What is the problem with our politicians? Why they always fail to generate confidence among the common men that they will take India to a new level? Whenever we discuss such question, we hear a very common answer, “The cause of the poor state of Indian politics is the lack of good leaders. Uneducated, undisciplined, unsocial and bahubali leaders join the politics and they ruin the image of it.” Some people go further to say that the problem in the politics is that educated and intellectuals or in short “like us” people are not interested to take interest in the field as it has become dirty. Middle class society of our country has always believed that if successful people from other fields will join politics then the country can move ahead. That’s the reason people supported politician like Shashi Tharoor when they joined politics.
But did that help? For instance, when Tharoor came back to India to join politics, suddenly “not interested in politics” class became active to hail the decision and even it was seen like “Rahul Gandhi Brand” of politics. Well, Tharoor’s image matched to what the people had imagined about a new age politician – Good looking, “not so Indian” accent of English, Successful in his previous field, good connections with other leaders of the world etc. But probably we did mistake by forgetting that politics is not about your image but you intent. The man according to his image got the chance to become a minister even if he was not so experienced in Indian Politics. Did he work?
Sadly not. He was just another example of how success in other field doesn’t ensure success in politics. Well, he was better than some of the previous examples like actor Dharmendra or singer Lata Mangeshkar, but when you look his overall performance you will be more disappointed than happy. Being a minister of a very important ministry like the External Affairs, he should have worked more sincerely. But he was more popular for his controversies. He may not have created those controversies, but the way he failed to handle those issues and every time the Prime Minister (Who has a special liking for Tharoor) and Rahul Gandhi had to come into picture to save Tharoor. The seven controversies he was involved in, the IPL row being the last one, showed his case of misplaced priorities. Seven controversies in 11 months of being in power. That single sentence overshadows every other argument in his favour. You may call him misfit and may blame our own system, but if a person can’t adapt to the system in 11 months why shouldn’t be he sacked? After all, the world is ruled by the law of “survival of the fittest“.
The broad point that comes out of the curious of Tharoor is that expecting the intellectuals to succeed in politics is not the solution. Everybody is welcome in the politics but the ones with the intent to serve the people will be able to succeed to make India develop and only they should remain in politics.
THE NEW DIMENSION 