Opinion | Dissatisfaction brewing across various parties
3 min read . Updated: 01 Apr 2019, 12:13 AM ISTLeaders are seen changing their parties, constituencies or groups at the eleventh hour
In the beginning of last week, the political corridors of Kanpur were overtaken by a piece of sensational information. A letter written in English had started doing the rounds on WhatsApp among leaders, political party workers, journalists and some selected people of the civil society. The content of the letter was as follows: “Dear Voters of Kanpur, Shri Ramlal, General Secretary (Org.) Bhartiya Janta Party conveyed to me today that I should not contest the ensuing parliamentary election from Kanpur and elsewhere. (Murli Manohar Joshi)"
Although Joshi’s name was there, his signature was missing. Skilled politicos know that even a letter without a signature carries profound political meanings. It’s clear that Joshi wanted to convey that he will not accept this bitter truth as silently as Lal Krishna Advani. He had no hesitation in saying that his candidature was cancelled. Clearly, while leaving the scene, professor Joshi created some obstacles for the new BJP candidate Satyadev Pachauri.
It’s not that such dissent was seen only in Kanpur. It was assumed that Tejaswini Kumar, wife of the late BJP leader Ananth Kumar, would be nominated from Bengaluru South. She had been preparing for the electoral battle. In politics, to give the seat of the deceased husband to the wife or a family member is an old-and-tested formula. But when the list was released, her name was missing. At first, she flared up, but later accepted the party’s decision saying that it proves that we are a “party with a difference".
Some people showed black flags to law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad in his own city of Patna. Sources say that a Rajya Sabha member reportedly instigated these protesters. They probably knew that the saffron party will nominate him from Patna Sahib as the party’s Lok Sabha candidate instead of Shatrughan Sinha.
The three examples are related to famous personalities. Smaller protests occurred in many places. A few days ago when BJP president Amit Shah was holding a rally in Agra, Babulal Chaudhary, representative of Fatehpur Sikri in the 16th Lok Sabha, was holding a separate meeting, in Kiroli village. Chaudhary was denied a ticket for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. He is considered a firebrand leader in the region and has now turned into a rebel in the party.
The bubbles of dissatisfaction are bursting not only in the BJP. Other parties are also victims of this. This is why many leaders are seen changing their parties, constituencies or groups at the eleventh hour.
There is another reason for the parties to worry. Voters have kept their fists closed. As a result, no issue is proving to be effective in the political atmosphere. Not only this, the discourse in urban and rural areas is quite different. Urban voters seem to identify air strikes, Pulwama and nationalism with the political personalities, whereas real issues on the ground have taken more prominence in villages. The voters there do not want to forgo their caste identity, even while paying attention to their problems. As a result, the 2019 elections are going back to the old ways. This is unfortunate.
The Association for Democratic Reforms, which keeps a close watch on Indian elections and its political personalities, conducted a survey in October-December 2018. The 10 main issues that emerged during the survey were the same as those of the last 70 years: Employment, health services, clean drinking water, roads, public transport, irrigation, farm loan, better minimum support prices, agricultural subsidies, and law and order. If you look at the slogans of all political parties in the light of these issues, you can understand the reality well. Political slogans have neither eradicated poverty nor provided employment or water to every farm.
Are the elections for the 17th Lok Sabha also going to be just another shot at deceit? I will give you an example. A few days ago, K. Chandrashekar Rao’s party, Telangana Rashtra Samithi, had won the Telangana assembly elections with more than two-thirds majority. His daughter K. Kavitha won the last Lok Sabha elections from Nizamabad constituency. This time, 178 farmers have filed nomination against her from the same constituency. These farmers are unhappy with the fact that despite promises, no board was formed for turmeric producers. It has created problems for Kavitha, but the Election Commission too is facing unprecedented problems as there is no provision for so many candidates on the electronic voting machines.
The piqued silence of the voters is now coming to an end. This is the time for politicians to return to the basic issues.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan
The views expressed are personal