India Demanding

Success, or failure, does not depend on what you do right; it depends on the mistakes you make. A hundred things done just right can be countermanded by one fatal mistake. This is something our political class is yet to learn.

Take the BJP. Theoretically, and I may be in a minority here, it ran the correct campaign through the combination of India Shining and bijli, paani aur sadak. It was a positive campaign based on economic growth, performance and things that are critical to India’s future success.

It forgot that people will not forget their mistakes.

Remember Kandhar? Remember India Capitulating? A handful of relatives of the hijacked victims protested and the BJP caved in. So, these were the tough guys? These were the ones who would protect India’s image? These were the ones who would take off from where the lau purush had left?

It could have chosen to stand up and display its spine. But it chose the path that led to national humiliation. Bad mistake.

Remember Tehalka? Remember India Vindictive? A group of plucky journalists do what journalists always dream of doing: pull off a sensational and relevant scoop. And the BJP decides to protect the corrupt and shoot the messenger. This was the party with a difference? This was the party that would protect, nurture and build India’s institutions? This was the party that accused Mrs. Gandhi (Sr.) of using the brute force of the State to silence her critics?

It could have chosen to give in and clean the rot. But it chose the path that led to national revulsion. Very bad mistake.

Remember Gujarat? Remember India Burning? Enough has been said about it. The government could have done so much to redeem itself. Not only it did nothing; it tried to justify it. Terrible mistake.

Remember Murli Manohar Joshi? Remember India Regressing? Remember Ram Naik? To refresh your memory, he lost to Govinda in what he considered his fiefdom. To refresh your memory further, he’s the one who was leading the lunatics against Aroon Shourie’s attempts to bring some sanity back into India’s public sector model. Remember India Goofing?

These mistakes were not trivial. And these were just some of the biggies. These are not even entering into the territory of the whoppers that their coalition partners committed. These are not even asking questions like “What did Arun Jaitly, for all his so called brilliance, do for judicial reforms in India?” Or, “How many ministers can you name in the BJP government who made a positive difference to the country?”

The point is that mistakes cost them the election. And, despite all their chintan baithaks, they don’t even seem to know it.

Just like the Congress doesn’t seem to know.

Hardly six months into the government, and they are busy lining up their own list of mistakes to match the BJP step for step. And, worse, they seem to depend on Manmohan Singh’s image to carry them through. If Vajpayee’s image wasn’t strong enough to weather the BJP’s mistakes, Manmohan’s isn’t going to be strong enough to bail out the Congress.

The corrupt and the criminal as ministers and partners? India Squirming. “Compromising” with the Left? India Slowing. Reservations in private sector? India Choking. Laloo Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan and Deve Gowda as partners of convenience? India Puking. The list goes on and on already.

And we haven’t yet completed one year. How long before we see India Goofing, India Vindictive, India Regressing all over again? And various other shades of India Disappointing?

The truth is this: it’s the age of India Demanding. And the one thing you can’t afford to make is mistakes.

If my words are reaching anyone in the government, then let them hear this: we don’t ask any more how you build up such assets without any known source of income; all we ask is why can’t you stop being so damn moronic?