Janta Parivar - Colony Of The Opportunist Clowns
In politics there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies,
only permanent interest – Lord Palmerston
This is perhaps why all the world
leaders cajoled up to Muammar Gaddafi on various occasions while castigating
the same man at other times for being a big danger to humanity. It is very
common in world politics to see politicians rushing in to take sides of their
foes if the very act assures benefit. All in the name of permanent interest,
for the party or for individuals, these politicians act out of the box and
adore someone they once claimed to hate most. We can call it opportunism but
that is fine. Interest is just a polished synonym of opportunism and in today’s
complex political idioms, there is hardly any difference left between these two
characteristics. Looking at the way our politics is taking a new low on hourly
basis, we may very well have to live with this phenomenon for decades to come.
Back home, two most astute exponents of
this phenomenon in India are Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar. Since the implausible
fire-water merger finally happened yesterday, we lesser mortals must now
explain ourselves on the ‘permanent interest’ that brought these two poles of
Bihar politics together. What could be the common interest between a convicted
criminal like Lalu and a failure called Nitish Kumar that suddenly became the
glue to stitch these two antagonists? Knowing Lalu and his unconditional love
for corruption and Mafiosi, concerns for the state of Bihar hardly looks like
that glue. When Lalu was the CM of the state, he made sure that the state never
improves from its deplorable state of hunger, poverty, lawlessness and
governance bankruptcy. He let his cohorts create bedlam and loot the state like
it is their personal property while the citizenry languished at the bottom of all
growth parameters. During Lalu’s tenure, Bihar was crippled to its basics and even
struggled to survive as a state. So, if one thinks Lalu had an incarnation in
last few years with new found attribute of love for the state then he is only
fooling himself big time. Nitish isn’t much different here, except perhaps the
lack of enough credible corruption charges to match Lalu’s prodigious record.
In their own ways, both these politicians destroyed Bihar inside-out. Though
their path to glory looked identical, they never enjoyed each other’s company.
Perhaps the political equations of yesteryears weren’t conducive for public
display of affection. By virtue of being
from two different political outfits, they had to talk rubbish against each
other for political brownie points. And both of them played their role to
perfection. Now one wonders; what has changed so drastically that these two
opportunists finally hugged each other in public.
Post 2014 general election results,
Nitish Kumar’s popularity were at all-time low and perhaps it still is. This is
the precise reason why he was asked to vacate the CM’s post after JD(U) got
routed in the poll. Many in JD(U) felt, the pitiable outcome is because of NK’s
ego and his unrealistic dream of PM’s chair. There were open dissent within the
party where the decision to break away from BJP was openly criticized. I even
agree to the conclusion. Someone with only having 20 MP seats can’t demand to become the PM of the nation. If that is not good enough, someone even needing
support to run his government in the state must not think beyond what he is
capable of. Had NK been a genuinely popular leader he should have managed to
win Bihar on his own for once at least. In fact the present Bihar dispensation
had more BJP representation than JD(U). While facts always pointed towards the incapabilities of NK as a complete and national leader, he was far from reading
the writings on the wall. Day dreaming isn’t a crime and not harmful either. And
I don’t blame NK for his bit of wonderland journey. That should be fine. After
all every politician worth of his salt wants to be the PM of the nation. Problem
is when one thinks the day dreams are real. The problem in case of NK was so
severe that he was asked to leave when the reality came calling. From a vivacious
CM with support from BJP, NK suddenly became irrelevant in politics. That must
have hurt NK because he, with all his flaws and ego, was still far better than
most of the politicians Bihar ever produced. With NK, JD(U)’s political dividends
also nosedived. Now is a situation where JD(U) as a party can’t envisage more
than 40 seats if they fight it alone and NK knows it very well. And nobody
loves to let go power so easily. Hence NK had no option but to hug a criminal
like Lalu because the other way only leads to further oblivion, both for his
party and himself.
Lalu is even in a worst situation. He
already is a political non-entity. His party, which was formed with a
sole motive of looting the public, is already irrelevant in Bihar as well as
national politics. Lalu and Co have already done enough impairment to even come
anywhere near the striking distance. Like NK, Lalu also knows the road ahead is
both dark and blocked, if he aspires to walk alone. To top it, Lalu may be
thrown back behind the bars at any moment. Without power on his side, Lalu
knows, he would end up rotting behind the bars for the rest of his life. Drastic
situation calls for drastic measures, even if that means forgetting political
differences. In NK, Lalu sees his power and route to his undeserving freedom. Even
though he was reluctant initially to accept NK as the CM candidate, he had to
succumb to the reality when Rahul Gandhi showed him the hell hole in front. It
is only necessary here to mention that Lalu met RG in Delhi about two days ago.
And by the way, no one better than RG knows, what it means getting stripped of
that ill-gotten power. Let alone the man in question, without power, even the
Jamai Razas won’t be spared. Saving the skin is just one part of the benefit. Here
the Congress also sees benefit in joining with Lalu and NK, as far as their
presence and importance in national politics is concerned. They have already
lost every major state to BJP in last one year. If the sorry figure continues,
they may even struggle to survive as a national party in five years’ time. In
Bihar, Congress doesn’t exist anymore, provided a 5% vote share makes any
serious count. In the alliance, the Congress party sees that glimmer of restoration
hope. Rather than cutting a sorry figure of zero, Congress hopes to be a parasite
in the alliance and win at least a dozen seats to save its face and that of
Rahul Gandhi’s as well. So, all three ganging up is more of a compulsion of
survival than choice. And as it is, beggars can’t be choosers and no one knows
better than Lalu, Nitish and RG.
The adversity inadvertently brought
these three opportunists together. The bitter truth in case of an individual
fight will lead all three of them to doomsday in the state. Not only they would
become extraneous in the state but they very well may reduce themselves to
naught in national politics. Hence the differences leave way for opportunism to
sneak in. The hugging and kissing spree in public must continue till the poll
dates to fool the public. Sworn enemies turned into best of friends in the altar
of a decade, is the biggest miracle to happen in recent times and we must
congratulate Modi for this marvel to happen.
Now for those who still refuse to
accept that breaking away from BJP is the biggest mistake that NK ever did.
Case in point, Pawan Verma. To sooth his and his master’s ego, Mr. Verma takes
shelter of that nonexistent morality of NK. As per him, NK had to break away
owing to the pressure of his conscience since Modi was declared as NDA’s PM
candidate. Really? When Ram Vilas Paswan left NDA after 2002, NK was the first
one to call him an opportunist. Not only that, in 2003, NK went to Kutch to inaugurate
a rail maintenance factory as the then Railways Minister and hailed Modi as a
great CM and administrator. Not only that; he even advised all to move on from
2002 riots because he saw nothing wrong with Modi or his efforts in containing
the riot. So, how the perception changed suddenly when it was clear that his
day dreams of becoming the PM got ruined by the declaration? What logic satisfies
the fact that NK stayed with BJP for more than a decade but ran away immediately
after Modi was nominated as the PM candidate? Morality? Conscience? Or
plain ego and stupidity?
Either Pappu can't see his jamai raja's plight or jamai raja himself is pushing pappu to dance which he can't. Jai ho Jamai Raja for being a PIA for pappu
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