I'm glad the Congress won. But every time they do, it seems to me that regular kids take a hit.
What message does the Congress send to the children of India, when it offers more than two dozen ministerial berths to children of politicians?
Sure, they all won fair and square and so far not one of them has a criminal record. But the point isn't what you do when every door is opened to you, and opportunities heaped into your lap. Almost any half wit, as Varun Gandhi has proven, can make a go with that sort of support.
If you've never had to struggle for anything, or fight for what you need or believe in, if everything, from your education to your constituency was handed to you gift-wrapped; if you're handed a ticket no questions asked, and the fellow who warmed the constituency while he waited for you to turn 21 was your dad, what life experiences do you bring to the cabinet, particularly in this time of global economic and financial crisis'?
How will you learn to empathise with the struggles and fights of the people you claim you want to represent?
The Congress wants to reward its youth leaders and to reward also those among them who have kept their hands clean. But sometime soon they're also going to need to reward people who are young, and law abiding, and have a last name that doesn't recall a famous parent.
5 comments:
Reinforces the need for true reforms in our constitution in itself. But its too vicious a circle to expect any of that. Those 543 'somethings' make all the rules. It needs intellectuals outside their system to influence radical changes like the one you highlighted. But guess it wont happen soon.
We have our own brand of democracy.
Good insight on the pitfalls though.
Totally. Power to the people means nothing if the only ones with 'real' power were born with it to begin with.
Totally agree with you. That is my primary grouse with Congress too, among other things. They talk about change but as a normal person, this party reminds one of how difficult it really is to achieve your goals in Indiaif you don't have the needed 'back'
Your blog is really good, like the sarcasm especially ;) Have been reading for years but never commented somehow. Cheers! And Zoey is so adorable!
Thank you for your comments, and welcome Goacom and LostLittleGirl. All I can say is: Yes, Zoey is adorable.
You meant the folk warming their seats until they were "25" were their dads. Sorry, but some of us like to nitpick.
I thought the Congress did a rather good job. In UP for instance, a lot of the tickets were given to people from non political families. That said, you're sooo right about the need to move away from hand-me-down political victories.
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