Now Clear Fission.

22 June 2008.

The dust has now settled on the political and nuclear frenzy of the last few weeks. Some things are now clearer than they have ever been before. The battle lines are drawn and visible. Its now clear. 

But first a quick recap.

Described as a 20-20 match by many it had its googly moments. Advani padding up only to realize Mayawati has already taken strike, the BJP not sure whether to be on the back foot or front foot looked like the party with two left feet (no offence to the real Lefties), the Left meanwhile busy setting the field for Mayawati but Manmohan Singh, man of the match-like carrying the team to victory while the rest were busy preparing their battling line up, and the priceless cheerleader-like entertainment provided by the Congress’s new best friend Amar Singh. (An Amar Singh press conference has more gags in it than all the laughter challenge stand up comic shows put together. Simply riveting! He should charge for attendance. He’ll make a killing.)

On a more serious, somber and conscience appealing note the Congress asked the Akalis  and the BJP to vote on conscience! So 7 BJP, 1BJD and 2 TDP MPs voted on “conscience” for the UPA. One Akali Dal MP abstained, maybe he agreed with the lobbying by various Gurudwara Committees including the highest to vote for a Sikh (the safety net of religion never quite untied and put away). The “conscience” acted against party line. Then the 5 criminals, two convicted of murder one serving a life sentence were brought to parliament to solve India’s energy needs.

An airport has been renamed overnight after Chodhry Charan Singh to please Ajit Singh, allegations of money and promises of ministerial births to convicted murderers and political posts to their sons, its all being done with gay abandon. Salman Khurshid on record calling them “legitimate incentives” to vote for a govt.

Then what is being described time and again as a “shameful day” for Indian democracy after 3 BJP MPs waved wads of notes in parliament accusing the Samajwadi Party of trying to bribe them with a senior Congres functionary being the deal fixer. This is the moment being described as a black day for democracy. I’m not sure why. Because it happened if it did? Because it was displayed in such a crass manner live on TV?

Is any of this new to confidence votes?  One has to be blind or a complete idiot not to have known this all along, regardless of the veneer of respectability and sophistication that was thrown over it in earlier days. Its now clear.

So those who feel Indian governance has just recently been “exposed”, welcome to the planet, it’s called Earth, new around here?

What has been exposed more than ever is the urban Indian Aam Aadmi who mind you is a different species from the rural Indian Aam Aadmi. The polarization of aam admis has been the most apparent for those who care to look beyond the obvious Left wing-Right wing, Communist-Capitalist arguments.

The new item in town, the urban, educated upwardly mobile professional. The most fickle and self centered sub set in India today that swings from one political ideology to the other as long as the next quarter results are guaranteed. A voice that is far louder than his numbers warrant. Who has been given far more comment space than his stake in the nation deserves, a small percentage of the whole that can scream the house down with influence and visibility that far outweighs his vision. His amplifier, loudspeaker, spokes-person is the Indian mainstream media which like the urban educated elite chooses to see and assimilate only as much is possible with the least imagination, thought or strain on the brain. Common Minimum Perception.

The cacophony of columns, realms of news print on the nuclear deal has polarized commentators, colleagues, print and electronic media into Bush like “you are either with us or against us” positioning.  What’s now clear is how every one panders to their constituency. Constituencies aren’t just a delimitated geographical areas put under an MP or MLA. A constituency is what makes you relevant.

Film stars have constituencies, media houses have them, corporations have them, preachers, missionaries, imams, gurus, all have their constituencies – the people that make them relevant.

The BJP and Congress are each other’s clones when it comes to economic policy and the only thing that separates them is the convenient “communal agenda”. More specific constituencies are Maratha pride for the Shiv Sena’s Thackerays, the Hindu Right for the VHP, Dalits for Mayawati, anyone who’ll listen for the Left, allotted zones for MPs and MLAs, and corporate India for Manmohan Singh.

Take the Maratha pride aspect away and the Shiv Sena or Navnirman Sena will seize to exist. They are irrelevant to any other picture so they must pander to and cultivate that lot. Take the Dalit out of the picture (as shining India has successfully done for a decade now) and Maywati’s gone, she’s irrelevant to urban India. And take corporations out of the equation and Manmohan Singh is immaterial to any thing else, no longer relevant to any other geographic, social, economic sub set.

So to figure a persons actions one need to know the motivation for which it’s imperative to figure his or her constituency. Its not a good or bad thing, its human nature to want to be relevant and whatever makes you relevant you wish to make prosper.

Advani they say had come up with a solution to the Ram Temple – Babri Masjid conflict at the early stages. It was to remove the mosque brick by brick and replace it as near the original plot as possible as has been done with several historic structures around the world while building dams etc. Some thought it wasn’t such a bad idea. You do your thing and I do mine 200 yards from each other. Would anyone buy it? The man who wanted to fix that deal was Advani and his constituency was more than obvious. Even if that solution was acceptable to some, him doing it was not palatable.

Now no matter how good the deal is - would people outside the “shining India” constituency be comfortable with Manmohan Singh making that deal if one takes the trouble to look at history? Go figure.

Finally whatever happened, happened for the best. Defining moments in Indian democracy  that weren’t black days at all but in fact  – hello sunshine!

We finally have a PM who belligerently gave it back to Advani as good as he got, the gloves are off. Good thing. Now let the battle begin.

Such a charged debate will get us the best deal possible with each comma and full stop being scrutinized. Good thing. No one will hurry into any major policy initiative without considering repercussions even if a somewhat indiscreet and imprudent American administration cheered along, Bush giving our PM a pat on his back for his heroics.

Such blatant use of money power by moral contortionists out in the open for all to see and revile, very good thing.  Makes it much easier for a decent individual to decide if specific political parties are the problem or the political process.

And the aam aadmi can see once and for all who’s pandering to which constituency, not just politically and commercially, but in pop-communication too. Its now clear.