The political psychology

Saturday being an off from office normally starts late for me. But today I had to get up at 4 am to catch a train for Aligarh for an official visit. The pleasant Lucknow Shatabdi (the best among all Shatabdis) provided me with a copy of Indian Express. With sinking eyes wishing to close and relax I took the copy from the attendant more as a courtsey than an interest to read. As I moved to slide the newspaper in the back side pocket of the front seat, my eyes caught a news line - "TATA's open letter to Bengal". Since, the recent news were full of Nano, TATA, Buddhadeb, Singur, Mamta, etc. etc. I thought of investing few minutes to read this news before slipping to the sleep.

Mr. Ratan Tata's message through the letter to the youth of Bengal was both hard and soft but in no way looked politically motivated as claimed by the Mamta camp, though Mr. Rata mentioned in his letter that Mr. Buddhadeb has made real efforts in bringing the investors back to the oldest industrial state of the country. Tomorrow if somebody from Mamta camp reads this blog of mine, he will certainly label me as a Buddhadeb supporter. That's the political psychology!

Calcutta is the oldest - probably the first - metro of the country and a city wherefrom the industrialization of the country started. Calcutta, and for that matter West Bengal, is also probably the only place in the country which sank to its darkest depths of industrial failure because of political motives. Why and how it all happened? One compelling reason is the omnipresent "politics of Vote Bank". Having industries made the State employ lacs of workers in various industries. This working class was in huge numbers and was the major target group of all political parties. Every party tried to woo this section of the society in the State in trying to gain their vote bank. The national parties were moderate in their approach whereas parties which sprang from within the state were very rigid and aggressive in their agenda. Parties like Congress and BJP were found to be in a conciliatory mode, trying to get benefits for the working class even as supporting the pro-business policies. This was purely to balance their political interests in other parts of the country where working class was minimal and industrial development was required with the support of business houses. However, parties like Trinamool Congress and even CPM with the regional interests started focusing entirely on working class with a motive of pushing the business houses to the wall to squeez out everything for working class. These parties have been looked upon as saviors of working class. With an overwhelming support from the working class these parties were almost always able to hammer the industries on various issues. So when a paisa is increased on any amenity to improve the facilities or simply to meet the increased cost, a strike is always on the card. But as somebody said that "business of business is business", industries started shifting their bases from WB or closing down their units as they found themselves more in strikes than in business. In the process lacs of workers either lost their jobs or settled for a petty, less paying, small time work. No denying then that the Saviors played the role of Destructors!

Mr. Ratan in his open letter to Bengal asked a very simple yet thoughtful question - “Would they like to support the present Government of Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee to build a prosperous state or would they like to see the state consumed by the destructive political environment of confrontation, agitation, violence and lawlessness? Do they want education and jobs in the industrial and high-tech sectors or does the future generation see its future prosperity achieved on a ‘stay as we are’ basis?”

But Trinamool Congress wasted no time to dismiss the letter as politically motivated and written in consultation with CPM. How on earth people can cheat themselves!!!

Even if the letter is politically motivated I dont see a problem because for the prosperity of the state and looking into the future the CPM is changing its ideology slowly and gradually to bring back industries. The Nano factory was a silver lining and could have served as the best example of industrial return to the state. But alas, the vested interest killed a once in a hundred year opportunity to give back to the people of the state what they were first to develop and own - the industrialization.

I dont squarely blame the Trinamool Congress either. Politics is like business - Give people what they need the most and you will sell a lot. That's how the political agendas are made. In WB its the interest of working class, in J&K its the interest of Kashmiri people, in UP its the interest of Ram Janm Bhoomi / Babri Masjid, in Rajsthan its the reservation for a section of society, in Maharastra it is the Marathi interest, and the list goes on. The problem is not with the interests. The problem is when all energies are diverted in achieving these interests at the cost of real and important issues of education, poverty, development, human rights, healthcare, etc. I do appreciate that there are strong emotions attached with all the specific interests listed above but we must also understand that satiating emotional thirst is not going to fill our bellies.

If people of the country come out of their emotional state and look at issues more objectively then even the political parties will have to change their agendas from petty politics to real development issues. The psychology of politics starts from people and ends with people. Unless people change their mindset we cannot expect our political leaders change their as they also form part of the very society we all live in.

So to change the political psychology let's change our psychology first... May God give us strength.