Missing the wood for the trees

Indian hoi polloi all over are busy in electing their representatives for the 17th Lok Sabha and all the political parties and their fronts are hoping to capture power on May 23 – the day ballots will be opened. However, compared to what was electioneering several decades ago, the election campaign today is at its lowest in terms of civility and content for governance. Political parties are missing the bigger picture and are focused on hurling allegations and counter allegations of little relevance. In a democracy, people vote for the policies and programmes of parties and the work done by candidates in public life for people. Most of the political leaders have forgotten their manifestos and are harping on issues considered undemocratic and tendentious personal attacks. If we see the media reports of month-long electioneering, no visible agenda of governance has been put across before masses by the opposition.

The recent cyclone Fani devastated the Odisha where it is reported that one million trees alone have been destroyed and blown away in the State capital Bhubaneswar. The destruction of property in other parts have been massive and is still being assessed. Thanks to the correct forecast by IMD, the loss of human life was prevented with very few death reported as the state had timely shifted 10 lakh people to safer places. But the loss of wildlife and cattle has to be enormous. This cyclone was an untimely occurrence as such cyclones come normally after Monsoon. It reflects Climate Change overtaking things which are beyond human control and is a reminder to the people in power to tackle environmental issues on priority. Odisha had lost a major infrastructure along the countryside as a large number of electricity poles have been razed to the ground by Fani. The speed of this cyclone was 175 to 200 Km and it cannot be designated as super cyclone, the speed of which is around 250 km per hour and which may visit us. Prime Minister's visit to cyclone-affected areas in midst of election campaign and his interaction with Odisha CM Navin Patnaik has, however, shown a little bonhomie between the two warring political forces.

The damaged situation in rural areas is still being assessed and it was the first time after declaration of Lok Sabha elections that a ruling party prime minister was greeted and welcomed by the opposition ruling state chief minister, though both were fighting the election against each other.

Against this, is the example West Bengal, where the chief minister did not pick the phone of the prime minister and said that she does not recognise him as the prime minister for now. The Kolkata police whisked away from a VIP passenger and prevented the custom authorities to discharge their duties. The aftermath of Fani and such clashes between the Centre and state forces are the issues which will have to be dealt with in earnest to avoid inefficient governance.

One of the reasons for vitriolic electioneering is the fact that this election has been reduced to a referendum on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a person and the leader of the country and the election process is almost witnessing a Presidential mode campaign rather than a pattern of multi-party Westminster system parliamentary democracy. Manifestoes have been buried deep down to be opened if at all in future and all rallies are for and against Modi. In the entire process, the opposition has been harping on Rafale deal and declaring the Prime Minister a Chor (Thief) and in return, the Prime Minister has been digging into the past follies of Congress regime. This writer has been closely monitoring the pulse of the people and it is being realised by the public that the campaign is not in good taste.

It appears that the voters are rallying towards ruling dispensation in the Centre especially in the West-Bengal, Odisha, UP, MP and other states like Karnataka, etc. as the prime minister has succeeded in convincing people about his strong government and taking action against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. It is, however, a million dollar question if the regional and caste factors have been breached especially in UP and the regional aspirations in West Bengal, Tamils Nadu, and other states. The second reason why ruling NDA is getting support is that only NDA is contesting in all seats. None of the other – Mahagathbandhan and Congress – are contesting to reach the magic figure of 272 seats. The people are eagerly waiting for May 23 when things will be crystal clear and people will know who captures power at the Centre. The need is for a government that thinks about its youth, farmers, meets the basic needs of downtrodden sections of society, environment, clean and safer technology for industrial needs and with a sound defence, and peaceful law and order situation.

Whatever is the result of this year's Parliament election, the country must brush up for governance for the next five years. The first subject is to factor in for the next government is environmental concerns as a core segment of developmental policies. The changing dimensions of Climate Change impact are calls for a thorough restructuring of our planning process. India has pledged to ensure Sustainable Development Goals and the foremost thing from the point of the Indian situation is to reduce poverty and ensure ecological security. This emphasis on the environment, however, does not mean that development should be sacrificed. It means striking a balance, going for innovative ideas and bringing superior technology. In this regard, though the country is progressing well in meeting the Paris commitment on Climate Change, we need a lot of synergy and coherence in our developmental activities. We need to ensure the development of tribal areas on priority along with the other 170,000 villages situated in and around 32 million ha of forests. Management of forests should focus on water conservation to recharge our acquirers, ensure water flow in our rain-fed rivers and promote biodiversity both in forests and agriculture fields. The second issue relates to enhancing agricultural productivity and diversifying the income of farmers from animal husbandry and other primary sectors resources. The disaster management programmes must have a portfolio for natural resource management.

The new government must take the issue of decentralisation and de-bureaucratise the systems of governance; bring far-reaching changes in the education sector and making available affordable health to all. On the issue of defence, a mechanism is to be devised where there is no scope of any allegations and to safeguard the interests and integrity of the armed forces. Last but not the least, the festering Kashmir issue also needs to be handled with care but firmly and decisively. Rest lies in the womb of the future.

(The author is a former civil servant. Views expressed are strictly personal)