[Thanks to severe chikungunya I skipped SPRAT today and
have therefore the liberty of breaking convention. Otherwise I normally connect
to FB only late evenings, in my private time. Daytime is usually public service
time.] Thank you friends for sharing in and showing sensitivity to my personal
pain and anguish. Here are some quick responses. - Congress’ nepotism,
arrogance, over-dependence on Nehru family, long tolerance of corruption,
non-radical and soft-status-quoist thinking.. have bothered me. Not until Rahul’s
Jaipur AICC Session speech did I even approve of him as a possible leader. And
I have never forgiven Sonia for not fixing the Robert Vadra issue, at least
through a public probe. But pl remember, after Rajiv assassination what did
Narasimha Raos and Kasturis do: Congress was nearly wiped out, and a reluctant
Sonia was roped it. That point otherwise was the voluntary disassociation of
Nehru family from the Congress and active politics. So, it is more that the
party depended on dynasty than the other way round. We can’t dismiss Sonia’s decline of PMship and Rahul’s
hitherto reluctance to seize governance cheaply. - BJP during Vajpayee ending
became nearly acceptable to the moderates and one hoped that if RSS could be confined
to Nagpur this could in due time become an acceptable national alternative.
There were huge deficiencies in that party even then. But what happened next
was intolerable: Modi – inarguably a far lesser BJP leader – rises almost entirely
due to a heinous genocide, and is catapulted to kingship. This mindset – of
hate, of subjugation of Muslims, of invoking antiquity, religion, of sadhudom,
of superstition and general conservatism – scares me both as a deeply
nationalist Indian and also as a Muslim. - No third front alternative has
appeared even a remote viable national alternative. Recall what the Gujrals and
the Gowdas did. Mulayams and Mayawatis have already ever inspired. - AAP
brought on the table fresh ideas. They appeared men of integrity. But it was
more like Mamata: agitations, protests, objections. No concrete ideas of How To
Fix. And already if they need 20 crore for just Delhi elections, they surely
need 2000 crore for national contest. They will end up being quite like Congress
and BJP. Anarchy and iconoclasm towards institutions scares me considering our vast
complexities. Evolution and not revolution is a more desirable option. - So
unless we have a Gandhi, a JP, a Nehru arriving on contemporary political
scene, unless a revolution happens by a revolutionary leader who rises from the
dust and sweeps the nation with fresh ideas, complete and transparent
sincerity, honesty, and genuine commitment and dedication to the nation,
Congress alone remains the least evil option in my estimation of things. And
not supporting it would mathematically translate to supporting Modi. Hence my
post of anguish. And in the event Modi becomes the PM of India, this nation would
mean very differently to persons like me in many senses and will affect my
goals and directions irretrievably. Perhaps I will quit social work, or may
migrate to oblivion. At 60 one can’t hope to waste his remaining years in fruitless
battles that can destroy years of goodwill in one swell Muzaffarnagar like
episode, and alter political fortunes.
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