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| Nervousness ahead of D-day | | | It is hard to miss that there has been a striking absence of issues being thrown up by the political parties themselves in the campaigning for the election to the 15th Lok Sabha. There has also been far too much gamesmanship on display on the part of prominent political personalities in dealing with allies or recent allies, as the provocative remarks of Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi in praise of political opponents highlights, although others have also not been reticent on this count. In previous elections, all-India parties, and parties with a distinctive ideological flavour were known to offer a glimpse of their blueprint for development. But not this time around. The default by the Congress in this department is easily the most discernible. Here is a party that has been largely instrumental in crafting the template for post-Independence India. It self-consciously disavows allegiance to a caste, creed or region, and for that reason seeks to project a national development focus in appealing to voters. It has just completed an eventful five years in office in the course of which landmark policies have been cleared, to wit the civil nuclear agreement with the US and the ambitious rural employment programme, arguably one of the most deep-going projects of Keynesian engineering. And yet, in its campaigning the Congress has virtually eschewed references to its milestone policies. Its leaders have been content to take the BJP to task for its communal priorities, criticise regional parties for not being cognisant of the national perspective, and chide the Left for adhering to outmoded strategic beliefs. The Congress has sought to woo voters neither with its record nor with a promise. The BJP too has shied away from spelling out its core values and development perspective, although it has adequate experience of being in government and could have sought to outline policies different from that of the Congress. The party has not shown the gumption to attack the Congress on fundamental policy parameters. There has been no trench warfare on blueprint alternatives, only consistent sniping on peripherals. The Left, in this election campaign, has made a virtue of the expediency of attempting to form a "non-Congress, non-BJP" government without explaining if this means anything at all in the context of policy frameworks, given that almost all parties it seeks to lead into battle are thorough-going "bourgeois" parties which have been part of one ruling front or another since 1977, and not one has given the smallest hint of contemplating radical measures. Gandhi’s recent foray across enemy lines has confused allies and may have even miffed his own party in Andhra Pradesh. It can be put down to the imagining of a post-election negotiating stance should the Congress fall short. But this is a "best interpretation" layering. For now, the young Congress leader’s observation has drawn catcalls from opponents and pouts from allies. It appears doubtful that it was choreographed or rehearsed. Leaders like Sharad Pawar, Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh, Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan too have cut across "fronts" in their appeals. But their efforts were directed to slight the Congress or cut it to size (since they may have to deal with it soon enough). In the end, this has been a petty campaign, one without a grand narrative. Our politicians could have done better.
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