Reported By:
| Edited By: Sanjay Jha,Minhaz Merchant,Tufail Ahmed |Source: DNA |Updated: Oct 11, 2016, 12:07 PM IST
Having watched both the presidential debates between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump, one is hit with an inescapable reality; America is as egregiously polarised as is India. The common factor seems to be the selling of hyper-nationalism as a universal panacea for all maladies; anti-globalisation, xenophobia, immigrant restrictions, anti-minority bashing are the buzzwords that dominate a pedestrian political discourse. Over-caffeinated electoral rhetoric based on flimsy logic or a non-existent base rules airwaves. In a binary contest, core vote banks remain deeply entrenched, the fight then is for the uncommitted, floating swing voter. But with acerbic personal attacks overwhelming content, the core issues remain at the periphery. Personality hard-sell is understandable in the USA, but an individual cult-creation is fraught with serious risks in India's parliamentary framework; it can endanger democracy itself. Our problems are far too complex, innumerable to be cleverly camouflaged behind image-building exercises that lionise one individual. India needs a Prime Minister who represents its collective conscience, not a unilateral-style presidential leadership.”
“The analogy between American and Indian politics is illusory. Both countries have polarised electorates — but the comparison ends there. The US essentially has two parties, India has dozens. America's founding fathers built in a fine balance of power between the president and the legislatures— the Senate and the House of Representatives. The president has a veto but US lawmakers in the two houses can override that veto — as they did two weeks ago in a new anti-terror law aimed at sovereign sponsors of terrorism like Saudi Arabia. If India's political system resembled America's even superficially, a Rahul Gandhi would have had to undergo a ruthless primary contest with a clutch of other Congressmen. Another dynast, Republican Jeb Bush, did just that — and lost. In India, suggest that idea to the Congress High Command and witness the look of horror and disbelief. No, despite the illusion, the US and Indian political systems are as different as chalk and cheese.”
“During two-plus years since Narendra Modi's victory, India has witnessed a political revolution of ideas in which people's minds were challenged to think about who we are and where we are headed to. Hatred of Modi was so pervasive among educated classes that opposition parties and liberal-Left media couldn't digest his historic victory and kicked up issues that had nothing to do with real issues like education, Muslim women's uplift, or nation's economic development. Non-issues like intolerance, Dadri and Modi's dress were foisted upon people. Politicians loyal to a party cult even blocked the passage of GST Bill. Nevertheless, the nation held contentious debates freely in media, universities and parliament unseen during Congress years. Youths from IITs, NITs and IIMs are now fiercely debating the nation's agenda on social media. This is nourishing Indian democracy to its very roots.”
