By Nabeel A. Khan
New Delhi, May 5 (IANS) If you thought politics was the preserve of the corrupt or the criminal, think again. The 15th Lok Sabha polls boast of a new breed of candidates who are professionals, well educated and motivated people the middle class can identify with.
Bankers, doctors and graduates of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) among others are in the fray this time.
"For many years we have created a myth that all politicians are criminal and corrupt, but in the meantime Indian democracy has also emerged stronger. Educated and professional people have finally decided to plunge into politics," Imtiyaz Ahmad, an eminent political scientist from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) here, told IANS.
Ahmad feels the participation of professionals as independent candidates or as those who float their own party is an expression of dissatisfaction with tried and tested politicians.
Rajendra Thakar, who contested from North Mumbai on a Professionals Party of India ticket, is one of them.
"India needs new parties as the traditional outfits are engrossed in corruption, as people need to see the hope that will lead the country forward. And that is one of the main reasons that new parties like ours have been floated with clearly defined objectives for people, not for ourselves," Thakar told IANS on phone.
Bharat Punarnirman Dal is a party made up of IIT graduates that has put up 40 candidates across India.
Britain-based consultant Kumar Kuntikanamta came all the way to Mangalore, Karnataka, to contest. "I think all Indians want a change in the current political system, but very few are willing to act. People criticise politicians but they don't want to join it," he said.
Meera Sanyal, a banker who contested as an independent from South Mumbai and has been much talked about in this election, exudes confidence about her victory.
The strong presence of independent candidates this time has not gone unnoticed and it has made political parties wary that they will cut into crucial votes.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month said that independent candidates were 'spoilers' and urged people not to vote for them.
Young voters are attracted to independent candidates.
Apurva Upadhyaya, a first time voter, says: "I will rather vote for a new and young party, may be an independent, as traditional parties have not been able to perform as well as they should have."
Lubna Asif, at 25, is one of the youngest Lok Sabha candidates and is contesting from Gautam Buddh Nagar constituency in Uttar Pradesh for the All India Minorities Front.
Achin Vinayak, political analyst and professor at Delhi University, agrees that the perception of politics and politicians is changing and holds the 26/11 Mumbai attacks as a key reason for this.
"I think 26/11 made the middle class think that they are also at threat, so they started blaming politicians and became active," Vinayak told IANS.
Vinayak, however, doesn't think that the trend of middle class people and professionals joining politics is automatically a good thing.
"We have good and bad people among professionals just like in any other category. It would be partial to blindly brand all these fellows 'good' and 'corruption free'," he maintained.
On similar lines, Ahmad cautioned: "As our democracy is party-based, if candidates don't have mainstream party support, it would be tough to function.
"The only way to bring about change is through mainstream parties because Indians do not vote for individuals; they vote for the party and so the chance of success of such a candidate is very less."
(Nabeel A. Khan can be contacted at nabeel.k@ians.in)
links for coverage
http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090505/812/tnl-professional-educated-and-aspiring-t.html
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090506/delhi.htm#10
Comments by Readers on this story
Hello Mr. Nabeel A. Khan:
I read with much enthusiasm and pride the movement of Indian Youth in the Political
Arena. It is time to bring in young fresh minds and develop a new and improved
political system, Reduced number of parties, revised constitution that works for the
people, A BILL OF RIGHTS of citizens with Charter of Rights & Freedom, and much more
I have a Vision for my Nation written with a Passion that outlines a Mission
addressing the needs of every Generation, it touches on the Constitution, life for
the least of our Citizen and brings forth one LAW:
WHATSOEVER WE DO, IT MUST ADD VALUE UPGRADING TO THE MINIMUM NEED AND ENHANSING THE
QUALITY OF LIFE OF THE LEAST OF OUR CITIZEN.
Should you and your movement be interested I would be pleased to address a rally of
youth and instill in them Love & Spirit of our Nation to build it because only when
our country is rich and successful will all its citizen be as well. This can be
learnt by observing the developed nations and their administration of the running of
their nations.
Good Luck!!!!!
Anthony Saldanha
HI Anthony ji,
U make it sound as if India was not alive before the new breed came in. Let me
tell u that the locals are SO aware of Politics it is not funny. And the new
breed of IIT'S that you are sooo proud of, and talking about are no better
than the previous bunch. The previous one's have shown themsel\ves for what
they are, and this new breed will show themselves for what they are. I am
sorry to point out that they are going to be nothing better than mouthpieces
of the Whites'.
I would like to highlight one case in point. I met Shashi Tharoor recently,
and in a one to one conversation, i asked him why he does not fight to get
India out of the Nuke Deal, to which he said, u think the nuke deal is not
good, and i said tell me ONE thing that is good about the deal, and he said "
Indian Scientists were longing to go to the USA, and now they get their visas
easily and are visiting." This my dear sir , is the new breed.
I wanted to stand for elections but my name was not on the voter's list.
A Marigold (Goonda) is actually a bouquet of flowers - as each petal is a
complete flower in itself. Did u know this????
Dear Nabeel,
I am smriti from Bangalore working as a pr professional, read your article
and i really feel happy the way youngers are getting into politics and
willing to bring a change as we are really fedup with parties asking votes
for caste, religion,..we need change ,development,education..and this caste
and religion politics is going on from years and we havent achieved
anything..
It's high time to wake up and vote for the young, educated leaders ,hope to
see a positive change in our society instead of always cribbing about the
political system...
--
Thank You....
-----------------------------------------
Regards,
Smirit
Hi Nabeel,
A very good article posted in yahoo! I totally agree that India now
needs a profesional and an educated politicians who can change the face
of our nation. More importantly each and every politician should be
Accountable for their job which is the core for our nation's progress.
The last two lines from the article is very correct. "As our democracy
is...." Hope our mass understands where the actual gem is hidden.
Jai Hind,
Shreejith K.
Thank You Mr nabeel,
thank you for mentioning our party in your yahoo.com article
Best Regards
Sudhir
www.voteforfamily.net
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