The imperatives of treating politics as a task but not as a game : V Jwala Narasimha Rao and VJM Divakar

 The imperatives of treating politics as a task but not as a game

V Jwala Narasimha Rao

VJM Divakar

During the recent session of the Telangana State Assembly, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao made an illuminating comment on statecraft. He said for him and his TRS party, "politics is a task and not a game".

 Manipulating people to get their votes is a game that is easy for most politicians to play, but to get whole-hearted public support requires that the ruling party performs its task impressively with focus on welfare of people.

 In the post-2014 scenario, the Bharatiya Janata Party under Narendra Modi seems to be formidable. However, many political rivals and leaders of the BJP fail to realise that it may not be simple; yet, it is not impossible to defeat the Modi-led BJP in the 2024 General Election. But to achieve this parties that take up this task need to introspect, examine one another's strengths and weaknesses, draw up a grand strategy, and execute it in letter and spirit, while shedding age-old tricks that have no relevance now.

 From the just-concluded elections to the Assemblies in five states, in which BJP won four and AAP swept Punjab, it is clear that the election narrative in the country has undergone a paradigm shift. This is precisely the reason why the Congress is almost decimated, along with the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party.

 In the early 70s, before the imposition of Emergency in June 1975, all political parties, from far right to far left, came under one umbrella and the consortium was successfully led by Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan. The Janata Party thus came to power at the Centre as the first non-Congress government post independent India. However, due to internal squabbles, the Janata Party lost power and once again Indira Gandhi came back to power.

 During the formative days of Janata Party, there was never any question about who would be the Prime Minister should Janata Party come to power. The Congress then tried to pose the question: Who can take on Indira Gandhi? A similar question is now being asked by the BJP and its supporters: Who can take on Modi?

 The strong narrative that went well with people then, especially in the north, was to overthrow the Congress. No one ever thought that the octogenarian Morarji Desai would become the Prime Minister as the Janata Party had several stalwarts in the party who had all the qualifications to become the PM. Moreover, no one ever predicted that a veteran political leader like Jayaprakash Narayan, who had almost become a non-entity, would rise and stand up to the then mighty Indira Gandhi! The Janata Party government at the Centre might have failed but the Janata Party experiment opened new vistas in the country's political landscape resulting in a series of Fronts, from the National Front, United Front, United People's Alliance (UPA I and II) and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA I and II). This time it may not be a front, but something else and in all probability a consortium of like-minded political parties.

 Post-2014, under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the political scenario in the country has undergone a sea-change. Hindutva, despite the stigma previously attached to it, has become the main narrative and the BJP and its right-wing affiliates have managed to drill this effectively into the minds of people. An analysis of the five-state elections clearly reveals that BJP's Hindutva worked well in three states and helped the saffron party cut the SP to size in UP.

 Hence, the message is very clear: no political party on its own may be able to take on the might of the BJP under Modi in the next General Election. A consortium of non-Congress, non-BJP parties, as propounded by TRS supremo and Telangana State Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, would certainly be able to halt BJP in its tracks. Such a consortium should refrain from participating in the debate on who would become the PM should it win.

 Since 2018, KCR has been emphasising that there should not be any debate on who should lead the non-BJP and non-Congress alliance? Echoing the same, NCP chief Sharad Pawar stated that there was no issue of who would lead the possible anti-BJP alliance in the next General Election.

 The consortium should take up the narrative of secularism plus welfare and pit them against the Hindutva plank of the BJP. They should not only highlight the failures of the Modi government, but also offer solutions to those problems. In UP, SP failed in this aspect. SP harped on problems that people knew they were facing, but without offering solutions.

 In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party did highlight the problems and offer solutions under the Kejriwal model of governance.

 For those who argue that there is no place for a consortium against the BJP without the Congress on board, the reply is: As on date, the Congress has miserably failed to play any active role against the BJP. It is the regional parties like AAP that were able to halt the march of BJP. If the Congress wants, it can join the consortium as a junior partner.

 A national agenda has to be put forward mainly highlighting the Telangana model of schemes and programmes that have been successfully implemented, benefiting crores of people. Telangana irrigation projects can serve as examples to let people know that a non-Congress, non-BJP consortium of parties that replaces the existing government can do wonders.

 A task is like an assignment, which should be completed on a scheduled time. A task is accomplished by all means and with a well-laid-out plan. Playing games a few months before polls will not work. A clear strategy is the need of the hour.

 As rightly pointed out by KCR, the demand for change for the better would come from people and the leadership to bring about such qualitative change would emerge automatically.