MAGIC & MIGRAINE OF ELECTION MANIFESTOS

In the independent India, the citizens of the country have been bombarded by attractive manifestos by different political parties as a part of their strategy to canvass votes at the times of Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections. In the initial years after attaining independence, the Congress Party had a predominant role in drafting out attractive manifestos to alleviate poverty and other miseries of the common man including industrialization. As a matter of fact, we have to agree that the beginning was somewhat good as some sort of achievements were made due to the dynamic political leadership, but later on the principled politics became power politics and thus the gap of the promise gave to the electorate and achievements after the term of a political party in power started increasing tremendously. This was one of the reasons for the lose of faith in political parties and their leaders and emergence of various regional parties and even splitting of national parties to give new directions to the hopes and aspirations of the people of our country. However, the parties other than the Congress, which came to power in various states were also unable to achieve cent percent success of their manifestos floated by them during the process of election due to various factors.

In the 70’s Indira Gandhi brought out 20 points programme for the amelioration of various weaker sections of the society and thereafter, “Gribi Hatao” (Remove Poverty) as well as Roti, Kapada or Makan (Bread, Clothe & House) to attract the teeming millions of poor. If we analyse the success of her various programmes, we can see that only a fraction of the promise has been fulfilled that also with the half-hearted attitude due to the callousness of the bureaucracy and implementing agencies thereby affecting the quality and quantity of various pro-poor projects initiated during her time.

After a long rule of the Congress, the BJP became the dominant party in certain states and the coalition which captured the power after emergency at the Centre could also not deliver the goods as promised by them in their joint manifesto and even unable to build ‘Ram Temple’ as boasted when they were in the opposition.

If we take the main poll plank of Sonia Gandhi during the last Lok Sabha election, we can observe that the Congress had extended its hands to the common man and many promises were made to the electorate. But how far the present UPA government could achieve and how many points are left out are well known to a political analyst and as a matter of fact the middle class and poor people are still struggling to cope up with the rise in prices of essential commodities, unemployment, economic and social backwardness of vast majority of the citizens throughout the length and breadth of our country. Now, BJP is going to highlight “Security, Safety & Terrorism” as their major poll planks in the forthcoming election.

Considering the above circumstances, now it is the august role of the media, NGOs, voluntary and social organisations to come up with the facts and figures and educate the people through their awareness campaigns as how they are befooled by various political parties and how little they have done for our countrymen even after six decades of independence. Though many ambitious projects are being taken up by various State Governments and Central Government, there should have a social audit by the people of the concerned area as how such projects will be beneficial to them and what is its cost and how much fund has been siphoned off by middle men and politicians and how much portion of the tax paid by the citizens on various heads were used for such gigantic projects.

Now, with the change of time and awareness due to increasing literacy, the citizens are going to ask many unpleasant questions to the political leaders who rule the States or Central Government regarding their promises and actual implementation at the grass root level and the benefits derived out by the people. Therefore, beware of the feelings and aspirations of the vast majority of Indians before the political parties come out with attractive slogans and points of agenda for implementation if any of the them are voted to power to lead the country or the states!

BHAGAT SINGH - A DREAM

March is the month of martyrdom of legendry Shahid-e-Azam Bhagat Singh along with his comrades Sukhdev and Rajguru.
Hanged at a tender age of 23 in 1931, his political life was of 6-7 years including two latter years in prison awaiting gallows. Endorsement by no less man like Pattabhi Sitaramayya, official historian of congress as that in thirties “ It is no exaggeration to say, that moment Bhagat Singh's name was widely known all over India and was as popular as Gandhiji's” (History of Indian National Congress).
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Said about Bhagat Singh “he is not a person, but a symbol. He symbolizes the spirit of revolt, which has taken possession of country”. This aspiration was not developed suddenly. It is not that sacrifice and valor was absent in Indian youth before or after Bhagat Singh. But what distinguish was his ability to reason and question. A. G. Noorani rightly put it, “What distinguished Bhagat Singh from all others besides his courage, patriotism and commitment to moral values, was his intellectual strength. A voracious reader, he was also willing to rethink. He had the capacity brood and to torment his soul over the past”. Even while awaiting gallows in central jail he has written an essay “Why I am an atheist”, is a reflection of the vast canvas of his thoughts. In his essay he wrote, “Any one who stands for progress has to criticize, disbelieve and challenge every item of old faith. Item by item he has to reason out every nook and corner of the prevailing faith. If after considerable reasoning one is let to believe any theory or philosophy, his faith is welcome. His reasoning can be mistaken, wrong, mislead and some time fallacious. But he is liable to correction. Because reason is a guiding star of his life”.
With reason a guiding star of his life attracted the mass, specially the youth of the country with his writings, debates and arguments in court room. Bhagat Singh's intellectual strength not only embarrassed imperialist rulers but also created a deep impact on the course of the Indian freedom movement. “Inqulab-Zindabad” or long live revolution was popularized by Bhagat Sing and his party Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA), which became a battle cry in thirties and forties in India's independent movement.Today Bhagat Singh has become an icon for Indian Youths. Three Bollywood movies with a large budget, exhibition in Supreme Court, portrait in Parliament are indication of this growing phenomenon. But with this iconic growth his dreams are being forgotten. He and his compatriots kissed the gallows with a dream of inquilab revolution. Bhagat Singh is being portrayed as man of bomb and pistol. In a statement in a session court on assembly bomb case he categorically stated, “Bomb and pistols do not make revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas. This is what we want to emphasis, by revolution we mean the end of miseries of capitalist wars”.His dream to end exploitation of “man by man” and establish a socialist society is still far dream in India, where thousand and lakhs are committing suicide.The present breed of Indian of parochialism , pettyism, opportunism busying the corridors of power hence the remembrance of a leader of different material may seemsto be alien for the present lot.