Month: November 2019

Onsen mein sab nange hain!

Onsen or Hot Springs are quite common in Japan and Japanese like their hot springs so much that apart from the many natural ones, you now have man –made, indoor ones and even in households. On my 1st trip (on work of course) to Japan way back in 1999, I went to the picturesque city of Nagano which had just hosted the winter Olympics in 98.  The travel from Tokyo to Nagano to cover a distance of about 240 Km took less than 1.5 hours by Shinkansen. Yes, the same bullet train system which is being questioned mindlessly in India, now that the government in Maharashtra has changed!

That evening, after the day’s meetings were over, our host asked us to join him at the lobby at 5.10 pm (as typically it is with the Japanese w.r.t time!) to take us to an Onsen for a relaxing bath. The excitement of having a nice, natural hot spring bath experience vanished completely when our host revealed that as per Japanese culture one doesn’t wear a piece of cloth when inside an Onsen!! We could also see the reservations among a few westerners when they were told of this!

For Japanese though, as per their culture it was quite common to have group baths naked in these hot springs. For, they believed that ‘Onsen mein sab nange hain’! I guess that the popular Hindi phrase – ‘Hamam mein sab Nange Hain’ owes its origin to the Japanese hot spring bath culture. This gained quite a bit of traction In Maharashtra in the aftermath of the assembly elections in October!! With the drama over government formation getting over finally this week, one can safely conclude that none of the political parties involved, came out of the bath covering itself with glory!  This is notwithstanding the virtues being peddled out by journalists of all hue in favour of the parties they endear themselves to!

For the BJP, which took moral high ground and adopted a wait and watch approach initially just when Sena started acting truant, the cookie crumbled when the Sena was about to crack a deal with the NCP and the Congress! By rushing itself to align with Ajit Pawar of the NCP, BJP had egg all over its face, when Ajit Pawar back tracked and couldn’t bring in the required numbers. Even if the BJP had managed to form the government by breaking the NCP, it would have had to deal with the permanent stain of having aligned with a leader who it had dubbed corrupt all along!  Only in Surf ads, Daag Ache Hain! Not in politics. Today, even the most loyal bhakt is questioning the Saturday morning wisdom of the BJP for taking oath in stealth!  Chanakya in his grave must be cursing the BJP for bringing a bad name to him!

For the Congress, which didn’t even take this election seriously, this was an opportunity too good to miss, to just have a crack at shared power! For all its grandiose pretensions of being the vanguard of secularism and the binding force for all secular forces in India, it just needed a few days to shake off all its ideological moorings and tie up with Shiv Sena!  Suddenly we were fed with how Bal Thackeray supported the Emergency and how he liked the authoritarian streak of Indira Gandhi and so on!

As far as NCP was concerned, since 2014, it was a facing an existential crisis. And since the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, not a day would pass without a NCP leader jumping ship either to the BJP or the Sena. In the elections, it came 3rd in terms of number of seats after BJP and Shiv Sena. Its strong hold remained in the Western Maharashtra/Sugar Belt areas.

When the results were out, Sharad Pawar kept saying that the mandate for them was to sit in the opposition and would happily sit in the opposition benches. At the same time, NCP was in the forefront of discussions in cementing an alliance between Shiv Sena, Congress and itself. In a small, close knit party like the NCP, it is difficult to believe that Sharad Pawar didn’t have a whiff of the defection being engineered by Ajit Pawar to align with the BJP. Probably, this was plan B for NCP which got aborted when the terms were not in its favour!

This probably explains why there was not a single strong condemnation, leave alone expulsion of Ajit Pawar when he did what he did. Contrast this to what Karunanidhi, the DMP leader did to his son Azhagiri when the latter revolted. Azhagiri was summarily expelled from the party just for opposing the leadership. Here, the nephew does the unthinkable act of breaking the party and still he is welcomed back to the party just in a few days in public display of bonhomie. And it is rumoured that Ajit Pawar may still end up becoming the Deputy Chief Minister after all!

And coming to the last actor in this drama – the Shiv Sena, less said the better. Clearly, the whole drama was precipitated in the 1st place by the Sena. Having gone to the voter with a pre-poll alliance with BJP and got the numbers it eventually did, the Sena did not have any qualms in betraying the electorate. It might have managed to achieve its ulterior objective of having its person on the Chief ministerial chair, but it would be very difficult to shake off this image of a petulant partner in a coalition for long.

We have seen parties fighting against each other virulently during polls and then coming together to form a government through a post poll alliance. Now in another twist, parties fighting under a pre-poll alliance, win the mandate and then decide to separate and align with other parties whom they opposed, to form a government. For the common voter, it is clear that – What you see is NOT what you get! This raises a few pertinent questions. Is democracy just about conducting elections timely and getting people to vote? Is it not ultimately about mirroring what they need? There needs to be a debate and eventually changes in the constitution which will not make voter feel slighted at the end of the election process!  Looking at what has happened in the past few elections, this is a SOS need.

 

On the positive side, my Japanese friends can be now happy to see that in India also – ‘Onsen mein sab nange hain’ just like in their wonderful country!

Nationalistic Congress Sena!

Indian politics in the past seven decades has seen bizarre things. But nothing more bizarre than this. It must be the first time that a pre-poll alliance, after emerging victorious with a clear majority is not forming the government in a show of one-upmanship! When the wrangling between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena was going on a week ago over the Chief Minister’s post essentially, there was a post which was going viral on social media which said that it is Shiv Sena’s “Grim Trigger Strategy” at play. As per that post, this concept is explained as a special case of non-cooperative strategy in Game Theory, in which co-operation will leave everyone better off and non-cooperation will leave everyone worse off.  Back in 2014 after the Maharashtra state elections, I had alluded to Game theory at play again between BJP and Shiv Sena in my post titled “The Maha Gam(e)ble”! (read here).

The bottom line is, one of the oldest allies in the NDA namely the BJP and Shiv Sena, in the past 6 years, have contested together and stayed together (2014 LS polls), have contested separately but formed government together in a post poll alliance (2014 State polls) and have contested together and not forming the government together (2019 State polls)! This clearly indicates the fragile nature of the relationship between the two allies! Even while being an ally of the BJP, Shiv Sena has been the most non-cooperative and virulent critic of the Modi government since 2014!

It is not clear what the understanding was between the two parties when they sat together and decided to contest the Lok Sabha and then later the state elections together. Notwithstanding the same, having gone to the electorate and sought votes in an alliance and now not honouring the mandate, after the winning a fairly clear verdict in favour of the alliance is a mockery of the elections! It is taking the voters who voted in favour of the alliance for a wonderful ride.

If one looks back at the performance of Shiv Sena in the past many years, it is obvious that the Sena is on a slide. It terms of vote share, in the recently concluded elections, it is back to the 16.4% levels which it had way back in 1995!  On the contrary, BJP’s vote share has grown to 25.75 % levels from under 13% in the same period. Even in the last BMC elections, BJP stormed the citadel of Shiv Sena and got almost the same number of seats as Shiv Sena.  This explains the nervousness in its belly!

As per me, the performance of BJP in the BMC polls should have rung the warning bells for Shiv Sena.   Between BJP and Shiv Sena, there is a clear overlap of the vote bank. In the past, BJP was more concerned about the centre and hence was okay to accede more space to Shiv Sena in the state polls while pitching for a larger space in the Lok Sabha polls. While BJP has been growing its presence in the centre, the problem is, Shiv Sena did not do much to improve its presence within the state in the last 10 years! This is where the crux of the problem lies for Shiv Sena.

Here, ideally the Sena could have taken a leaf out of the books of a similar regional parties like the DMK or ADMK. These parties would always strike alliances with parties in the centre for the Lok Sabha polls essentially based on their strength within the state. While remaining in an alliance, they never let the so called “National party” grow beyond them in the state at any point in time. This means that the National parties, whether it is the Congress or the BJP had to play subservient to the regional parties in the alliance.

In the case of Shiv Sena, due to its own follies, it never grew its presence beyond its conventional vote bank. And in that, it let the BJP erode its core base as well!  When Shiv Sena got their first opportunity to form a government way back in 1994 in alliance with the BJP, it messed it up royally. The Chief Minister was openly dubbed as a puppet in the hands of the then Shiv Sena Chief Bal Thackeray, who took glee in letting everybody know that the remote was always in his hands. The Chief Minister was changed interim and it was not long before that the government was thrown out of power. The backlash was so high that even during the emergence of the NDA and Vajpayee at the Centre could not help the NDA in Maharashtra!

In the past, when parties after having fought against during the elections came together to form the government in a post poll alliance, I have called it a blot on democracy. And we found such similar instances very often in the last 5 years when both BJP, Congress and regional parties were all involved in such post poll alliance arrangements just to be in power! As we saw in Jammu and Kashmir first and later in Karnataka such opportunistic tie-ups remained such and never lasted too long. At the end of the day, the contrasting world views, ideologies, pulls and pressures among these parties cut short the life of such governments. The voters have been repeatedly left high and dry with Maximum filibuster and Minimum Governance in such spells!

It is extremely unfortunate for the voters of Maharashtra who were presented with a pre-poll alliance and voted for the same. I don’t think that this act of betrayal by Shiv Sena will go un-noticed and un-punished by the electorate in the future.  As we speak, Shiv Sena is in extensive talks with the NCP and the Congress to cobble together an alliance. One can imagine the machinations which will be at play in those meeting rooms!

It is funny to see the Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray citing the example of BJP and PDP who are ideologically poles apart coming together.  That the experiment failed miserably is there for all to see! Why would one take so much pains to emulate a failed experiment??? Similarly, it is also funny hearing some experts citing the instance of Bal Thackeray supporting Indira Gandhi’s emergency to justify this coming together of the Sena and the Congress! That happened way back in 1977 almost 40 years ago!

Coming back to Game theory and the players involved, BJP has emerged with its stature and image enhanced. It would rue the day it decided to go along with Shiv Sena in the Lok Sabha and state polls!   Shiv Sena is now being seen as a party which would do anything to just have its Chief Minister! As of now, it seems that it may not be a Sena Chief Minister but a Nationalistic Congress Sena Chief Minister! Irony just put its head into a Tiger’s mouth!

Coming of age of the Indian voter and a Wake-up call for the States!

This article has been written for the news website Newslaundry and was published on the 4th of Oct, 2019. You may read the same here:

https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/11/04/a-wake-up-call-to-states-its-time-to-invest-in-good-governance-to-win-assembly-polls

The latest season in the continuous cycle of elections in India ended last week, this time the Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana. The dust hasn’t quite settled since Maharashtra still hasn’t seen its next government, even after what seemed like a clear verdict in favour of a pre-poll alliance. It can’t get stranger than this!

However, a detailed look at the results of the state elections before and after the Lok Sabha polls reveals a pattern. It discloses the coming-of-age of the Indian voter. Here’s how, and why.

May 2018: Karnataka state election 

The Congress, which governed the state in the last term, received a clear verdict against the party in Karnataka. At the same time, the Bharatiya Janata Party, while emerging as the single largest party, fell short of majority. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll almost a year later, the BJP got an overwhelming mandate winning 25 of the 28 seats on offer.

November 2018: Madhya Pradesh state election 

The BJP, which had helmed the state for three terms, was unseated by an anti-incumbency vote. The party was pipped by the Congress. Yet, in the May 2019 parliamentary poll just six months later, the BJP swept the state, winning 27 of the 28 seats!

November 2018: Chhattisgarh state election

Here also, the BJP was voted out by a strong “against” vote and the Congress captured the state with a decisive mandate. It’s vote share was just 33 per cent. In the May 2019 Lok Sabha election, the story was different. The BJP won nine of 11 seats with a vote share of 50.9 per cent.

November 2018: Rajasthan state election

Again, the state went against the incumbent party, the BJP, and voted the Congress to power. But in the Lok Sabha poll, the BJP swept the state with a decisive vote share of 58.47 per cent, winning 24 out of 25 seats. Even the final seat went to an ally of the BJP.

December 2018: Telangana state election

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi managed to beat anti-incumbency in the state and retained power with an overwhelming mandate. It got a three-fourth majority and won 88 of 119 seats. The Lok Sabha poll flipped this win: TRS secured only nine out of 17 seats.

May 2019: Odisha state election

The governing Biju Janata Dal returned to power with a decisive mandate, winning 111 of a total of 147 seats in the Assembly. There was no trace of anti-incumbency. In the Lok Sabha poll held simultaneously, the BJD managed to win only 12 of 21 seats. Its vote share also fell by 1.9 per cent.

October 2019: Maharashtra state election

The BJP and its ally, the Shiv Sena, secured 161 seats with a combined vote share of 42.16 per cent. As a pre-poll alliance, they managed to get a majority. This result comes six months after the Lok Sabha poll, where the same coalition had bagged 41 of the 48 seats with a comfortable vote share of 51.34 per cent. What this means is the alliance lost a vote share of 9.18 per cent in just six months!

October 2019: Haryana state election

Though the BJP emerged as the single largest party, it fell short of a majority. Only with the support of the Jannayak Janata Party could the BJP eventually form the government. Compare this with the Lok Sabha election where the BJP won all 10 seats in the state, implying it lost a vote share of almost 21.71 per cent in the Assembly election.

Only in the northeastern states of Tripura and Nagaland, where the state elections happened in February 2018, the electorate voted for the BJP alliance in both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls.

What are voters looking for?

Voters know what they’re doing. There are different combinations: voting for the same party in state and central polls; different parties being given the mandate in the state and central polls; or the extent of mandate differing if the same party wins in both elections.

If this trend holds — which I believe it will — this augurs well for Indian democracy. The voter is sending a clear signal that she understands the issues for which she is voting in a particular election. This is different from the general commentariat opinion that voters do not know what they are voting for.

This brings us to the next section of this piece: understanding the different issues voters vote for in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. Glancing at the results of the 2014 and 2019 general elections, here’s a quick breakdown of what, perhaps, voters are voting for in the Lok Sabha poll.

– For a face. The Lok Sabha polls are increasingly becoming presidential. Voters like to know the face of the prime minister they’re voting for. If parties do not project a clear prime ministerial face, they start with a handicap.

– For a party whose leader is seen to be strong, decisive and communicative.

– For a party’s stance on nationalistic issues related to India’s defence policies, the way we deal with our neighbours, the way we conduct our foreign policy, and so on.

– For a party’s overarching welfare programmes related to health, education and other issues.

– For an overall image of an honest, non-corrupt and functional government.

On the flipside, a voter clearly expects their state government to deliver on day-to-day issues like living conditions, infrastructure and delivery of the Centre’s welfare programmes.

Hence my hypothesis that the emerging voting pattern must serve as a wakeup call to the states to double down on governance issues. Even if a party receives an overwhelming mandate in the Lok Sabha polls, it does not translate to a resounding mandate in an Assembly poll unless it gets its act together on delivery of governance. States can no longer ride on the charisma of a central leader if they haven’t done their bit on the governance front.

It’s also time the commentariat shifts its focus and scrutinises the governance levels of states. This means analysing state budgets and not just the Union budget, and regularly evaluating a state’s financial health. It implies comparing the appetite for reforms within states, not just at a central level.

I firmly believe next generation reforms, which can make a difference to the economy, lie at the doorsteps of our states. Labour reforms, DISCOM reforms, land acquisition reforms, PDS reforms, agricultural reforms — multiple issues related to the daily livelihood of the poor are in the hands of states. It’s time chief ministers wake up to this and invest in running key ministries at a state level that deliver governance. If the results of the last few Assembly elections haven’t served as a wake-up call to the states — nothing will.