Would the system accept continuing with the manager, coach and players of the Indian Cricket team if they suffer a string of defeats for years? Would the excuse work that they are being ‘groomed’ for victory in a Cricket tournament to be held some years down the line? Obviously not. In a high stakes game, losers have to give way to potentially better players waiting their turn.
How then do political parties in India of the INDI Alliance continue with the same leaders despite their poor performance at the polls? Rahul Gandhi is a good example of this, whose party is waiting for ‘anti-incumbency’ to deliver success so that he can lead the nation. Going by the recent round of polls, the anti-incumbency was against the INDI Alliance parties, even those that were thought to be deeply embedded in the people’s psyche. The fact that the Congress got a share of power in Tamil Nadu by winning a meagre five seats was considered a big achievement, with the leader seeking to bask in the glory at the swearing-in.
Increasingly, following events in Bangladesh and Nepal, the anti-BJP eco-system is now desperately looking at Gen Z to carry out a similar ‘revolution’ in India. The expectation is that the imagined resentment would provide an opportunity for the traditional opposition to return to power. If there is a Gen Z political rise in the offing, why would it look to the stale politics of the past generations?
The desperation is evident in the celebratory manner in which the ‘launch’ of a social media entity, the ‘Cockroach Janata Party’, has been welcomed. That a satirical response to a comment by the CJI has obtained a large number of ‘followers’ is now being interpreted as a counter-Modi movement. This is despite the fact that – as some from the same virtual world are claiming – over fifty percent of the followers are from Pakistan! Is this what will rescue the fortunes of the Congress, TMC, DMK, LDP, et al? Or should they be working on finding new managers, coaches and players from within their parties? Are their political ideologies so hollow that they cannot produce better performers from within their ranks? Finding merit in the cockroaches’ ability to survive despite being squashed whenever they are seen cannot be the model for them to emulate. Merely waiting for others’ extinction to emerge the ‘survivor’ is not positive politics at all!
