MY DEAR countrymen, I am asking you in no unclear terms, “What happened here in 1990, 1995 and 2001? Does anybody remember? Who was responsible for these reforms? What went wrong with that policy? Who sabotaged our revolutionary development projects? Who is going to solve the problems of these farmers? We have been eradicating poverty for the last 50 years, you know that? Still, they say that we have been a failure. Have we ever been a failure, tell me?”

 
Neither the audience nor the speaker has the least idea what the foregoing questions are all about or what the answers to the said questions are. In our countryside, politicians from the local committees harangue people in this manner. This menace has caused great damage to the political ideology these stalwarts supposedly represent although the exercise is considered inevitable to keep the voters apprised of the agenda of the political parties. The funniest thing is that these political leaders themselves do not realise that their presence at street-corners irritates and intimidates the general public.  
 
Demagoguery, opportunism, horse-trading, party-hopping and political pauperism are the hallmarks of a great number of our politicians. If the party is not for the people, if the party is above the people and if the people are not party to any political decision, it is democracy that is going to suffer. Politicians and their loose tongues have led to social sabotages and shake-ups and civilisations down the ages have demonstrated that it is rare insight, intelligence and efficiency that make real leaders. When it comes to political leaders, we cannot expect them to possess insight or intelligence or whatever. What they possess is arrogance and petty party ideologies. These ideologies are a manifestation of selfishness and power-mongering.
 
For our political parties and politicians, calamity is a relief, catastrophe is an opportunity, riot is a reason for committing genocide and cleansing is a community welfare exercise. Blood is the vote. Poverty is the plank. Community is the stepping-stone to success; caste is a symbol of their social value and democracy, a big farce. The majority gets sidelined once these criteria are applied and finally the one who gets to rule is mostly a shameless hooligan. He dresses impeccably, travels in sedans, is protected by black cats and sniffer dogs, is immune to law, and is the law-maker himself and finally calls himself a reformer. And the media (the so-called watchdog) fawns over such people, giving them all the coverage and cover-ups. We cannot blame them if they get to rule over us. We deserve it, after all!
 
This is misery. This is misfortune; and if not ignominy, this is political ill-will. This is a scourge that has pervaded the very fabric of our democracy and with every passing day, we get to hear of one or more of political malpractices, on the part of our leaders, which do not in any way contribute to the well-being of the polity.
 
The political will of a state should be endorsed by the will of the populace; a real politician pays heed to vox pop and reckons it while announcing a policy. In this manner, a real politician should sense the pulse of the people; while bombarding people with questions from street corners, the politician should realise that his words should reflect the voice of the people he represents. He should watch his words, regard his voters, honour the nation and abide by the canons set forth by the Constitution and the rule of law. Are the demagogues listening?