I will be fighting my 15th General Election in the next two months. I entered politics as far back as 1959 and fought and won my first Assembly election in 1962. I have won 7 Assembly elections and 6 Parliament elections in the last 55 years. It is also true that I lost two elections (Assembly polls in 1989 and Lok Sabha polls in 1999). I am happy with my success rate in electoral politics.
You may wonder why this old man and son of a poor farmer from Haradanahalli in Hassan district of Karnataka is talking about his background and by-gone times. I consider myself both fortunate and unfortunate. I am fortunate because I entered politics in the good old days of the late 1950s and early 60s. People and political parties still had respect for democratic institutions. Money, caste and muscle power were not playing any significant role in the polls. Because of that, the son of a poor farmer (my father had just 4 acres of land) and a civil engineer (I was the sole bread winner of a family of 8-9 people) was able to defeat the most formidable Congress as an Independent MLA. The rest is history.
I feel sad because of the slow death of democratic institutions and people's indifferent attitude towards politics. The criminalisation of politics is the biggest worry of old-timers like me. These days people without crores of rupees to throw at voters and their party workers can't even imagine winning a seat in the local gram panchayat polls. Money and muscle power supported by caste is an axis of evil. It is a lethal combination.
All political parties have failed the people of this great country. Bigger parties must take major chunk of the blame. Institutions conceived and established by our founding fathers have been turned into dens of opportunism, nepotism, corruption and favouritism. The coalitions, which once gave political stability and leadership to the nation have become marriages of convenience and made and broken at will by auctioneers who sell their support to the highest bidder.
Attempts are being made to fiddle with the federal character of the Constitution and India. The regional sentiments and aspirations are sought to be muzzled with the concept of bipolar polity, which has no relevance whatsoever in a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious country. BJP's Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi who always ridicules regional politics must know that India is one country and many worlds. It is not monolithic in nature and a two party system has no place here. Does not Modi belong to Gujarat, a state in the union of India? Is not Gujarati, a regional language? He must understand the diversity and vastness of Indiabefore declaring that he would be the next Prime Minister.
It makes me very sad and depressed. I have always been a leader of the farmers and villagers. I am one among them and proudly say that I am also a farmer. My commitments to the rural mass are unquestionable. Of the total 547 MPs in the Lok Sabha, the farmers and villagers elect nearly 400 MPs. But, nobody talks about farmers and their miserable conditions. The Government has time for everything else. But, the farmers get the least attention of all. The economic boom has brought both advantages and disadvantages. It is true that it has generated millions of new jobs and created a new economy. But, the same economic boom has deprived the majority poor of its benefits. It has made them poorer. The disparity is growing and I am worried that it would lead to a massive social unrest in the coming days.
The rich of the country seem to have forgotten their social obligations in their greed for money and power. It may have short-term gains. But, it will be disastrous in the long term.
I myself have been witnessing this dramatic and not so happy change in my own surroundings. Once a calm, serene hill station of Bangalore (or Bengaluru as it is now called) has now become an important international business centre. It has become a booming metropolitan city in just 25 years. But, a few rich and powerful people have pocketed the benefits of this boom. The same thing is happening all over the country.
India today stands at the crossroads. Both the ruling UPA-2 and its predecessor the NDA have miserably failed to deliver and put India back on the right track of development. It is only the Third Alternative, which can liberate India from this political, economic and social anarchy. Only a third alternative with credible regional political parties can apply soothing or healing balm to hurt regional aspirations and wounded sentiments. Two major national parties the Congress and the BJP have caused havoc in the country and they have no respect for the diversity of India. They have humiliated the majority people and have become authoritarian and unilateral. My party the JDS has been maintaining equi-distance from both the Congress and the BJP.
The Lok Sabha polls 2014 are going to be very decisive in many ways. The smaller parties are now disillusioned with both the Congress-led UPA-2 and the BJP-led NDA. These parties (The Third Alternative) are going to play the most crucial role in the formation of next government at the Centre. I have a strong belief that only regional parties can make India a truly federal nation.
I have already held several rounds of talks with these regional party leaders. We have many capable leaders with proven administrative skills. Nitish Kumar, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati, Mulayam Singh Yadav, Naveen Patnaik and many others have excellent skills. They have been in and out of power and can really do something good for the country. India is not a two party nation. The media is talking like as if there are only two political parties in the fray. This kind of attitude is not good for the country. Regional parties represent the diversity and vastness of India, which two so-called national parties don't and can't do.
The BJP or the NDA's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi may find himself miles away from the Prime Minister's chair on the day of the results. The ruling UPA-2 will also be decimated. I am not going to discuss the AAP here.
I hope and pray that our great nation will get a better government, which can find solutions and answers to the problems and questions of a billion people. I am a firm believer and have a great faith in the Karma philosophy. As Lord Krishna says I do my Karma and leave everything else to the God.
May the god bless India and her children!
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