What does the trust vote mean for India ..?
After all the drama that we witnessed yesterday, it actually comes as a breather that govt. is actually solid and will be till the next elections. Yesterday, probably was the blackest day in the history of independent India. From allegations on the ruling government to personal remarks to show of cash in the parliament to utter disrespect to the constitution, we saw it all. The entire world saw it all. And this is the world’s largest democracy we are talking about.
And now the ordeal is over, we need to focus on few things. First and foremost the Manmohan Singh govt. needs to clear its name out of the very serious allegations against them for influencing the vote. Then they need to make sure that the reforms and developmental activities do not stop. Obviously with the next general elections less than a year away, focus probably would be on taming the inflation, cooling the prices and leaving the feel good factor behind.
Coming to the proceeds and developments yesterday, I think whatever happened has happened for good. The govt. is no longer a mere toy in hands of leftist parties. The govt. now knows that they can function without trying to appeal to the whims and fancies of their “partners”. Leftist parties have always been pro-people and anti-development. There is nothing wrong with it. Not that they dont want the country to develop but they are so myopic in their vision that they often forget that we need to move on at some point in time. Until we imagine the possibilities, we cant really achieve them.
The government was a mere puppet in left’s hands and left actually threatened at every available opportunity to pull the support. Only to prove a bloody point and in turn making the country unstable. They were always anti-reforms, anti-industrialization and anti-development. No wonder even though we have the best pool of human capital, we are still lagging behind the world. We are employing people anywhere and everywhere just because we demand that they need to be given employment. Compare us with countries where people actually spend time creating intellectual capital rather than manning ATM machines, automatic parking meters, elevators in malls, mending grass on lawns of rich and famous etc.
Now that left is out of the way, the government can proactively work on issues like privatization, FDI in retail, opening up more sectors for competition and evolution, so on and so forth. I am not sure that govt. will actually take large and/or concrete steps in this direction but at least they now have an option.
Lets talk about Ms. Mayawati for some time. She actually believed that she was going to be the next PM. In a speech yesterday she said that it was a conspiracy of BJP and Congress to stop a dalit woman from becoming the next Prime Minister of India. Are you kidding me? Ms. Mayawati as PM? I know shes a great politician and leader but excuse me. And I think its about time she should stop using that stupid racism card and move on. These pranks will take her and her elephants only so much far. I think with this trust vote, she has been completely sidelined. Congress will never ever work with Mayawati again. BJP, although they dont have a clear prime ministerial candidate after aging Mr. Advani, would not want Mayawati to become the PM. For me, Ms. Mayawati can now rest for a few years and keep her dreams of running the country safely in the deposit box.
What about BJP and Mr. Advani? Everyone knows Mr. Advani wants to be the PM. He has been trying to topple the govt. ever since he got elected as the leader of opposition. He is one of those leaders who can change his thoughts and stands at the drop of a hat. Remember Babri Masjid? Remember Jinnah incident? Remember Godhra? There are tons of them.
Anyways, BJP as a party for me is about oldies whose best is behind them. They are now living their unfulfilled dreams of ruling the country and itching their names in the history books. They might win the next elections but again they do not have a clear leadership. I would not be surprised if someone like Narendra Modi is promoted through the ranks as the next prime ministerial candidate. Everyone else in BJP can speak really well but they dont really stand for something that the country can buy.
Rahul Gandhi was a revelation yesterday (speech on Youtube). He probably for the first time stood up on this large a political arena and got counted as a formidable politician. He took objections from the opposition, answered them gracefully, was probably the first time when he left the mark. All the years of hard work on him is reaping fruit. His speech made a lot of sense and he actually made a point when he said that energy is linked to poverty. He used anger, passion, silence, anguish, disgust, loud voice, humor at the right times to make sure the speech was effective. In his speech he made it clear that he is not looking at the nuclear deal just as a solution to energy problems but as a tool that India can use to become the next super-power. He showed confidence in the youth in country. He said country was brimming with confidence and self belief. This is for the first time when I am confident that he could be a good leader and I would want to give him the responsibility to run the country. And considering that majority of junta voting in the next elections would be young Indians, no points for guessing who would they want to vote for.
I must also mention Omar Abdullah here. Omar Abdullah gave one of the most passionate speeches during the session (speech on youtube). He has always been one of those few leaders in India who I always thought has the brains, intellect and potential to be an effective leader. He spoke about India, Indians, Kashmiris, religions, his past mistakes in political career. He was very good on all issues. He will sure play a larger role in the development of new India when the new blood comes to the power.
With Rahul Gandhi and people like Omar Abdullah, Navin Jindal, Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindhia etc. coming of age, I think the time is ripe when the old must pave the way for new. When the old must handover the baton to the new and let them lead the country into a new era. When we should move from being a caste and religion based country to a country where developmental takes the front seat and efforts are made to reach the poorest of the poor at the same time.
The bigger question to ask here is that when would India reach in hands of people who are positive in outlook, are looking forward to development rather than petty politics of caste, religion, short-term gains. People who have strong Indian roots and are still looking at the world as their playing field. Leaders who see India as a superpower rather than a country of a billion poor people.
Only the time will tell and we will watch.