Would a result of upcoming by-elections in favor of
Jaganmohan Reddy indicate whether the people of Andhra Pradesh accepted
corruption and loot of public wealth as a way of life and maybe even consider
it a virtue? In other words, would
making Jagan a winner show bankruptcy of public morality among the people of
AP? When a friend quipped something to this effect, he expressed an opinion of
a middle class youth who have come up the hard way and made their lives in an apolitical
environment. But such an apoliticalness also blinds them to the ground realities
of public life and politics and make them blindly limit their views and
opinions to news thrust upon the public by the mainstream media. I think any
result in favor of Jagan would show not the bankruptcy of public, but that of other
political elite in Andhra Pradesh who failed to challenge him because they are
as corrupt or even more.
Overbearing Congress high-command hits a self-goal.
TDP and LokSatta sound hollow with their corporate
connections.
Do the voters have an alternative in the upcoming AP by-elections?
They don’t. The ruling congress which has now conveniently unleashed CBI in the
graft cases against Jagan, has now unwittingly given an impression to the
voters that it is the real culprit which allowed the whole loot for 6 years that
is now being investigated. The way CBI has been used by the union government is
outrageous and these elections would teach a congress a fitting lesson. It has just hit a self-goal with its timing of Jagan's trial.
The opposition TDP which has been hand-in-glove with the
ruling congress and which infact saved the state government from collapsing
lacks the moral high ground to accuse the Congress or Jagan’s party of
corruption. It has redefined corruption in political sphere by changing the
dynamics of ruling and opposition party. In its anxiety to scuttle Jagan as an
alternate political force in the state, it has transformed itself into Team B
for Congress. It is the TDP which unveiled
the contractors Raj in AP by speculating and manipulating on huge government
contracts in infrastructure and real estate, while it was in power. YSR, after succeeding
Naidu, just elevated the game. Every attack of Chandrababu Naidu on Jagan
regarding corruption backfires and reminds the voters of his own large scale
corporate dealings and how he elevated businessmen one after the other, his
rumored benamis, worth thousands of crores to Rajya sabha. Even the small time
Lok Satta party has taken questionable stand on issues linked to big
corporations like those of Hyderabad Metro rail and the Srikakulam power
plants.
A negative vote against existing political parties
So no matter what these parties or the media channels/newspapers that
support them want the voters to think, the voters in general are aware they are
all the same. The result forecasted in favor of Jagan in Andhra and Rayalaseema
is in fact a vote against all the political parties in the state. That would be
a sign of displeasure by the voter against the Congress and TDP which conspired
against democratic ethics to suppress Jagan, an emerging political alternative.
It would be a vote against an overbearing congress government at the center. Not considering this history of political bankruptcy and viewing the present political scenario through the lens of the media which owns its roots to the very political setup working overtime to preserve itself against the Jagan onslaught will only give a warped picture and prejudiced opinions about how squeaky clean and progressive parties like Congress, TDP and Lok Satta are. The vote for Jagan, for me, would not be a sign of the voter’s ‘compromised morality’ as
my friend tends to think.
