When I was very young, I had an opportunity to meet Vinoba Bhave with my father. My father used to consider him the last among the Gandhians. That evening, sitting on the ground, he asked Bhave: Don’t you feel that Bapu’s dream of ‘Ram Rajya’ is shattering? Bhave replied: “It’s good in a way that Bapu is not among us to see this day. Gore sahebs (white rulers) have left but look at our Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies; they have no connection with the people.”
I would have forgotten this episode, but for my father who kept repeating it. My heart aches when I look back to that meeting with Sant Vinoba Bhave. Since then, the behaviour of our elected representatives has constantly fallen. Many of them claim that elections are won riding on a wave; working hard for it is futile.
The 2014 and 2019 general elections were won on the ‘Modi wave’. People voted either for or against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But Modi understands the fact that political waves have their limitations, and, after a while, they start reversing the course. Therefore, to win future elections, it is important that MPs are made accountable to the people. That is the reason why Modi has asked Bharatiya Janata Party MPs to organise a 150-km long foot march in their constituencies, from Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) to Patel Jayanti (October 31).
The saffron party plans to use the march to spread the ideology of Gandhi; they will also plant trees during the march.But the political meaning of the march is deep. When MPs meet their voters directly, they get to know their issues and problems. They will also have to assure the voters that these issues will be sorted out. In this phase of the social media explosion, when everything gets recorded even if you don’t want to, going back on promises is not an easy task. And if the MPs are indeed able to fulfil their promises, the padyatra will prove to be an effective medium for the BJP to strike a bond with voters.
{{/usCountry}}The saffron party plans to use the march to spread the ideology of Gandhi; they will also plant trees during the march.But the political meaning of the march is deep. When MPs meet their voters directly, they get to know their issues and problems. They will also have to assure the voters that these issues will be sorted out. In this phase of the social media explosion, when everything gets recorded even if you don’t want to, going back on promises is not an easy task. And if the MPs are indeed able to fulfil their promises, the padyatra will prove to be an effective medium for the BJP to strike a bond with voters.
{{/usCountry}}The BJP has 303 members in the Lok Sabha and 78 in the Rajya Sabha. It has deputed Rajya Sabha MPs in constituencies where they don’t have their Lok Sabha representative. It means that the BJP representatives will cover 57,150 kilometres across 381 Lok Sabha constituencies. Even if the prime minister excuses senior ministers and old MPs from the march, padyatras of about 50,000 km is certain -- and it will play an important role in the upcoming assembly elections.
Let us return to Bhave’s anguish, as the situation has only got worse. Modi knows that if the MPs walk 150-km in their constituencies, it will help infuse a sense of responsibility. But for that, the MPs will have to think beyond shallow politics. If the event really gets implemented as it is planned, besides the BJP reaping its benefits, the almost unconscious Opposition too will feel the need to wake up. The Opposition seems completely paralysed after the last general elections. The largest Opposition party is without a leader. The internal conflicts within regional parties have emerged once again, and their leaders seem to be suffering from depression.
They have turned their back on their responsibilities.Recently, dozens of children died due to encephalitis in Bihar, but the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leaders remained numb and mute. Having invoked democracy during the elections just a few days back, they should have helped people in the time of crisis. Some of the candidates fielded by the RJD and its allies are millionaires. They could have easily provided relief material to the children burning with fever. This welfare work could have simply proved to be a boon to the sinking Opposition in the state. The Opposition wants to fulfil its duties only by issuing statements to the media because every political worker, regardless of the party they come from, has developed a habit of finding life in election waves.
A terrible truth of our times is that the workers crowding the lowest ranks of political parties carry the same character and behaviour. This is the reason why we see the son of a leader (in Indore) beating government officials with a cricket bat, a legislator (in Uttarakhand) firing guns with pride, or the Opposition party members (in Maharashtra) throwing crabs on a legislator’s house.
The quagmire of party politics is now submerged in its own dirt and mess.Definitely, the time to rein in such brash leaders has arrived. Will it begin with the BJP?
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan
The views expressed are personal