This way things can’t be set right….
Recent elections in Jammu and Kashmir taught a bitter lesson to many political parties and personalities. Defeat in elections compelled the coalition government to revisit its policies and rethink its earlier decisions, whether for better or for worse that will only be decided by the voters in upcoming assembly elections. People’s power demolished the edifice of arrogance and imperiousness making several prominent political entities to lick dust. Now under the garb of introspection and reinvigoration the alliance is making several U turns on many policy decisions and other administrative matters. Interestingly, political parties during election times promise stars and moon to their prospective voters but the moment they get into the affairs of governance they forget about their manifesto and people’s expectations. In case of present political dispensation this formula of political deception holds true as well.
Present alliance after more than five years of governance is back to square one and is planning to start afresh. Reversing most of its previous decisions the leadership wants to correct its faults and follies. Reversal of stubborn attitude regarding infamous recruitment policy and government employee’s retirement age row depicts the desperation—the biggest fallout of electoral defeat. At several occasions government employees were promised redressal of their genuine demands. But every time some ‘more loyal than the king’ egoistic narcissists within the government played the mischief. Others who are advising the government on economic health and austerity made the government to believe that well qualified and unemployed youth in the state can be hired against peanuts very easily. This novel idea of recruiting people for trifling sum proved to be the biggest of all follies and ultimately had to be rolled back. The culture of ‘Rehabar’ in almost all sections of administration is the outcome of such bigoted mindset laced with the colonial attitude. There are scores of such policies and decisions which went not only against the manifesto and the common minimum program of alliance partners but were in contravention to justice and parity as envisaged in the agenda of democracy.
Better late than never, now, the better sense has prevailed and the political leadership is trying its best to come out of the mess that pushed it to the oblivion of political defeat and ignominy. Government is sticking to its once much talked about double shift approach and hopefully to a large extent has successfully tried to restore the lost image. The situation of the present government is like a student who after wasting the whole academic season at the end of the year tries to burn the midnight oil only to get through the test bothering least about the knowledge. Wasting five long years in pursuing its agenda of haughtiness and egotism it is trying to gain maximum in a period of few months. The operation rollback may give some relief to the sufferers but it has exposed the wrong policies and bad intentions of the alliance. What made the political leadership to revisit its earlier policy and keep every door of its regime open for one and all? Just a shot of electoral drubbing! Resorting to populist approach at the fag end of its tenure, most probably will not go well among the larger section of the masses. Societies comprise of many sections and appeasing few white collared working class and ignoring the largest section of the masses—poor, under privileged, the farming community and the business class is not going to bear fruit. In Jammu and Kashmir government employees and the unemployed educated youth can be influential in swaying the electoral prospects but ignoring the larger exploited part of the society for the sake of electoral gains is the most unfortunate unethical political tactic.
In an electoral battle that had several stake holders each with its own agenda and a kitty of political mileage no one should be under this illusion that any one has won, but yes the people’s power has won. Whatever the percentage of voters, the verdict was loud and clear against arrogance and maladministration. The people who appear to be victorious in this game of politics cannot claim the verdict to be complete approval of their policies and agenda but they should give due consideration to the noticeable aspect of ‘anti-incumbency’ as well. At the end, a humble word for present government and political leadership in haste. Haste makes the waste.
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