Sunday, June 17, 2001		Article

Know thy politicians
Akshay Sood

THE politicians as a class in India, are a reviled lot. At least by the chattering classes. Even then, we cannot do without them.

They are the flagbearers of our democracy. Even bureaucrats love to be led by them. One remembers the President’s rule of 1993 in Himachal Pradesh. Even the IAS officers hated the rule of fellow bureaucrats, who were seen to be nasty, petty, scheming and heartless.

In any case, in the labyrinthic corridors of power, these politicians draw much fawning, cringing and bowing. From their fellow politicians, constituents and the ever-obliging bureaucrats. In public speeches, they are addressed, venerably much like our holy mahatamas and gurus. On the files, they are always addressed as "honourable". And yet we love to hate them.

Politics is a tough game. It is a dog eats dog world. To survive the hurly-burly, one must be a good shastra- gyani, possessing fighting skills. A deft organiser. A good follower and an astute one at that. At the opportune time, one must be ready to "slit the throat", (not literally) of his "political guru", leader or colleague. The usual weapons are those of Sama, Dam, Dand, and Bhed, all drawn from ancient Indian philosophy.

And above all, a politician must belong to the right caste and community! For after all, the idiom of caste in the grammar of Indian politics, continues to be paramount. An OBC in a "Savarna" constituency is like putting "square pegs in a round hole"! And vice versa. Another important quality, to survive in politics, is to have a good "digestive" system. As Y.S. Parmar the first Chief Minister of Himachal Pradesh, used to say a good politician must be able to digest the choicest abuses and invectives hurled at him. And, of course, the occasional stone-pelting from his rivals and the danda from the police!

The shastra gyanis (men of letters) the intellectuals and the "thinking types" will probably find themselves misfit in the roller-coaster world of politics. After all, it has been termed as the "last refuge of the scoundrels".

Many would however disagree with this unfair and uncharitable comment. The modern-day politician provides patronage and protection to the weak and underprivileged.

He is trusted by the hapless electorate, to bring "development" to their constituencies. He is the Robinhood. The bureaucrat basks in his glory. He, normally, never says "No". He is ever accessible, obliging, malleable, flexible, accommodating and broad-minded.

A man of the masses. Friendly towards the media. (A creation of the media, he must always hob-nob with the journalists to remain in the news!) He is at times friendly even with his political rivals, with whom he has a working relationship. It is only a matter of time. Today he is in the ruling party, tomorrow he can be in the Opposition!

In short, the politician has to be a man extraordinaire. No training academy makes politicians. It is easy to be a dotcom professional, an IAS or a doctor. But the politician has to evolve. His world is highly insecure.

He must have strong survival instincts. He has to beat the "enemy within" (his rivals in the party), the "enemy outside" (political rivals in the opposite party) and then emerge the winner. He must know how to ride the wave. Be it the garibi hatao wave, the onion wave, the anti-incumbency wave, the mandir wave or the scams’ wave.

And despite the numerous hurdles and pressures from the different lobbies and stakeholders in society, we expect politics and politicians to be "clean". We expect them to be idealists. To be "servants" and savants of the nation.

We expect them, not to collect "party funds". We expect them to survive on their meagre salaries and pensions. We expect them to be "self-actualising do gooders" even as they remain famished, deprived of the basic needs of food and shelter, what to talk of their ego and status needs, the higher order needs in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory.

Why not start understanding the politicians? And maybe start giving the credit due to them.