Of sulkers, whiners and the not so young

Every election in India, funnily enough, just doesn't have the losers and winners: it has the sulkers, the whiners and the not so young…people who are past their use by date but believe they will and can make a difference: it always surprises me why these blokes won't retire. Let's take some examples: L K Advani is the patriarch of the BJP: the man who built the party and today is hell-bent on destroying it: not because there has been a change in ideology but only because he doesn't want to fight from Gandhinagar whereas the BJP is hell-bent on denying him a ticket from Bhopal. So this 86 year old veteran wants to sulk. And he doesn't just sulk: he behaves like the boy whose parents have hidden the candy: he then gets emotional and begins to bawl. But doesn't Advani know that it is time for him to retire gracefully or is grace not a word that should be associated with politics.

Then you have the case of Pramod Muthalik: this dolt shouldn't be allowed out of jail but then the BJP invites him and then dis-invites him: does the BJP not have the basic sense to gauge the mood of the people or are they living in cuckoo land? Muthalik is basically evil and what makes matters worse, he lacks a functioning brain. And these folks in the BJP think the Muthaliks of the world will make great parliamentarians? I won't trust him with a pair of Rottweilers so why would we trust him with constituents: only so that he can beat the hell out of them again?

Suresh Kalmadi who was the symbol of corruption is upset with the Congress now that they have denied him and his wife a ticket to contest from Pune? This man should be contesting the polls for the Best Inmate at Yerawada Prison but is angry at not being allowed to contest the Lok Sabha polls? What did he expect the Congress to do? Put him up as a candidate for probity and transparency in public life?

What all these whiners and sulkers need to know is that India has changed and so has the voter. He is younger and impatient and doesn't give a toss about legacy and the past. The voter is looking at a clean break from the past in fact. Dinosaurs are not what you use to endorse new generation technology and this is precisely what the Advanis and the Jaswant Singhs are. Their contribution cannot be undermined but at the same time they can't be universal Shylocks demanding their pound of flesh all the time. Something has to give. And Modi may have many virtues but being emotional is not one of them. He has to win an election and not an internal popularity poll within the BJP and the sooner the old fogeys realise, the better off we shall all be.

It is time for the Advanis and the Jaswant Singhs of this world to read, write and play with their great grandchildren and not with the future of India. The Kalmadis of the world, on the other hand, must thank the Lord that they are not in prison. To expect to belong to Parliament as an entitlement is not just warped: it is silly.

So instead of whining and sulking be happy that you have come this far. Now is your time to walk away into the sunset and not question the rising sun. If they can get this, they will sleep well at night and not shed tears before television cameras!