Vikas Parasram Meshram
It is natural for all common people to wonder when the Prime Minister gets time to work because he has to be in his office and dispose of files; it takes time, but since last year he has been busy with election campaigning. Voting has already been held in Himachal Pradesh and in Gujarat. Elections will be held in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, and other states next year. And with the way the presence of top leadership in election campaigns is becoming an essential requirement of the Bharatiya Janata Party, it is natural to ask, “How much longer will the Prime Minister continue to fight in the states?”
There is no doubt that despite national-level problems like inflation and unemployment, our politicians have been successful in attracting voters by raising emotional issues that are often of low priority. It is very common for the Prime Minister to be so busy with state elections that he has played the role of the party’s star campaigner for the past few decades, and without him, it is becoming difficult for the ruling party to hold elections. The position of Prime Ministers of previous governments was not much different—particularly Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, who also remained the mantra of electoral victory for their parties. Such dependence by any political party on any particular person should not be considered good. The situation becomes worse when a certain person also starts believing that he is the saviour of his party. Recently, during the election campaign in Himachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister found it necessary to focus on himself. In an election rally, he said that when voters go to the polls, they should think about ‘him’ instead of the local candidate. Vote as if they are voting for him.
There is no doubt that the Prime Minister is a popular leader in the country. He has already said that people are voting in his name because he has spent the last eight to ten years campaigning. Perhaps with this in mind, he felt it necessary to tell the voters of Himachal that they should vote with the understanding that they are voting for the Prime Minister and not for any individual or party. In that election meeting in Himachal Pradesh, the Prime Minister had also said that it was a privilege to live among the people of Himachal Pradesh. And that he intends to repay the people of Himachal Pradesh’s debt.
Politicians often talk about building such relationships and repaying debt, but democratic traditions demand that these politics, which have become increasingly individualistic, be reduced. Due to this trend, the Congress Party was once dependent on one family. It is facing the consequences even today. Sometimes the support of Indira Gandhi, sometimes of Sonia Gandhi, and sometimes of Rahul Gandhi becomes a compulsion for a party like Congress: that is a danger bell not only for the party but also for the democratic traditions.
Today, even though the BJP is talking about ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, the situation within the party is becoming such that the meaning of the word ‘all’ is getting reduced to a few names. The country’s largest party has to think that the country’s Prime Minister and Home Minister should campaign in every election. When the Prime Minister says that the voter should assume that she has voted for him, then it is not wrong to raise the question: does he think that an election can be won in the name of a particular leader?
It is not wrong to ask for votes in the name of the Prime Minister; it is wrong to create the impression that a leader is more important than a particular party. The work of the Prime Minister should be voted on, but his name should not be a compulsion for the party.
The first Prime Minister of the country, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, had warned the people of the country about such a danger. He wrote an article under the pseudonym ‘Chanakya’ in which he said that the then-Congress President (Nehru) had all the qualifications to become a dictator. By blindly trusting him, the people of the country will ease the path to dictatorship. Nehru had said this ten years before independence. Speaking at an election meeting in Bikaner, he said that he does not remember the name of the Congress candidate, but he wants people to vote in the name of the Congress party, supporting the principles and policies of the Congress. Nehru did not say that the voters should remember him while voting; he said that the voters should remember the Congress party.
This is what democratic traditions demand. Even today, there is a need to strengthen them by remembering the same traditions. The person is important, but not as important as the idea. Unfortunately, this ideological element is disappearing from our politics. This situation must change. Elections can be won by promises and ‘revadi’, but they require both the leader and the citizenry finally.
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Vikas Parasram Meshram is a Social Worker in Zarpada village, Arjuni tehsil, Gondia district in Maharashtra. He can be contacted at: vikasmeshram04@gmail.com
Image courtesy: the internet.
