Political leaders go personal for the sake of power - to hell with nation building

It was never so bad earlier. The verbal onslaught of personal comments and attacks by those ruling and also poised to rule, on their opponents has marred the otherwise peaceful battle for transition of power. The PM nominee who is almost the PM designate is indeed wading through ugly swamps in his attempt to acquire a position where he can rid the nation of its baggage. Yet irrelevant issues relating to his official marriage are being brought to the fore by those who themselves otherwise have no character, individually or as a collective.

The worst onslaught of words is by the so called socialists who do not share any of the ideals of Lohia or even Janeshwar Misra. The mandarins of the Samajwadi Party leave no opportunity to put their foot in the mouth by their tongue in cheek remarks. The recent comment by the party satrap that amounted to giving the “boys” a license to rape has indeed shown us the worst that some politicians are capable of. I wonder whether the senior politician who seems inclined to pardon rapists would continue to have the same view if a girl in his family received a treatment similar to Nirbhaya of the 16^th December fame. This insolence was followed by a number of statements made by a cabinet minister of Uttar Pradesh, the most famous of which attributed the Kargil victory to soldiers who followed the Islamic faith. Sad it is that those who occupy apex positions in the governance machinery of the nation, leave no opportunity in even attempting to divide the army on communal lines.

And despite the national outcry and condemnation that followed such vicious statements by socialists, there is absolutely no sign whatsoever of remorse. Indeed the seats of power in our nation provide such intoxication to the incumbents that they fail to differentiate between good and bad, or perhaps they get a feeling that whatever they say is good or maybe they just do not care. In any case, the scenario is dismal.  

This malaise normally confined to the political class has now started engulfing the bureaucracy too. The apex levels in the railways with rare exceptions of course, having shed all concerns for the organization are busy only in rollicking in luxury or settling personal scores. Corruption is at its peak and personal conduct of those in power and their spouses is at its all-time low. Yet being swathed in power, the realization that there is nothing right with the management does not appear to be dawning on those occupying top slots in the pyramid.

The ensuing Mahabharata is expected to throw up some good men (and women) who can lead the nation to its destined glory by removing the muck accumulated over decades. Even in the real Mahabharata, Krishna asked Arjuna not to show any mercy on the evil and the undeserving. The new government too would first need to clear the grass of its weeds mercilessly before directing the nation towards prosperity and happiness.