READ RAHUL, READ!

SUNNY THOMAS

I have a dream, said Martin Luther King, at a historic moment. Now, Mulayam has a dream that all the Opposition parties can join him and peacefully co-exist under his prime ministership!

For Mulayam Singh and L K Advani, it’s now or never. How long can one be in politics and not be the prime minister? Even career diplomats and bureaucrats like I K Gujral and Manmohan Singh have become prime ministers. And even farmers like Charan Singh and fumble harmer (read humble farmer) Deve Gowda made it to the PMO. Why, even Reservationists like V P Singh and Young Turks like Chandrashekhar had their fill. The Indian political system is patently skewed against seasoned politicians!  

By each passing day, the number of leaders throwing their hats in the ring is bourgeoning. It was Mamata who first offered her services to the nation as prime minister, discreetly though, through the Trinamool double-speak asking for a mid-term poll and later denying it. If there is a stalemate after a mid-term poll and the major regional players are check-mated, as it often happens, Trinamool could serve the nation by occupying the PMO and garnering a couple of major portfolios.

But the most qualified man among the like-minded (mid-term poll-minded) is, of course, Navin Patnaik. Every inch an Anglophile, and more English than Englishmen, Navin is the ideal choice. His name suggests he is a Renaissance man! But outside Odisha, he is still a gadfly.   

Nitish Kumar (whom Rahul Gandhi wanted to draft in his Vision India) is the most mature politician of all. His radical, people-friendly image would be decisive in the selection of a prime minister, and would be a counter-balance against Narendra Modi. It is no small measure of success that he liberated Bihar from the vice-grip of lawlessness and caste vendetta. 

Once the wags called BJP the Bharatiya Jayalalithaa Party because under the 13-month dispensation of Atal Behari  Vajpayee’s prime ministership, Jayalalithaa was the second-most important person, who could shake the dog by its tail. She even claimed at a press conference in Delhi soon after the fall of NDA government that she could be the next prime minister. She is ardently wooed by Narendra Modi, but the moment of truth has passed by her.    

      

We now come to the most formidable player, Narendra Modi whose very name would send shivers down the spines of a section of the people. He could be projected as the icon of development and the darling of the business community, or diabolically with a skull and two bones as you see near the electricity poles. A blown-up photo of Qutubuddin Ansari pleading for his life with a caption `Vote for Modi’ would nail Modi’s prime ministerial ambition. But there is no denying that Modi has the potential to re-define the Indian republic, should BJP get an absolute majority.   

If the nation wants a statue-maker (not a statute-maker), Maya will be ready and be willing to serve the nation. And if there is a mid-term poll every year (ideally, every six months), more and more people could be prime ministers. But one thing is certain: three of the most unlikely people to become prime ministers are Sharad Pawar, Advani and Mulayam, in that order. Ambition alone does not make anyone prime minister! And the most winnable prime ministerial candidate from the Opposition galaxy is Nitish Kumar.  

If Congress does not wish to eat the humble pie in 2014, the mandarins must learn to be humble! Make Mulayam the Deputy Prime Minister and offer a financial package for UP; give a major role for Trinamool and placate Mamata’s ego. Jaya’s mind, nobody can forecast, not even Jaya. If Congress wins over Mulayam and Mamata, Jaya would like to be with the winners. Forget about the present predicament of Congress; four states do not make India. And whoever makes a winning alliance, will win Election 2014. 

Congress must look back and learn from Jawaharlal Nehru, who was a superb political artist. He kept a lynx-eye on emerging regional leaders and inducted them in his Cabinet. When Praja Socialist Party was winning elections, he adopted socialism as Congress ideology and offered political office to its leaders, thus taking the wind out of its sail. He did not tolerate opposition; rather he destroyed opposition with consummate political skill.

Those who wish to rule the country must learn to win hearts, not enemies. A hundred years ago, Dale Carnegie wrote a book, as if exclusively for Rahul Gandhi: How to Win Friends and Influence People. If you haven’t read the book, Read Rahul, Read!