--Look its a bird, no its a plane, no its Narendra Modi.
Our savior has come finally, yes, the One is here. He is the Chosen One who will rid us of big bad Voldy. And just like that with a swing of his wand all our problems will be solved, but will they?
We so wish our life was like a fantasy novel, but it hardly ever is. Modi's victory though can be called fantastic almost. A landslide victory all over the country, a complete majority for a non-congress government for the first time. The stats speak for themselves, and the Sensex speaks with them :)
Aren't we just so happy that finally the whole election season is over and we have a leader who we can trust to run the country well for the next five years. As voters, our part is done. For the next five years we don't need to worry about the country anymore. We have voted in record numbers and put the perfect man in office. Yes we have.
I am not going to question if the man is right for the job or not, I dare not. But I would still like to question our role in the next five years. With such record breaking numbers we have clearly given the mandate to one man to do everything necessary for a better India. The responsibility is big and so is the power in his hands. There is no pressure on him of maintaining allies even, let alone opposition. No one to blame for policy paralysis, for not passing bills in parliament. No good old excuse of a coalition government. Seriously, over the last 30 years, we as a country had learned to accept coalition as an irrefutable part of democracy. And our leaders always pointed to it as a handicap to India's growth and prosperity. But now, just as there is no obligation on him to satisfy any of the coalition partners, he also, has nobody to answer to in the parliament.
The thing with coalitions is, they keep the government at its toes always. There is always a fear in the ruling party, it is always answerable to someone. Coalition was a form of pseudo-accountability that we as a nation had adopted. And I am not advocating that in any way, but now that, that form of accountability is not there anymore, we have to turn to the traditional form of accountability in a democracy - The people.
We as a people need to keep Narendra Modi on his toes always from now. Previously, in other governments, we have been too lazy and helpless in dealing with the ruling parties. We need to shun that attitude now. If there is one lesson that needs to be learned from these elections, its that, public opinion and mood in this country matters more than it ever has in our history. With a media that is going through a revolution of sorts, and an ever so lively social media environment, the onus of asking the tough questions is on us. And there are enough platforms available now, enough mediums to do exactly that. We cannot be lazy and wait for the next Lok Sabha elections, if we have a problem, we have to raise it today and now. And we have to vote in the states, we have turned up in record numbers, but these numbers must keep going up with every election, Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. Parties will be wary of people if the voting percentage is high. Because they understand now that poor performance at state level can affect them at national level (AAP) and poor performance at national level can affect them at state level(Congress). And they know we are watching :)
This is the time to rejoice, to celebrate Mr Modi's victory and congratulate him, wish him luck. This is not the time to be complacent and sit back and relax. Not the time to say "Ok, lets get back to our lives now, this guy will run the country". This is the time to ask him what will he do about the increasing inflation, what about fuel prices and electricity, what about our foreign policy, what about Pakistan, China, the USA. What about clean water, toilets for everyone. What about the Ganga of Benaras, the diamond merchants of Surat, of the auto-drivers of Delhi and the adivasis of Jharkhand. What about the traders on Dalal street, and the Pandits of Kashmir. The Dalits of UP and the Muslims of Gujarat. The list of questions for India's messiah is endless.
Finding the answers to these questions is Mr Modi's job, but asking them, is ours.
Our savior has come finally, yes, the One is here. He is the Chosen One who will rid us of big bad Voldy. And just like that with a swing of his wand all our problems will be solved, but will they?
We so wish our life was like a fantasy novel, but it hardly ever is. Modi's victory though can be called fantastic almost. A landslide victory all over the country, a complete majority for a non-congress government for the first time. The stats speak for themselves, and the Sensex speaks with them :)
Aren't we just so happy that finally the whole election season is over and we have a leader who we can trust to run the country well for the next five years. As voters, our part is done. For the next five years we don't need to worry about the country anymore. We have voted in record numbers and put the perfect man in office. Yes we have.
I am not going to question if the man is right for the job or not, I dare not. But I would still like to question our role in the next five years. With such record breaking numbers we have clearly given the mandate to one man to do everything necessary for a better India. The responsibility is big and so is the power in his hands. There is no pressure on him of maintaining allies even, let alone opposition. No one to blame for policy paralysis, for not passing bills in parliament. No good old excuse of a coalition government. Seriously, over the last 30 years, we as a country had learned to accept coalition as an irrefutable part of democracy. And our leaders always pointed to it as a handicap to India's growth and prosperity. But now, just as there is no obligation on him to satisfy any of the coalition partners, he also, has nobody to answer to in the parliament.
The thing with coalitions is, they keep the government at its toes always. There is always a fear in the ruling party, it is always answerable to someone. Coalition was a form of pseudo-accountability that we as a nation had adopted. And I am not advocating that in any way, but now that, that form of accountability is not there anymore, we have to turn to the traditional form of accountability in a democracy - The people.
We as a people need to keep Narendra Modi on his toes always from now. Previously, in other governments, we have been too lazy and helpless in dealing with the ruling parties. We need to shun that attitude now. If there is one lesson that needs to be learned from these elections, its that, public opinion and mood in this country matters more than it ever has in our history. With a media that is going through a revolution of sorts, and an ever so lively social media environment, the onus of asking the tough questions is on us. And there are enough platforms available now, enough mediums to do exactly that. We cannot be lazy and wait for the next Lok Sabha elections, if we have a problem, we have to raise it today and now. And we have to vote in the states, we have turned up in record numbers, but these numbers must keep going up with every election, Lok Sabha or Vidhan Sabha. Parties will be wary of people if the voting percentage is high. Because they understand now that poor performance at state level can affect them at national level (AAP) and poor performance at national level can affect them at state level(Congress). And they know we are watching :)
This is the time to rejoice, to celebrate Mr Modi's victory and congratulate him, wish him luck. This is not the time to be complacent and sit back and relax. Not the time to say "Ok, lets get back to our lives now, this guy will run the country". This is the time to ask him what will he do about the increasing inflation, what about fuel prices and electricity, what about our foreign policy, what about Pakistan, China, the USA. What about clean water, toilets for everyone. What about the Ganga of Benaras, the diamond merchants of Surat, of the auto-drivers of Delhi and the adivasis of Jharkhand. What about the traders on Dalal street, and the Pandits of Kashmir. The Dalits of UP and the Muslims of Gujarat. The list of questions for India's messiah is endless.
Finding the answers to these questions is Mr Modi's job, but asking them, is ours.
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