Saturday, March 17, 2012

What Akhilesh Had And Rahul Didn't



Akhilesh’s is bigger than Rahul’s. The nose that is!

There are moments when political events in the states portend larger trends in national polity. Akhilesh’s landslide victory in UP sent a clear signal that the remote control, which became a metaphor for governance at the center; of being powerful without being in power is defunct. ‘No, backseat driving please’ is what the voter seems to convey.
A hyperventilating media, on the eve of poll results repeatedly asked Akhilesh, ‘What have you got that Rahul hasn’t? ”
“A wife!”
No, that’s not what Akhilesh said. Instead he tried to evade the question.

Apparently the voters were disenchanted with the politics of statues, widespread corruption, NRHM scam, caste politics and lack of any other credible state leader. However, most importantly, what Akhilesh had was the insider card, the easy camaraderie, earnest communication skills and the promise of power with accountability. And when a senior Congress leader announced that UP will be remote controlled, the janta rushed into the waiting arms of Akhilesh Yadav - the local boy who knew the state, its people and its aspirations.

Given the UPA’s penchant for detachment and backseat driving, the electorate reposed their faith in the engaging politics of Akhilesh Yadav. The Congress and its bosses on the other hand, repeatedly shunned communication, distancing the voter further by muzzling the social media and people’s movement against graft. They did nothing to soothe the frazzled nerves of the unconvinced voter. And when they did communicate, they did so under pressure; in typical Inspector Clouseau clumsiness. Clearly their heart was not in it. It appeared as if communicating with the aam janta on a regular basis gave them dreadful headaches. Once in five years was a pain enough. They announced populist measures on the eve of the polls and covertly continued to play the communal card.

Adding to the government’s headache was the small screen. The truth is that it is the middle classes which control the small screen in terms of viewership and opinion making. Any attempt at convincing an irate, intelligent middle class is tough. It is akin to casting Behenji as Chikni Chameli; but it has to be done. And convincingly at that! The UPA spokespersons, living under the shadow of their PM being remote controlled, failed to strike a chord with the people.

Communicating with the intelligentsia is like walking a tight rope. One stray comment can make the balancing act precarious with a large chunk of faith getting decimated. Even mighty Anna's image suffered a setback after one reckless comment,"Ek hi Maara'. Manish Tiwari lost face after his, "Anna is embroiled in corruption from head to toe." Rashid Alvi lost credibility after his "Foreign hand" comment. On the other hand the unassuming Akhilesh, before and after the elections, was a picture of humility and grace. Any trace of vendetta was missing.

Unlike Akhilesh, the comments from other fronts were pompous and reeked of arrogance. ‘Either we will have a majority or Presidents Rule.” Forget clarifications, Congress failed to reassure the people that Rahul wanted involvement and not remote control. Wary of power without responsibility, voters clamored for the accessible and available Akhilesh. In spite of the goonda image! Public memory is short, they say!
Finally, if the Congress wants its share of bouquets for 2014, their leader has to engage with the voter and drop the remote control. The problem with the remote control is that the buck never stops. And people want accountability. Didn’t Nitish tell us that?

Since most of the newly sworn ministers have criminal backgrounds, only time will tell whether Akhilesh’s nose will stop his political ambitions from nose diving! The buck will stop at his door step.

56 comments:

  1. You are wading here in thick political slosh. Thankfully, you have redeemed the electorate of Uttar Pradesh for spurning the remote control. What you have said humorously in your opening sentence may well turn out to be the last line for Mr Rahul. But I hope it is the last we have seen of the vain and vengeful behen j too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt it,cause in spite of Corruption charges, AIDMK and DMK keep playing musical chairs in TN. Who knows if its Behenjis chance next time...The 2 major national parties have axed their own foot beyond repair.

      Delete
  2. It would be interesting to see if young blood can really make a difference. I hope UP goes ahead because once it used to be seat of education. It needs to reclaim its prestige

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    1. Ashnini, unfortunately the young blood has to carry the old baggage.

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  3. hopefully we will see some change in the next lok sabha elections too. AMEN! but i am not that hopefull because last year bodyguard was the highest grossing movie

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    Replies
    1. Ha, ha ..
      My fear is that SP and BSP will play musical chairs like AIDMK and DMK in TN.

      Delete
  4. comments on politics can be sensitive..:)

    nice post..

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  5. the point about remote control was spot on! The efforts of Rahul Gandhi amounted to naught due to this fatal flaw in UPA's system.

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  6. the voter is intelligent but also desperate. I mean when you have a choice of no-choices, it is tough to pick one. The last line is telling but even Akhilesh is in danger of being (remote)controlled by the older Yadav, for he might have struck a rapport with the janta, but is still a political novice compared to pater dear.

    The first line misled me to think it was a satire, but this one was a regular political commentary and a very good one at that! :)

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    Replies
    1. :)


      My fear is that SP and BSP will play musical chairs like AIDMK and DMK in TN.

      Delete
  7. Voters are no more fools. They have a collective intelligence that selects the better of the lot. Well said Alka..

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  8. I hope India sees more and more astute, articulate, intelligent and qualified young politicians. Are people with criminal backgrounds the only ones who can survive in Indian politics? Are they the only ones who can fight the already established criminal elements in politics? Perhaps one day soon someone will give us a solution to this curse.

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    1. There is slow purging and churning...criminal elements will take time to die down.Unfortunately, the young blood has to carry the old baggage.

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  9. Seems like Rahul ate too much that people started questioning him,"Aapke ghar mein khaana nahin banta?"
    Akhilesh is a well qualified man. He's a local man and is likely to knows the state and aspirations much better than any other. I hope he does NOT try to become Mulayam Singh Yadav.

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    Replies
    1. Rahul indulged in too many gimmicks and the voter saw through!

      I hope so too!

      Delete
  10. well just wait for few months ...and se what changes comes to up in growth n law n order front which were main areas of concern @ the moment ...

    what Akhilesh has i.e fathers backing ..which Rahul missing is also a point ..but the thing which matters is the things one does with the promises ...
    we can just wait n see...

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  11. I am not at all into politics... However, i did liked the simplicity with which you penned it down. I think and wish that the young man woudnt change the way all this works.

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    Replies
    1. I know Madhulika, people have become cynical about it...but we have to live with the system.
      Thanks for reading.

      Delete
  12. The first line had me in splits. Like your last lines said, disillusionment is already setting in with SP workers doing hungama and tainted ministers' induction. People really are suffering because each party is mired in corruption and lawlessness. It is just the scales that vary. There is hardly any good choice available.

    There is a very interesting article in TOI about how fertilizer prices cost BSP dearly this election. There are some good articles about analysis of UP's elections in Outlook as well. Elections winning and losing are often due to multi-layered reasons. Akhilesh will be remote controlled by dad no doubt.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, Rachna, there are several factors...prices, caste equations, M factor, anti incumbency.....
      If Dad becomes a minister at the center( to collect money for free laptops), then perhaps the son will have to fend for himself..some control will be there, of course.

      Delete
  13. we cannot expect big changes... given the amount of filth is there, but strong will n determination for good governance can bring change. We can only hope that this young CM will be able to tackle the hardships and do some good instead of rolling deep in the vicious political games.
    and u were right Rahul was way too much theatrical n gimmicky in his actions.

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    Replies
    1. True. Let us see whether he changes the system or the system changes him...

      Delete
  14. The first line? LOL!!! Rest of the post, downright true ans serious. I wish Akhilesh showed some intelligence in choosing ministers. Let us wait and watch. As for Mamma's boy, its better he sit at Delhi:P

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    Replies
    1. We have to see whether he changes the system or the system changes him...

      Delete
  15. The electorate is smarter than their leaders. They cannot be placated with false promises and smiling faces that appear once every five years.

    Whether Akhil will do a Nitish is yet to be seen. But he started on a bad note - including criminals like Raja Bhaiya in his cabinet.

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    Replies
    1. We have to see whether he changes the system or the system changes him...sadly, he has to carry the baggage of the past.

      Delete
  16. Aah! Akhilesh looks good too:)
    That said, it remains to be seen how the remote control will work now..I'm sure there will be some way:)

    I don't follow politics much, listen to my hubby who is neck-deep interested in it..

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  17. Excellent analysis.

    A visible leader is much better than an absent back office remote control.

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  18. Alka,

    You have analysed the situation so aptly but will those in UPA ever learn a lesson? Akhilesh has a very big responsibility to live upto his image and deliver a clean governance.

    Take care

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OldFox, Vyankatesh, Jack...

      There were many factors ...like ..prices, caste equations, M factor, anti incumbency...I was particularly peeved by the Remote control politics.
      Thanks for reading.

      Delete
  19. I don't see a good in choosing bad from worse..

    Weakest LINK

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  20. Alka, lets see who turns out to be the real life Pinocchio with passage of time:)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Akhil would sustain, is young and has the father's support. But could have done better with his cabinet.
    Sadly, Rahul has become a joke after these elections.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rachit, Rahul, Jenny...


      Ha, ha Rahul, Good one!You r right Jenny..Let us see whether he changes the system or the system changes him.

      Delete
  22. Rahul's campaign from day one was full of negativism,arrogance,disconnect.
    days of politicians airdroppings are over

    ReplyDelete
  23. ENd of the day they are all politcians .. The Khadi wearing Goondas and as we saw the aftermath of the result Akhilesh and his party is also the same .. A child died in the joy making and no one has taken any notice of it...

    and now the same party is trying ot be friends with congress yet again :) so what happened to all those this and that towards each other ..

    I am of the beleif that end of the day they are all same young or not so young politics in our great nation will always be dirty especially from the likes of those who wear WHITE KHADI clothes and have a gandhi topi...

    How much more proof do we need , we have been seeing it since 1947 now .. so god bless our nation ..

    Rahul has nothing other then the surname GANDHI.. which now doesnot make that much of a difference to people.. people have become wiser and hopefully in a few more years wise enough to do something for the nation ..

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are showing their true colurs....old wine in new bottle....

      You are right. One young man cannot change the system....there is churning in politics but it will take decades to see results.

      Delete
  24. A step in the right direction for the people by the people.
    Now let us see him deliver so that other youngsters will follow the same path.

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  25. Great analysis!! Let's hope Akhilesh does some good work for UP!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I think a remote control for groups (voters of UP) made another remote control (of Congress) redundant.
    The remotes are sources of light and no doubt Star Wars saw the potential of fights with lights, years ago.
    Sam Maneckshaw once remarked to Indira Gandhi, "My nose may be bigger than yours but I do not poke it into other people's business". Hope Akhilesh does not poke his into areas not his concern.

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  27. I don't follow politics much but I keenly followed the UP elections as I was born there.
    I really wish Akhilesh bring some much needed changes.
    People says we are changing, Junta doesn't care anymore if you are a Gandhi but then still fate of a state and the whole country is decided by only 45% of population. Out of these voters more than half are those for whom it doesn't matter if you are an MBA.
    Nvrtheless, I will do whar I do always- " Pray for UP"

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  28. Let's see how it goes from here Alks...
    Poor Rahul baba, waise bhi aapka fav nahi tha-abhi to badly overtaken ho gaya in every possible way!

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    Replies
    1. His dimples are cute but his sense of entitlement to rule the nation is not.....and with rural voters his urban image did not go well.

      Delete
  29. nice post, with humor.
    akhilesh's true colors are yet to be seen though

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  30. Akhilesh is a politician which Rahul is clearly not. To be a good leader standing tall matters more than sophistication

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    Replies
    1. True but Akhilesh has disappointed by appointing criminals as ministers....

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  31. I think the people hardly had much of a choice. Maybe they wanted to taste tamarind chutney this time and were bored of mint chutney :)

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  32. We need to really look into Akhilesh is going to deliver with ministers with criminal background. It is one thing to talk all the right things during election and totally another when it comes to implementation.
    BTW I liked the nose comparison.

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    Replies
    1. True. There have been series of disappointments after I wrote this article....The hopes are nose diving.

      Delete
  33. Felt good reading you after a long time!
    Though Yadav does not seem to live upto his promises, he should be given more time considering hardly anybody has fulfilled their election vows. Cannot expect change overnight..

    ReplyDelete