HVK Archives: Plain half-truths
Plain half-truths - Mid-day
Abhay Mokashi
()
8 April 1997
Title : Plain half-truths
Author : Abhay Mokashi
Publication : Mid-day
Date : April 8, 1997
Congress President Sitaram ,Kesri has made a large section of
society work overtime for more than a week now.
A simple letter from him to President Shankar Dayal Sharma
informing him of Kesri's decision to withdraw support to the United
Front Government led by Hardanahalli Dodde Gowda Deve Gowda, has
made leaders of all major political parties, their leaders,
newspapers, TV stations and journalists put in more hours of work
everyday than they had m the last one year.
While journalists, in their zeal to be one up on their professional
colleagues and rivals, have been tossing names for the successor to
Deve Gowda, political leaders too are taking pains to plant the
names of their leaders for the post.
There is one thing in common among a section of the journalists and
some of our politicians. They have their interest m projecting
certain leaders and maligning others.
In their enthusiasm to do so, they forget many ground realities of
Politics.
Politicians and journalists are not the only ones to take such an
interest in the political developments and to claim to be privy to
classified information the political developments-a large number of
men and women also make similar claims, though they are neither
journalists nor politicians.
In the last ten days, I have met scores of such men and women, who
claim to have "inside" information, making me feel miserable many
times, since I do not have the information they claim to have.
Some of them go further and analyse the political situation.
I like to run away from such persons, since, like the new poets,
they too, force you to give them a patient hearing.
Years ago, I had bumped into a 'first-time' poet.
He read out one of his creations to me, which I promptly announced,
did not appeal to me.
I thought that would help me get out of the pain of listening to
his work.
The young man was a put off., instead, he read another of his
masterpieces.
For the next hour, I was forced by him to, listen to his work. His
constant refrains was, "listen to this, you will like this."
The same is the case with political analysts.
They do not let you off till you have heard all their theories on
what will happen on the national political scene.
Journalists are the most welcome audience. A large number of such
neo-political "analysts believe that their views and analyses will
find a place in the columns of news papers and over radio and
television, if they make journalists listen to them.
They are right to a certain extent, since one sees strange
political theories published.
Soon after the news of Kesri's letter to Sharma came out, the Delhi
correspondent of an international and reputed television channel
was asked what he thought would happen in the political scene in
the country.
Prompt came his reply, "'The Congress will support the Bharatiya
Janata Party in forming a government in India."
Little did the journalist know that neither would the Congress
support the BJP in forming a government, not. would the BJP like to
come to power with the support of the Congress.
The coming together of the Congress and the BJP in whichever
combination to form a government would result in political hara
kiri for
both the parties.
I met another person last week who claimed to Win the right
Position to analyse the political situation because he was a
student leader in his younger days.
But not everybody is interested in politics. ,
They are put off by the political manoeuvring by different parties
and their leaders and their interest in politics is limited to
knowing that the government is stable, without any political
bickering.
Most such people are nationalists and are keen on a stable
government for the nation's progress.
For the sake of such people, the national leaders of all political
parties (there are no leaders of the nation) should come together
to give our country a stable government.
Former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his party should
take a lead in that direction, looking at the "success" of their
experiment in Uttar Pradesh.
The remaining four years and two months of the tenure of the
present Lok Sabha should be proportionately divided among all
political parties to enable them to form the government.
If this is done, there will be no threat to the government, though,
the country will suffer. But do these A political players care for
the nation?
(Abhay Mokashi, political editor of Mid-day, exposes the underside
of Indian politics.)
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