A Prime Minister a day, to keep the nation at sway

Aren’t we lucky? We have a prime ministerial candidate a day, to keep the nation at sway.

By Chitra Subramaniam

February 24, 2014/ 8.00 am

M,B,M,J,K,L and a G! Not easy to construct a word with seven consonants. So we might as well make them prime ministers. Aren’t we lucky? We have a prime ministerial candidate a day, to keep the nation at sway. Rahul Gandhi for Monday, Narendra Modi for Tuesday, Jayalalithaa for Wednesday followed by Mayawati, Mamata Bannerjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Kejriwal for the rest of the week. If an eighth candidate emerges, we can always fix the week – fixing koi hamse sikhé. 

As India hurtles towards elections to renew its parliament, candidates for the top job are falling out of the woodwork, almost. The latest to throw his hat in the ring is the former Chief Minister of Bihar, Lalu Prasad Yadav who has served a jail term for corruption. 
“I also want to be the Prime Minister. My dream is not yet shattered. I will ally with the Congress to stop the communal forces. My aim is to stop Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal at any cost,” he told CNN-IBN. “I cannot be a part of the Third Front. Every member of the Third front wants to be Prime Minister.” 

Truth – at last, spoken like a true loser. Yadav now has to walk the imaginary line between supporting Gandhi and himself for the top job. And he has stiff competition from Mamata Bannerjee who heads the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the neighbouring state of West Bengal. The lady who campaigned on the slogan of “Ma, Mati, Manush” (metaphorically mother, earth and human being) as well as Parivartan (development) is no distant thunder either. “I gave a call for Parivartan in Bengal, you responded. Now I give a call for Parivartan in Delhi which is a matter of days. But I want to make it clear that the BJP and the Congress are not alternatives to each other. The Trinamool Congress is the only alternative in Delhi, “ she told a large gathering of party workers. 

Backing her is Anna Hazaré, the man who led street action against corruption in 2010 that galvanized the entire nation to rise against corruption and corrupt practices. “I will support the Trinamool, but only till the Lok Sabha elections. I will garner support for the TMC during my tours. In 2019, I will field 100 good candidates from a “people’s outfit” that will not owe allegiance to any political party,” he said. Hazaré was dumped by Kejriwal, the man he helped catapult to national fame as India’s leading light in the country’s struggle against graft. 

For Wednesday there’s Jayalalithaa, Chief Minister of the southern state of Tamil Nadu and Thursday has Mayawati, the statuesque lady who led Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s most populous states. Both women have serious corruption charges against them, but that has not deterred their ambitions to occupy the country’s most important chair 

“You must ensure a big win for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the next general elections so that I can deliver the independence -day speech as the Prime Minister from the Red Fort,” she told her party workers. Indian prime ministers hoist the national flag in Delhi’s historic Red Fort on Independence Day (15th August). “If Modi wins, it will give a boost to the communal forces in the country…we will put our entire strength to prevent Narendra Modi from becoming the Prime Minister…” she said dismissing the Third Front as a non-starter. 

Jayalalitha Jayaram, the President of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) is subtle, or so her followers would like the world to believe. Posters splashed across the state of Tamil Nadu show her standing in front of India’s Parliament house. Some posters refer to her as the first Tamil Prime Minister of India. “All the members of the AIADMK want Jayalalita to become prime minister this time and we have been working in this direction for the last three-four months. The federal structure of the country should give a chance to political leaders of other states to lead the country,” said Thambi Durai, an AIADMK leader recently. Calling her an “unparalleled patriot” a resolution was passed at an important party meeting last Thursday making her a prime ministerial candidate.

Kejriwal, Rahul and Modi, contesting on elections symbols of a broom, a palm and the lotus, are the front-runners. The first two are not declared as prime ministerial candidates, but the three men have taken to a campaign trail with a gusto and commitment that promises to make the last few months of election 2014 a roller-coaster ride without seat-belts. Last weekend, the three men traded charges of corruption against each other suggesting clearly that the two C words – corruption and communalism – will be required and hearing. 

Less than 10 days after he toppled his own government in New Delhi, Kejriwal kicked off the AAP’s Lok Sabha campaign near Delhi with a scathing attack on both the Congress and the BJP calling their two leaders pawns in the hands of Mukesh Ambani, one of India’s top businessmen. Accusing the two parties of extravagant campaign funding and mindless spending he just stopped short of calling himself the country’s next corruption-free prime minister who will set the books in order. Kejriwal had also taken an oath that he would not be a contender for the post of Chief Minister, Delhi, promptly changed his mind when the occasion arose. 

Rahul’s task is two-fold and both are daunting. Weaned on politics and till recently a reluctant leader, he is yet to convert his legacy into roaring and cheering crowds. His campaign speeches speak of the past rather than his vision for the future in a country where jobs are by far the most pressing need of the hour. He speaks of uniting India against some spectre of religious fundamentalism. “If my party wants me to be the Prime Minister, then I will consider the job,” he recently said. 

Modi, the man with the magic wand as his followers believe, is by far, the person everyone is watching. As a motley mix of prime ministerial candidates come together to keep Modi out, it is far from clear if their rhetoric will bloat ballot-boxes against the man. His campaign to lead India is marked by calls for a strong leadership, a visionary India, robust relations with the world, jobs, roads, water, food and a road-map to building a national identity which he says is sorely lacking. Two months is a long time in politics and Modi’s rallies are growing in strength. Whether he can leave the others behind in a significant way is the question everyone is asking. 

By all counts elections that will pick the country’s prime minister at a critical juncture in the country’s economic, political and social history, will be held in the month of April and May. It must be an important job, considering the number of people who are in line for it.