Jai Ho Can Not Win the Votes

Jai Ho, now that is the Oscar winning musical score that the Congress wants the rights for. In the hope, that some of the shared glory will rub off on the dynastic political party, and convince people that its concern for the poor is real and not just rhetorical.

This is the pathetic political approach that has deprived the Indian poor of their rights for decades. The slogan seeking, the speeches, the absurd gestures of stopping to give a woman a bottle of water, all around election time so that the poor voter can be squeezed again for the ballot. It is a charade, the biggest movie of the year with the politicians casting themselves in the role of star actors, while the poor watch as the drums come out, the dances begin, and lies churned out by what is becoming an increasingly slick propaganda machinery.

It is no secret that three political formulations are looking to form the government, the corporate backed UPA and NDA and now a third alternative where the Left is seeking to build a non Congress, non BJP alliance. The Congress is hopeful of coming to power, the BJP is worried about the inability of the party to coalesce at this crucial juncture, and the Left being the most realistic of the three is trying to get the third alternative together even as it admits that its own performance in these polls will not be at par with the last elections. The regional parties have got a taste of their own power and are currently bargaining with each and every leader for more seats, and a bigger stake at the centre. The decision by the Biju Janata Dal to drop the BJP and have an alliance with the CPI(M) is perhaps an indicator of where the winds are blwoing.

The Congress and the BJP are literally scrambling to keep their allies together, with the Samajwadi party and the Trinamul Congress giving sleepless nights to the former and the Biju Janata Dal and Janata Dal(U) making the BJP run for its money. The Left has tied up an alliance of sorts in the south with the Telugu Desam and AIADMK and JD(S) presently on board, but details have to be tied up. even here there is heartburning over seat sharing arrangements. It is apparent that the post poll formulations will be more important than the talks being held at different levels now, and the peoples vote will not determine the final complexion of the government at the centre.

The JD(U), for instance might go into the parliamentary elections, in an alliance with the BJP and then emerge as an “independent” entity seeking terms and conditions with the third alternative. The Congress might find itself relying on the NCP in Maharashtra only to find that Sharad Pawar has other post election plans. The Congress that has an ally in the DMK currently, is also in talks with AIADMK that is expected to get a better share of the seats in Tamil Nadu. The situation is totally fluid, and despite the Congress confidence that it will get sufficient seats to form the next government, there is a deep apprehension in those who are not living in the Nehru-Gandhi ivory towers and are a little more in touch with reality.

The BJP is projecting L.K.Advani as the Prime Minister, even as its leaders in off the record briefings inform the media that this might be one of the reasons why it could do badly in the elections. Seniors literally drool when they talk of the “next” prime ministerial candidate, the Ugly Indian Narendra Modi who has also been anointed by corporate honchos for the post. The Congress party is being coy, as it always is when it comes to the ruling Dynasty. Not willing to be seen as grasping and greedy, Sonia Gandhi and now her son Rahul Gandhi appear to be working selflessly for the party. Neither of them want any position, and Rahul Gandhi will step into the Prime Ministers post only if he has to, for India and for the party and of course for the people. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh might be well enough to keep the seat warm for a few months after the elections, if the UPA wins, and then relinquish it for the young leader and his friends who will then all join the cabinet.

This would all be very well had the Congress paid more than lip service to the real issues affecting India. These are of security: economic, social and political. The minorities have never been more insecure particularly in BJP and Congress ruled states. Muslims are being killed in encounters in Karnataka, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and of course Gujarat where they are not able to breathe. Christians are being killed in Orissa, Karnataka. The poor find themselves getting poorer as fuel and vegetable prices soar. They also find themselves sitting on the periphery of development, with the benefits of globalization passing them by. The Dalits continue to live in separate hovels, drawing water from isolated wells even today, sixty years after independence. Women remain the worst affected in every community, and are currently the target of the self righteous moral police that does not want young people to laugh and be happy.

Even today, this UPA government like the NDA before, spends nothing on health and education. The dismal two to three per cent of the GDP reserved for these vital sectors, is a sad commentary on India that is trying to project itself as a developed, and not developing, nation. In Delhi, hundreds of acres have been sold for hotels and shopping malls and private, expensive hospitals. Not a single medical institute has been set up on the lines of the overcrowded All India Institute of Medical Sciences by the central government in the national capital region for the poor. Not a single new government school has come up in Delhi over the past five years, or more, with school land in fact being auctioned off by the authorities.

Slumdog Millionaire did not try to glorify life in the slums. It actually portrayed the stark reality, and tried to infuse it with a level of hope that moved the movie out of the realm of complete despondency and despair. It is true that the majority of India’s poor continue to live with some hope, as otherwise they would commit suicide as the farmers have been doing or take to the gun as many supporting the Naxalites have done. Sitting in a Dalit hutment for a few moments, or rushing past personal security to hold a poor woman’s hand, are just gestures seen a million times over in election campaigns. Jai Ho carried a message in the movie. By usurping it for election campaign, the Congress has only drawn attention to its cynical manipulation of the voters particularly as its government, in the five years in office, has distanced itself from the poor and their problems.