Born out of the remnants of the terror attack of November 26th has been one creature which will duly and surely affect the electoral proceedings of the upcoming Lok Sabha. The "Independent" candidates. Many will see this as a moral awakening of a handful of people who until now had been very content in dwelling leisurely in their ridiculously expensive apartments, penthouses and bungalows and caring less about the common man on the streets. Many others might see it as a underhanded and unclassy way of gaining some sort of a publicity. Which is which will be comprehensively decided on the polling day.
But what I find ethically degrading in this scenario is the reason and the drive behind this sudden surge of Page 3 celebrities diving into the political arena. With due respect and sympathy towards the victims of the 26/11 massacre, I would only like to point at the distinct difference in the treatment meted out by the media towards the chaos of 26/11 and the Mumbai local train blasts which no doubt hit the heart of commuting Mumbai. I was particularly appalled at one interview of a lady whose name I don't quite recollect but the essence of that conversation I do, post 26/11. This lady sitting in her gorgeous and lavish living room, which no doubt needed 10 to 12 servants to be maintained, was impertinent to suggest that because this terror attack targeted the ultra affluent class of people who pay 100 bucks for a cup of coffee at the Taj and spent 2 lacs for a night of stay in the royal suites, it was more significant and more damaging to the country and had a more severe consequence. As opposed to those meaningless people who got killed travelling in the local trains everyday and working for their hard earned living and contributing not only to the prosperity of the country but also to a bunch of rich industrialists whose wives sit in their well furnished living rooms and deal out such comments.
I ask these well off Independent candidates who have now ventured to take on the political establishments and work for a so called "change" as to what your real motivation is? Because your sense of moral right and wrong did not seem to bother you when it was not affecting you and was affecting the same common man for whom you want to work now.
The pity is I believe that still, after all that has happened, these Independent candidates have no clue as to what they should do to really help the people. Sure if you contest the elections and win you become a member of parliament. You (maybe) able to get a chance to debate certain policies at the national level but what good is that going to do when you can't even help the people of your constituency? To strengthen a nation you have to work one locality, one area, one city, one state at a time. Yeah it will take time but you are guaranteed success this way. Imagine giving a test of a chapter which you haven't even studied. That is what these Independent candidates are going for.
Now many might say that well it's their decision let them be. But we can't let them be. Because their unintelligent and unreasonable decision is going to weaken the stability of a government at the center. Any government. Out of thousands of Independent candidates who stood for Lok Sabha elections last time around maybe six had won and became MPs. But what the others did was cut into the electorate, divided the votes and hence weakened the poll share of the other candidates to belonged to a more national sphere of influence. They didnt realise that because they made a unwise choice they strengthened the hands of a handful of unworthy and indecent small political parties who now bargained with bigger parties to provide stability and mould the real issues for which a stable government at the center should have been working on to suit their self serving interests.
I believe some Independent candidates do want to work for the betterment of the people but the forum and the way to do that is to work at ground level where your efforts will yield a direct effect on the common man. Fight for municipalities, fight to become Mayor, then run for the state assemblies. In this way you will have a resume full of your development works which you can present in front of the voters and surely you will get elected. When you sit in your boardrooms, you ask for experiences from Freshers before they join. Then why do you assume it's different in the political arena. Make your voice heard where it would count and where people will listen rather than shout amongst a sea full of voices and end up not getting heard at all.
Everyone has to remember that, you have to "fight the fights". The fights that need to be fought and won. Don't bite more than you can chew coz somewhere somehow you will end up contributing the wrong causes.
But what I find ethically degrading in this scenario is the reason and the drive behind this sudden surge of Page 3 celebrities diving into the political arena. With due respect and sympathy towards the victims of the 26/11 massacre, I would only like to point at the distinct difference in the treatment meted out by the media towards the chaos of 26/11 and the Mumbai local train blasts which no doubt hit the heart of commuting Mumbai. I was particularly appalled at one interview of a lady whose name I don't quite recollect but the essence of that conversation I do, post 26/11. This lady sitting in her gorgeous and lavish living room, which no doubt needed 10 to 12 servants to be maintained, was impertinent to suggest that because this terror attack targeted the ultra affluent class of people who pay 100 bucks for a cup of coffee at the Taj and spent 2 lacs for a night of stay in the royal suites, it was more significant and more damaging to the country and had a more severe consequence. As opposed to those meaningless people who got killed travelling in the local trains everyday and working for their hard earned living and contributing not only to the prosperity of the country but also to a bunch of rich industrialists whose wives sit in their well furnished living rooms and deal out such comments.
I ask these well off Independent candidates who have now ventured to take on the political establishments and work for a so called "change" as to what your real motivation is? Because your sense of moral right and wrong did not seem to bother you when it was not affecting you and was affecting the same common man for whom you want to work now.
The pity is I believe that still, after all that has happened, these Independent candidates have no clue as to what they should do to really help the people. Sure if you contest the elections and win you become a member of parliament. You (maybe) able to get a chance to debate certain policies at the national level but what good is that going to do when you can't even help the people of your constituency? To strengthen a nation you have to work one locality, one area, one city, one state at a time. Yeah it will take time but you are guaranteed success this way. Imagine giving a test of a chapter which you haven't even studied. That is what these Independent candidates are going for.
Now many might say that well it's their decision let them be. But we can't let them be. Because their unintelligent and unreasonable decision is going to weaken the stability of a government at the center. Any government. Out of thousands of Independent candidates who stood for Lok Sabha elections last time around maybe six had won and became MPs. But what the others did was cut into the electorate, divided the votes and hence weakened the poll share of the other candidates to belonged to a more national sphere of influence. They didnt realise that because they made a unwise choice they strengthened the hands of a handful of unworthy and indecent small political parties who now bargained with bigger parties to provide stability and mould the real issues for which a stable government at the center should have been working on to suit their self serving interests.
I believe some Independent candidates do want to work for the betterment of the people but the forum and the way to do that is to work at ground level where your efforts will yield a direct effect on the common man. Fight for municipalities, fight to become Mayor, then run for the state assemblies. In this way you will have a resume full of your development works which you can present in front of the voters and surely you will get elected. When you sit in your boardrooms, you ask for experiences from Freshers before they join. Then why do you assume it's different in the political arena. Make your voice heard where it would count and where people will listen rather than shout amongst a sea full of voices and end up not getting heard at all.
Everyone has to remember that, you have to "fight the fights". The fights that need to be fought and won. Don't bite more than you can chew coz somewhere somehow you will end up contributing the wrong causes.
