New Delhi: Indian elections! It's dubbed the greatest show on earth. It dazzles the mind, warms the cockles of the heart, and elevates the spirit as you watch the grand spectacle unfold. No collective human endeavour on the planet can compare with it. The sheer numbers, size, scale, and complexity is staggering and boggles the mind.
But most of all the colour, the sound, the fury and the palpable energy of the contestants and their followers gives a pure adrenaline rush to those who participate and even to those who watch it.
And the show has truly begun. Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, have all plunged head long travelling by jets, hopping by helicopters and addressing rallies after rallies haranguing, pumping up and working the crowds with their fiery speeches and claims to deliver the sun and the moon. Arvind Kejriwal though not hopping on jets and choppers is tenaciously and frenetically covering as many constituencies by taking scheduled airlines and hitting the road and criss crossing the country.
One day in Arunachal, next day in Bangalore, the third in Rajasthan and another day in Kashmir or Punjab they are criss crossing the country. Once a politician friend told me, when I asked how does some one who leads a party puts in 18 to 20 hours a day for a year, day after day, ceaselessly, without tiring, in the run up to elections with a kind of inexhaustible energy and stamina, she said, some people are possessed and she can only describe it as 'Daitya Shakti', meaning Demonic Strength.
Amidst all this razzle-dazzle, one principal actor is missing. He is glaringly conspicuous by his absence and silence. Mr Manmohan Singh. The man who pulled India out of the abyss under Narasimha Rao's government, and steered the country to make it an economic powerhouse with far reaching visionary reforms as finance minister and who again did a spectacular job as prime minister under UPA I and got the economy roaring once more and also ably ensured passage of bills of momentous significance like the Right To Information, Right To Education, The Nuclear Cooperation Bill, and the Right To Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. He built a formidable brand India. He is admired by global leaders and was the toast of the world in Davos. He ensured India was insulated by the global financial crisis and melt down, which in fact paved way for UPA II, who was considered a good and loyal Congressman by every one, is today sadly out of sight and out of mind.
Is it not a cruel irony that the sitting Prime Minister of a ruling party who has completed two terms as the Prime Minister, a rare record, under most trying conditions and compulsions of the worst kind of coalition politics is ignored today on the election circuit and is not seen or heard in the very height of election season.
True, he can be blamed by the opposition or the public for not being assertive enough or for not putting his foot down when his Cabinet colleagues stepped out of line or when they behaved ignominiously and he failed to discipline them. He can be accused by others for what they termed as his 'conspiracy of silence'.
But to be sidelined and humiliated thus in the heat of the elections, as though he's a man of no consequence, or of no use, by the very masters who controlled him and who as the head of government and a constitutional authority, did their bidding meekly, balancing precariously and dexterously, - a dirty and dangerous job - while exposing himself to ridicule, blame and liability but at the same time protected the powers that controlled him, is lacking of all courtesy, who whatever his faults, is considered a decent man among his peers.
A good man has been made the 'fall guy'.
That is the most unkindest cut of all.
Captain Gorur Ramaswamy Gopinath is a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is also considered the father of low-cost airlines in India. He was born in a village in Hassan district of Karnataka. A graduate from the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, he served in the Indian Army for 8 years. He started commercial helicopter service in 1996. Understanding the needs of this segment, Capt Gopinath decided to start Air Deccan, the first low-cost, no-frills airline of India in August 2003. The French government has bestowed the award of Chevalier de la legion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honour) on Capt G.R Gopinath. He is also the recipient of several awards such as the 'Rajyotsava Award' by the Government of Karnataka, 'Personality of the Decade Award' instituted by KG Foundation , 'Editors Choice Award' by the Indian Express Trade and Tourism Awards and "Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Award" by the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce & Industry. Captain Gopinath is contesting the Lok Sabha polls as an Independent from Bangalore South Constituency.
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