“Damn it. We should kick the balls out of the MLA. It took 45 minutes to cover 1.5 KM. He is good for nothing other than attending marriages and putting flex boards.” 

My friend was fuming with frustration and threw his car keys to the floor. 

“Dude, you are wrong. People love him, and it’s his fourth term.” 

“People are so dumb. He mesmerizes them with excellent people skills. Nobody bothers about the development.”

“You also voted for him, right?’

“No, I haven’t. I never voted in my life.”

“Why?” 

“I don’t have any trust in this democracy. Nowadays, Politics is not the last, but the first resort for the scoundrel. You know, 43% of the Indian legislatures are criminals. “

“Politicians fight against the state, so naturally, they may get charged under different cases.” 

“It’s not about unlawful assembly, man. They committed crimes such as rape, murder, abduction, and looting. Goons rule us, and you still call it democracy. What a pity.”

Even though India is the world’s largest democracy, people like him are no strangers. A big crisis due to erosion of trust and total indifference towards politics is slowly gripping all over India, especially within the middle and upper-middle-class population.

Democracy is not a perfect system, but it is the most acceptable form of governance today. Politics defines the shape and texture of our future. It means we need good leaders to govern us. But why people turn their back to politics? 

Are we making a favorable ecosystem for the bad guys to flourish by not voting?

Are our expectations for a politician are too high for a genuine person to achieve?

Our collective notions about political activism and politicians are a bit weird. It often declines to the levels of obscenity and abuse. 

1. Political parties and Politicians are unnecessary.

We have too many political parties here. Some are national-level parties; some are state-level parties, while some don’t have any relevance outside individual constituencies. These parties focus only on their vote bank and work for the welfare of their leaders. Such a sectarian approach makes efficient, and progressive governance practically impossible. 

Most of the developed countries follow the Two-party system. So it is quite natural for a loyal citizen to yearn for such a system here as well and get rid of this nearly abusive sectarian politics. 

Our population is distinct and different in its ethnicity, language, food habits, culture, and beliefs. Adoption of a Two-party system will fail miserably to make the right representation of this diversity. 

For instance, a development strategy for Kashmir might not work for TamilNadu. Similarly, the property distribution for children has a stark difference between different religions and cultures. 

Democracy is about people’s representation. To some extent, we have to admit that regional parties serve a purpose in ensuring proper representation of Indian diversity. 

In other words, political parties of varying scope make the fabric of Indian democracy stronger and vibrant. 

Let us come to the role of politicians. Politicians are the face of the political parties and their ideologies. It is the charisma of the politicians that brings people to the polling station. 

Arvind Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party created an unprecedented political change in India since Independence. If we closely monitor their performance, it starts and ends within the NCR region. 

AAP enjoys people’s trust as an alternative for the existing political parties. Their policies get appreciation from all walks of humans. But they miserably failed to replicate their success in Delhi to other parts of India, especially in the South. 

They fielded prominent personalities from different areas as candidates. But none of them became the emulation Kejriwal. So it’s not the party, but the brand AK gravitates voters. 

In India, people rarely go through manifestos. The confidence and trust of the electorate in the politician’s abilities wins the game. Other factors, such as political affiliations, caste, education, etc. might be contributing elements in the voting decision; still, the personal charisma of the politician is the deciding element. 

Every party promises a wonder-land to voters in all manifestos. If the document alone were the deciding factor, Congress would have been continuing in power now also. But we know that it is not the case. 

It means both politicians and political parties are an integral part of democracy. 

2. People vote for the caste, not for merit 

Sadly India is a caste centric society. Both politicians and religious leaders make use of this identity to retain their power. 

We can’t blame people if they prefer to choose a leader of their caste with the assumption that he can rightly represent their concerns in the corresponding platform. 

Even though nothing blocks a political activist from contesting elections, the cost for the campaigns is mindnumbing. So the winnability gets the upper hand, and a political party might prefer to field a candidate with strong caste affiliations than actual merit. 

Caste and caste pride are integral elements of Indian culture. It is not easy for a political party to discard that element until proven otherwise.  

Even if a party fields the right candidate, would you vote for him especially, if he is of a lower caste than yours?  

As long as the majority of us, carry a caste prejudiced mindsets, how can we blame politicians alone for playing caste cards?

3. Only India has full-time politicians

It is true; only in India, a politician devotes his entire time for political activity without any visible sources of income.  

The policymakers of developed countries are younger than their Indian counterparts. Besides, the majority of them become politicians after establishing another segment. Still, equating their political life with an Indian politician is a gross injustice. 

Developed countries have an efficient and well-oiled system of governance. A citizen will get his rights and services automatically without any external influence. 

So a politician need not spend his time for the day to day activities of the governance system. It, along with the smaller electorate, enables him to focus on policy issues and makes him more productive.  

Meanwhile, in India, public governance is a mess. The corrupted bureaucracy and enforcement wing make the life miserable for a citizen. If you lost a certificate or needs correction in your birth certificate, the officers will make you run pilar to post stating silly reasons or formalities. 

To resolve the issue, you either need to bribe the officer or get some external influence. 

In general, even the worst politician, too, would be accessible for his voters because he needs their mandate to retain his power. 

Naturally, people approach such peoples for purely administrative tasks such as school admission, caste certificate, or to drop the charges of a traffic rule violation. The volume of issues he needs to address daily is mind-blowing, and it necessitates him to be a full-time politician. 

How can a voter forget a politician who arranged a hospital bed while his child was sick? 

The administrative failures make people depend on politicians to get their rights and make them emotional slaves of him. 

The pathetic levels of administrative lapses are a blessing in disguise for the politician. The poor have to depend on him to get his due share of rights, and for the affluent, they need his assistance to avoid queues. 

In short, the inefficient governance system and our urge to get preferential treatment take away the significant chunk of a politician’s time. So his active involvement in policy formation would be minimal. 

It keeps the system inefficient for ages and gives the politician many more opportunities to create more loyal voters.

Not just the cunningness of the politician, but the collective inefficiency of the system and our mindset too plays a vital role in making the system degenerated. 

4. Politics is not a profession, its a service

We have two types of leaders. The first category is the descendants of a powerful family or caste with no active involvement in grassroots level political activity. Since they have been enjoying the fruits of power for a long time, they are affluent in all means. There will be more media attention, lobbying, PR stunts, etc. to set the field for their exciting introduction to politics or, more specifically, to the power. 

For them, life as a politician is a cakewalk experience other than the physical exhaustion during election campaigns. 

The second category of leaders emerges when the existing system fails to deliver. They fight for social causes, from student concessions to unauthorized mining in an environmentally fragile area. Their socio-economic backwardness, absence of political patronage, etc. make them vulnerable to the arm-twisting tactics of the state machinery to silence them by arraigning them in different cases. 

Instead of garlands, they get brickbats. They get no praises but prisons. There won’t be any red carpet welcome for them even from the benefactors of his struggle. Instead, they would ridicule him for trapping them in various cases. 

We know how clogged the Indian judiciary is. The cases will take years to hear. So the people and the leader has to spend their time, energy, and whatever money they have, for the legal battle. You won’t get a job if there are pending cases or convictions against you. 

It means there is no other option than continue to be a politician. Even if you want to gain some extra money, you should be in a prominent position. To reach such stature, you should have powerful connections to meet the expenses. But practically nobody would invest in a struggling politician. 

 But for an affluent family politician like Mr. Rahul Gandhi or Jyotiraditya Scindia, no such issues. They gain the plum posts even with zero knowledge of the problems of the people or uttering a sentence in the voter’s language. 

When Rahul Gandhi contested in Wayanad, it bulldozed the aspirations of a large number of politicians who gave their blood and sweat for the party. Rahul won the race, but what benefit it provides to the voters. How accurately can he address the people’s issues? He is unable to speak Malayalam and its an irony that a voter needs a foreign language like English or Hindi to express his concern to his representative. No doubt, a local politician would have been a better choice. 

For those occupying the posts like MLAs or MPs, death is the only retirement. Still, the succession goes to the family members. 

A politician’s career is quite vulnerable. Even if he gets a post, an allegation, even without merit, can send him to obscurity. 

No other profession in India is as competitive and uncertain as politics unless you are from a highly privileged background. 

For the monarchs, they can get money from different sources and can continue in the limelight without any interaction with the voters. 

For those who fail to reach prominent positions, life is quite vulnerable and pathetic. People use their connections and goodwill to get things done. Nobody bothers to pay him a penny and take things for granted. 

When people rhetorically mention politics as a service, they indirectly proclaim that the politician works for society, and such noble gestures are invaluable. We don’t want to ridicule it by paying a fee. 

Nothing in the world is free. If you take advantage of a good politician’s vulnerable situations, you are pushing him to the swamp of corruption. 

5. Nobody forces them. They are incompetent to get a job. 

The majority of local politicians in India lack high academic qualifications or are not “successful” as per our conventional yardsticks.

Somehow, our media or public perception of competency revolves around educational qualifications alone. A doctor with excellent credentials would be fit for treating patients. But there is no guarantee that he will have a better vision for comprehensive healthcare than a homegrown politician. 

A school drop out K. Kamaraj rubbed his shoulders with the mighty leaders of Indian politics like Nehru or Patel. Not just in India, leaders such as Winston Churchill or Abraham Lincoln, too, were devoid of any flashy academic titles. India has become an IT superpower now. Some computer illiterate politicians identified the potential and made the baby steps for such a revolution. 

People join politics for various reasons. They become people’s representatives because people have got faith in their capabilities to deliver results. So branding them as incompetent than a salaried servant of the system is an insult to the people.

6. The development is partisan 

It is not just an allegation; it’s a fact. The resource distribution always takes a biased approach. The politician tries to appease his loyal voters at the expense of the state. 

Before blaming him for misusing the public trust, take a retrospective look. How many of us make active participation in local body citizen forums such as Gramasabha or ward sabha meetings?

These meetings are the building blocks for local governance. Our absence from such institutions nullifies any objections and enables the politician to tweak it for his benefits. 

How can we blame the politician for a biased approach, when we are a total failure in delivering our responsibilities as a citizen? 

7. All politicians are corrupt

 Yeah, they are the only corrupt people in India!!!

Aren’t we use consultants to get things done in the Govt. offices? Isn’t it corruption?

We don’t like queues and wants preferential treatment, that is the primary cause of corruption. We tweak the system for our benefits and blames the one who did it for us. If the politician is corrupt, we are the one who makes them corrupted. 

Let us check some mathematics: 

The current salary of a panchayat member in Kerala is just Rs 7000/ month approx: 100 USD/Month. He represents around 1500 people. Every one approaches him for all their requirements, and he needs to commute to different offices to solve the issues. Who pays the traveling expenses? The member. 

His responsibilities include fixing of family issues to the removal of carcasses from the public space. If there is an accident or a death during the wee hours, the member should reach there and coordinate things. 

No holidays or personal time. The member’s presence is inevitable in all our family functions. Such a stressful life, irregular sleeping patterns, and bad food habits take a toll on his health as well. 

Have we ever thought how a politician at the primary level meets the ends?

 People value a politician only if he has power. So getting resources for the next election is crucial as well. It translates to low-quality roads, non-functional street lights, and wobbling bridges. 

The volume of work a politician does is immense. We should recognize their work and reward them with a reasonable salary, at least equal to the wages of a government employee. 

Such a dependable income will make the politician more powerful and can make decisions without any biases. It will encourage honest people to get into active politics and make the system more efficient. 

8. Politicians private life is public 

If you are a politician, you need to make everything related to your personal life to public scrutiny.

 Even with an educational loan, you can’t send your children to western universities. 

A politician shouldn’t get his treatment in a private hospital, as it may reduce the people’s confidence in govt institutions. But there are no issues for the govt. Doctor to seek treatment in another country.

It is better to be a bachelor so that you need not spend time on the family.  

If you are married, you shouldn’t have any family issues. If your wife hates you, then how can we accept you? 

 If your children get it to a problem with the school authorities, you are the one to resign your post because it proves that you are a total failure as a father and family head. So you are incompetent to rule us. 

If you are gay, lesbian, or divorced, you shouldn’t be in politics because such a person is a disgrace to our culture.   

A religious leader can travel in a super luxury car. But for a politician, fewer the number of wheels for his vehicle, the more he is appreciated. 

We have no issues with Godman, who rapes and kills children. But we don’t accept a politician who supports same-sex marriages. 

What is your point? Politicians are pure and transparent??

Politicians are not extraterrestrial aliens airdropped on a beautiful morning. They, too, are part of the society with all its vices. But they are the policymakers, and a wrong choice can drastically affect our lives. 

As citizens, we must help democracy to deliver through the selection of good competent leaders. We all know that coveted posts such as MLAs or MPs are quite expensive. Besides, a layperson won’t have many roles in the selection procedure at this level. 

We can still make changes in the primary level, i.e., at the local bodies. The elections are not that much expensive as people are known to each other. The significant benefit is that The Panchayat Raj act gives high authority for local bodies.  

The local body can even issue a stop memo to a corporate-like Pepsi if it violates the rules or affects the healthy life of the population. You can devise your development strategies as well. 

If one proves as a competent administrator, no one can stop the progress of an honest politician to the higher levels. No political party can ignore such politicians with massive ground support. Then other things such as caste, family, and money will slowly start to recede. Even though it may take some time, such a change is not impossible. 

Instead of name-calling, we should realize that politicians are human being like us and have their dignity. They may be obsessed with the limelight, but they are highly insecure too. 

As citizens, we should give them some free space and time for more meaningful activities other than attending marriages and funerals. We should drop our urge for preferential treatment and help them to be better politicians who can deliver results.