Sonia Gandhi visited Karnataka and made an excellent speech, addressing such important issues as culture, spirituality and education. Listening to the content, one began to agitate about the sad fact that none of the ideas raised by her has been given priority by the United Progressive Alliance. The disconnect between ‘ideas’ and ‘reality’ on the ground was brought into focus, and it was worrying to recall that we have never heard the prime minister mention, let alone endorse, these fundamental issues that give Indians a reason to be confident in their inherent ethos. Simplistic economic formulae, ignoring the profound cultural roots of this civilization, will remain superficial and will kill the energy and aspiration of India. Why does the Congress not force the hand of its government to deliver in these areas?
A return to areas, political and otherwise, ignored for years, in an effort to trigger a rejuvenation ahead of a difficult election requires immediate follow-ups as well as the unfolding of a coherent plan of action within a short time period. Each state desperately needs a ‘face’, a leader who will take the party to either victory or defeat and be accountable. Nothing else will restore the sense of purpose that the Congress and the UPA have lost. The confusion and loss in Uttar Pradesh where Rahul Gandhi was projected as the lead campaigner resulted in the killing and, hence, disappearance of the possibility of revival and reinvention created by his intervention and commitment.
Clean break
Voters were compelled to choose between candidates who had pitched themselves as the chief minister. The ‘Rahul Gandhi Buzz’ was wasted. It was the gang of ‘backbiters’ in the party, responsible for two decades of disaster in UP, which won in the end. Ordinary citizens who are Congress supporters, saddened by the operations of UPA II, cannot understand why heads have not rolled in the Congress establishment in UP. Why do general secretaries in charge of specific states get away with abject failure? Why are new people not backed by the leadership, and are instead thrown into the deep end with a mandate to deliver? Does the Congress want to lose its foothold everywhere? Will it remain stuck in its time-warped and twisted strategies? India has changed, as have voters. The present strategy will not give the Congress the shot it requires to revive itself from an illness that continues to plague it. Clean breaks from faulty political manipulations are imperative to formulate a winning trajectory.
To counter the non-stop revelations of corrupt practices in ‘high places’, the government needs to showcase the inherent strengths of India. Culture, in its broadest definition, needs to be ‘celebrated’ and highlighted. Creative industries must be saluted and supported by the government and its policies. Products from this sector need to be marketed domestically and overseas. Manifestations of our diversity and history need to be studied, conserved, and disseminated for future generations. These strategies must be introduced to the bland and inadequate education syllabus that plagues our youth, denying them the exposure and excitement that are their birthright. The babu and the politician are caged in their mind and soul. They are terrified of welcoming any idea or individual from outside their ‘club’, lest it shows them up for what they are.
Instead, the finance ministry pricks and pokes collectors and all those who live by the ‘culture’ with absurd taxes, museums lie unattended, institutions are administered by dull babus who stall rather than enhance change, and the government, when cornered, tightens the noose with regulations that kill freedom and creativity.
