to put a curtain on the party's inner rumblings and has managed to set clear terms for his ascension to the chair of India's next leader. Moreover, he has a clear influence among urban and rural voters alike (something I managed to experience on my trip to India last month, when rural voters in UP were speaking enthusiastically of not voting based on the candidate's last name, but in the name of their children's future), which will help the BJP in expanding its influence beyond the urban constituencies it so dearly depended on for a long time. However, there are still problems within the party for the reasons stated above, and the BJP campaign has therefore amped up its message of development and opportunity in order to hide its inner deficiencies and fighting, often at the expense of exaggerating numbers and planting half-truths in the media.
While the conclusion of this election is still pretty clear, in that the UPA is going out of power after 10 years at the center, the recent entry of the novice Aam Aadmi Party into the electoral battle has raised the pitch of allegation and counter-allegations to whole another level. Sadly, this election has now turned into a shouting match between BJP and AAP supporters for all the wrong reasons. While the AAP incited hope among young voters like myself when they launched their campaign for the Delhi assembly elections, it is at least clear to me that they really have no clue as to how they are going to run a government and what their priorities are going to be (not that their infamous 49-day rule in Delhi was especially reassuring). What then explains the poor choices made by Arvind Kejriwal when it came to incidents like this or this? No harm would have been done had Kejriwal not alleged that corporations are providing electoral benefits to leaders of other parties or that the current political crop is self-serving, if only he had the restraint to not do it himself. These are really non-issues when it comes to this election. Kejriwal over-staying in his official bungalow or cozying up to a particular Maulwi in UP is not going to change the destiny of this country. Unfortunately, nobody has really received a clarification from the AAP regarding its economic policies (although their withdrawal of support to the FDI in retail agreement when in power in Delhi provides some indication) or where it stands on the issue of national security (Prashant Bhushan and Arundhati Roy say 'plebiscite' everyone!). Maybe the AAP doesn't know either, and hence the constant throwback to its demands of the Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj (anarchic and archaic in this day and age).
Everybody, whether she supports the AAP or the BJP, can agree that the Congress is not going to be doing any good for the country in the next five years. With both parties jostling to occupy the anti-Congress space, the BJP has expectedly stolen a march over the AAP on the strength of a pre-existing organization and record. The AAP on the other hand is moving away from its simple messaging that proved to be so effective in the run-up to the Delhi elections, and is becoming the party that dominates the prime time news for all the not-so-good reasons (I agree that the media is biased, but the media has always been biased and opportunistic). Perhaps it is time to give the keyboard warriors, like this one, more to think about policy positions and less about which AAP candidate is going to be parachuted to take on another existing political heavyweight or where is Arvind Kejriwal going to show up next (if I may, there is a street circle in the heart of my home town that has seen no development over the last twenty years). In the same token, maybe Narendra Modi will conduct a few public interviews to clarify his stand on FDI in retail and sustainable economic growth, and shut up the critics who think they know more than the courts and are the last authority on conviction and sentencing.
PS: I agree Arnub, the nation does want to know!
Let's look at some of the bigger issues that should be dominating this electoral contest. Economy would be the highest on anybody's list, especially since in the last 10 years, the Indian middle class has tasted the extravagance of air travel and leisure shopping, and we are in no mood to give it up. With slumping GDP growth and job creation, coupled with anemic inflation, these luxuries face the risk of falling off the accounting book of an urban household. Social equality would also be a important question, especially in the areas of women security and female foeticide. India's polity is sharply biased in the favor of continuing with the policy of caste-based (and now religion-based!) reservation in education and jobs, so that's a topic of concern for the educated voters. And finally, there is the issue of national security and maintaining the sovereignty of India in a hostile geography. With the Indian navy in dire straits after the recent unfortunate incidents, and the deal for the MMRCA fighter planes stuck in the limbo, we most certainly require an assertive government that goes beyond lip-service and meek surrender.
The two principle parties, the Congress and the BJP, have nuanced differences on most of these issues, such that you need a much deeper analysis of their positions to really identify a difference (it certainly doesn't help that voters in India don't like to be given contrasting choices, and almost every election in the past five years has been won or lost on the image of the party's leader). It all then comes down to the next in line to replace Dr. Manmohan Singh come June. Rahul Gandhi has had a series of unfortunates gaffes in the public sphere that have transformed him into an object of derision and ridicule on the social media. Moreover, his apparent lack of public pull and popularity has to be hurting the Congress party (look the electoral drubbing the party received under his command in Bihar, UP and Madhya Pradesh to name a few). With the lack of intestinal fortitude among other able leaders becoming more glaring, it seems like the Congress is saddled with his leadership until their numbers dwindle to obsolescence.
The BJP has finally been able to acquiesce its ever-growing band of prime ministerial candidates to come up with a clear number one in Narendra Modi. The three term chief minister of Gujarat has a battle going on at two fronts, against the opposition comprised of the Congress and other 'secular' parties, and a larger battle within the BJP's camp. If there ever was a problem of having too much intra-party democracy, the BJP is a fine example of it. To give credit to Modi, he has managed to put a curtain on the party's inner rumblings and has managed to set clear terms for his ascension to the chair of India's next leader. Moreover, he has a clear influence among urban and rural voters alike (something I managed to experience on my trip to India last month, when rural voters in UP were speaking enthusiastically of not voting based on the candidate's last name, but in the name of their children's future), which will help the BJP in expanding its influence beyond the urban constituencies it so dearly depended on for a long time. However, there are still problems within the party for the reasons stated above, and the BJP campaign has therefore amped up its message of development and opportunity in order to hide its inner deficiencies and fighting, often at the expense of exaggerating numbers and planting half-truths in the media.
While the conclusion of this election is still pretty clear, in that the UPA is going out of power after 10 years at the center, the recent entry of the novice Aam Aadmi Party into the electoral battle has raised the pitch of allegation and counter-allegations to whole another level. Sadly, this election has now turned into a shouting match between BJP and AAP supporters for all the wrong reasons. While the AAP incited hope among young voters like myself when they launched their campaign for the Delhi assembly elections, it is at least clear to me that they really have no clue as to how they are going to run a government and what their priorities are going to be (not that their infamous 49-day rule in Delhi was especially reassuring). What then explains the poor choices made by Arvind Kejriwal when it came to incidents like this or this? No harm would have been done had Kejriwal not alleged that corporations are providing electoral benefits to leaders of other parties or that the current political crop is self-serving, if only he had the restraint to not do it himself. These are really non-issues when it comes to this election. Kejriwal over-staying in his official bungalow or cozying up to a particular Maulwi in UP is not going to change the destiny of this country. Unfortunately, nobody has really received a clarification from the AAP regarding its economic policies (although their withdrawal of support to the FDI in retail agreement when in power in Delhi provides some indication) or where it stands on the issue of national security (Prashant Bhushan and Arundhati Roy say 'plebiscite' everyone!). Maybe the AAP doesn't know either, and hence the constant throwback to its demands of the Jan Lokpal Bill and Swaraj (anarchic and archaic in this day and age).
Everybody, whether she supports the AAP or the BJP, can agree that the Congress is not going to be doing any good for the country in the next five years. With both parties jostling to occupy the anti-Congress space, the BJP has expectedly stolen a march over the AAP on the strength of a pre-existing organization and record. The AAP on the other hand is moving away from its simple messaging that proved to be so effective in the run-up to the Delhi elections, and is becoming the party that dominates the prime time news for all the not-so-good reasons (I agree that the media is biased, but the media has always been biased and opportunistic). Perhaps it is time to give the keyboard warriors, like this one, more to think about policy positions and less about which AAP candidate is going to be parachuted to take on another existing political heavyweight or where is Arvind Kejriwal going to show up next (if I may, there is a street circle in the heart of my home town that has seen no development over the last twenty years). In the same token, maybe Narendra Modi will conduct a few public interviews to clarify his stand on FDI in retail and sustainable economic growth, and shut up the critics who think they know more than the courts and are the last authority on conviction and sentencing.
PS: I agree Arnub, the nation does want to know!
