The decimation of the grand old Congress and deathly humiliation of the ruling BJP in the Delhi election at the hands of AAP still in its infancy is good for India and Indian politics. Political pundits will read different things into the disaster that just knocked the living daylights out of both the big parties. That it happened in Delhi will shine a light on the old politics of the decrepit and decadent in Congress as well as the arrogant dealers of Hindutva in BJP.
The BJP suffered a near death jolt because until now the voters saw in Modi only a penchant for vacuous oratory and a little appetite for performance in delivering on the promises he has been making. No matter how great the oratory and acronymic gimmickry it doesn't put food on the tables or in the thalis of ordinary people. There has been a singular lack of delivery on the promises of good governance and material progress. Modi and his flock are focused more on easing the pain of the corporate elites than alleviating the poverty and corruption suffocating people's lives. In the less than a year of his prime ministership Modi already shows signs of a huge and deadly disconnect from the lives of ordinary Indians. Prior to the destruction of its bloated sense of self importance in the Delhi polls BJP had become arrogant. Modi's Republic day outing with Obama in his 10 Lakh pinstriped suit distastefully embossed with his name all over it perfectly synthesised his disconnect and arrogance. Modi's suit moment totally surprised me. He is a smart politician. His suit moment made him look politically somewhat deranged and deaf. The despicable display of arrogance and disconnect epitomised in that Modi Moment shall for ever live in infamy, to borrow an expression from Franklin Roosevelt.
The Congress' wipe out from Delhi is no surprise at all. What else do you expect from a political party run by the 'royalty'? The party is full of sycophants who can't fathom the truth that the fate of a national party let alone a nation can't for too long be tied to one family no matter how noble or historically important. The Congress is deader than dead. Even life support is meaningless in utter deadness. Past glory can't be sufficient reason for the Indian people to repose their faith and trust in it to tackle the mammoth task of building a caring, inclusive, just and prosperous India. The remnants of our feudalist society and values that have allowed the Nehru-Gandhis to lead the Congress in the past are being rapidly smashed and transformed. The massive AAP victory in Delhi is a testament to that fast occurring transformation. No matter how glorious its role in the freedom movement, the Congress can't afford to remain a prisoner of its history either in terms of the individuals that lead it or the ideas it leads India with. It needs to engage the billion plus Indians to throw up new leadership for itself in the still relatively young and new century. The Gandhis can make the job of reviving and rejuvenating the Congress easier by moving over and making room for new leadership. No I am not suggesting Priyanka. There are at least half a billion Indian women to choose from. If there is a ceiling, be it glass or feudal glass, beyond which only the Gandhis can go in Congress in being the kings/queens or King/queen makers why would any bright self respecting Indian join the fight to keep alive and kicking what was once a grand party but is no more because of corruption, sycophancy/family rule .
The AAP has an impressive mandate. It must now govern for all Delhiites in an inclusive, fair and just fashion. No more agitational antics. It is the government. Its job is to govern.
Modi must lose his infamous suit and along with it the fatal disconnect as well as the so quickly developed BJP arrogance.
The Congress must challenge and shed its history of recent and not so recent corruption and sycophancy. For it to shed the culture of sycophancy it will have to bid good bye to the Gandhis. Letting go of the Gandhis may cause epileptic fits of sycophancy among some of the 'courtiers'. That will simply prove the correctness of my otherwise gratuitous political prescription.
Let the new politics begin; out with the old, in with the new!
