Three Years with 3D
The UPA Government recently completed three years in office and the common people received a cruel shock of petrol prices being hiked by Rs. 7.50 with this being dubbed as the sharpest. There is absolutely no doubt that we are an intersection of churn and dramatic change as political alignments could change with the Presidential Elections which would dictate our road ahead to 2014. Where we go from here depends whether or not the government shows some spine and the ability for mature political initiative. There has been a consistent lack of leadership in entirety to demonstrate any such imagination.
Leadership can wait but it seems the UPA has abandoned its instinct for even basic political survival. True, I do understand that miscalculations do happen in a field like politics but this isn't the case--it was simply a severe lack of political understanding which is also laced with arrogance. The UPA has completely misread the public sentiment on national issues like corruption, black money etc. By hiking fuel prices 15 times in a short span of two years, the government seems to alienate the middle-class. The vast support that the Anna--Baba circus gathered last year is an indication against the inaccessible, emotionally detached and a seemingly arrogant political leadership.
With the present petrol price hike, hasn't the Congress completely alienated one section of this country's citizenry--the middle class? The truth is that India's political establishment has happily socialized with the rich and electorally courted the rural poor. The middle-class has always been treated with contempt and neglect. E-mails, text messages which went viral last year had the money been in India represent the nation's daily frustrations, unfulfilled aspirations, stalled reforms and shoddy governance. They represent all the things that exhaust those of who--the power elite and the emotionally aloof Congress ministers--cannot jump lines or buy our way out of: inflation, woeful public transport, education and basic health facilities. They represent all that India desperately needs and now.
From the beginning, the government has alternated between aggression and submission, thereby eroding its sense of authority and legitimacy further and further. What should have called for common sense has become a classic case of political mismanagement. The UPA's wounds are entirely self-inflicted and the failure of politics created this impasse. Instead of feeling proud about being a force to reckon with, India appears to be more of a blunder land.
The government can still review its decision considering we still have two years to go for 2014. Though it would set a wrong precedent but having come so far, there are unfortunately not many choices. It's the time the Congress introspects and reaches out for genuine talents and connects with the masses who have an attitude beyond the coterie of sycophants.
Leadership can wait but it seems the UPA has abandoned its instinct for even basic political survival. True, I do understand that miscalculations do happen in a field like politics but this isn't the case--it was simply a severe lack of political understanding which is also laced with arrogance. The UPA has completely misread the public sentiment on national issues like corruption, black money etc. By hiking fuel prices 15 times in a short span of two years, the government seems to alienate the middle-class. The vast support that the Anna--Baba circus gathered last year is an indication against the inaccessible, emotionally detached and a seemingly arrogant political leadership.
With the present petrol price hike, hasn't the Congress completely alienated one section of this country's citizenry--the middle class? The truth is that India's political establishment has happily socialized with the rich and electorally courted the rural poor. The middle-class has always been treated with contempt and neglect. E-mails, text messages which went viral last year had the money been in India represent the nation's daily frustrations, unfulfilled aspirations, stalled reforms and shoddy governance. They represent all the things that exhaust those of who--the power elite and the emotionally aloof Congress ministers--cannot jump lines or buy our way out of: inflation, woeful public transport, education and basic health facilities. They represent all that India desperately needs and now.
From the beginning, the government has alternated between aggression and submission, thereby eroding its sense of authority and legitimacy further and further. What should have called for common sense has become a classic case of political mismanagement. The UPA's wounds are entirely self-inflicted and the failure of politics created this impasse. Instead of feeling proud about being a force to reckon with, India appears to be more of a blunder land.
The government can still review its decision considering we still have two years to go for 2014. Though it would set a wrong precedent but having come so far, there are unfortunately not many choices. It's the time the Congress introspects and reaches out for genuine talents and connects with the masses who have an attitude beyond the coterie of sycophants.
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