Please Don’t Spoil The Kids: We, Elders, Have Done Enough Damage To India That Is Bharat

PM Modi has planned to mobilise a lakh of youth into politics and mentor them for nation building. My earnest request to him and his foul-mouthed followers to spare the youth. The politics of hate has done enough damage to the social fabric. Let us not spoil it further as it will adversely impact the socio-economic growth of the nation, irrespective of the rapid GDP growth

“Bharat is quickly jettisoning the colonial mindset, now we do not need English to learn medicine or technology. The question that we all must think is this is public administration marching in the right direction,” said Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressing the 70th Annual Meeting of the General Body of Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi by saying so, Dhankhar has sowed the seeds of thinking if we have really come out of the colonial mindset. One of the curses of the colonial legacy was (and is) the divide-and-rule policy and to keep suppressing the opposition of any kind. Our political system appears to have gone a step ahead of this by propagating lies and religious hatred to conveniently mislead the people for short-term electoral gains.

Before you get the impression that I am sermonising, let me explain the context. Please recall that the BJP led by Prime Minister has spoken all kinds of things against the INDIA bloc with Masjid-Mutton-Manga Sutra-Buffalo narratives during the last Lok Sabha poll campaign. Now, in Jharkhand, he said the Congress-JMM-RJD alliance will snatch away the Roti-Beti-Maati from the Adivasis and give it away to infiltrators.

That was worse than hitting the lowest of the low levels of political rhetoric. Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma said this election is about saving the Sanatan Dharma, while UP CM Yogi Aadityanath declared: Batengay toh Katengay. Many more such statements are bound to flow in as the poll fever spreads to Maharashtra this week. Leaders of the stature of the Prime Minister conveniently forget the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in force for the election period. And, one cannot blame the leaders alone since the Election Commission of India (ECI) itself turns a blind eye to the MCC violations. None other than the Chief Election Commissioner himself reminds the political parties of their responsibilities and the clear lines drawn by the MCC. But, sadly the ECI gets into a deep slumber when the MCC Lakshman Rekha is sidestepped. No action has been taken during the Lok Sabha poll and one cannot expect any now during the Jharkhand and Maharashtra assembly election campaign.

Coming back to Modi’s and Home Minister Amit Shah’s narrative against States such as Jharkhand encouraging the infiltrators from Bangladesh, one should ask the BJP duo as to who is supposed to be responsible for checking the illegal entry of migrants from the neighbouring country. The State government, for certain, does not guard the international borders. So, instead of owning up to the failure, the Centre (read Mo-Sha duo) points the finger at the non-BJP governments.

PM blames the Congress governments for distributing freebies, what he calls Revdis. He even posts on social media: “The Congress Party is realising the hard way that making unreal promises is easy but implementing them properly is tough or impossible. Campaign after campaign they promise things to the people, which they also know they will never be able to deliver. Now, they stand badly exposed in front of the people! #FakePromisesOfCongress”. At the same time BJP announces a series of freebies, borrowing directly from the Congress manifesto and welfare schemes that the grand old party is implementing in Telangana. The BJP promised a Gogo Didi Scheme, to double the monthly allowance being given to women by the JMM government – from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,100. This prompted the Soren government to increase the freebie to Rs 2,500. I am sure the ECI will definitely object to this as the Jharkhand Cabinet decision coms mid-way through the poll season.

The ECI has clearly asked the political parties to justify the announcements of freebies with budgetary provisions. There is hardly any government which observes this transparency. Meanwhile, one was rather surprised to see the Congress coming out with full-page advertisements in Mumbai newspapers on Tuesday morning proclaiming the “Farmer First Telangana” and how the party-run state government has distributed Rs 18,000 crore to 22 lakh farmers and listing the promises made and delivered. These include creation of 50,000 government jobs in 10 months, free bus travel for women. Gas cylinders at Rs 500 each, housing for the poor and Rs50,000 crore fresh investments.

Obviously, the Congress wants to focus on its deliveries versus promises and decry the PM’s criticism, while the BJP has already borrowed a couple of schemes from this list for its Jharkhand manifesto.

In Maharashtra, the BJP alliance is facing a peculiar criticism that the Centre has been diverting major industries to Gujarat, while “giving away” major land parcels to select industrialist friends. It is not about losing a few thousand jobs; it is majorly about losing GST on the businesses done by these industry majors that can run into hundreds of crores. This, the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition says, benefits Gujarat.

Maharashtra is also witnessing the birth of some promising young political talent and the State and the nation must watch them grow. Former CM Uddhav Thackeray’s son Aaditya, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena founder Raj Thackeray’s son Amit, CM Eknath Shinde’s son Shrikant and Aaditya’s cousin Varun Sardesai. These are all good speakers and grounded.

I have been tracking their interviews on various media platforms and it is good to see them talking about issues before the electorate and not the tu-tu-mai-mai. They do blame their respective opposition leaders but in a polite language. Amit could have adopted his father’s so-called firebrand politics. But it is a feast to the ears to listen to his soft-spoken approach.

Of the four, Shrikant appears to be a bit aggressive. For a medical practitioner (MS in orthopaedics) and three-times MP, his language appears to be a bit rough. He sings in praise of Modi’s Hindutva and focus on infrastructure Varun, who masterminded the social media campaign for Shiv Sena - Uddhav Thackeray, is absolutely soft and to the point unlike the BJP’s IT cell team. Seeking election from Bandra (East), he says he is clear about his priorities – slum redevelopment, water and employment.

Aaditya, who has been the environment minister in his father’s cabinet, says he is not opposed to any industrialist making progress but it should not happen at the cost of the state and the people. Here, he demonstrates his broadminded approach – Maharashtrians mean all the people living in the state, and not merely the Marathi Manoos.

I am sure there could be many such young politicians who do not indulge in religious and political hatred or abusive politics and they need to be properly moulded and guided. PM Modi has planned to mobilise a lakh of youth into politics and mentor them for nation building. My earnest request to him and his foul-mouthed followers to spare the youth. The politics of hate has done enough damage to the social fabric. Let us not spoil it further as it will adversely impact the socio-economic growth of the nation, irrespective of the rapid GDP growth. Let us not come to a situation when we will have to issue disclaimers, before telecasting political speeches, that this content may not be suitable to children and your family members.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)