Politics in the times of a pandemic
In the 1996 Lok Sabha elections held in the sweltering heat of April-may, Lalu Prasad was at the peak of his popularity, a crowd-charmer without match in the state he ruled as chief minister.
I was on the campaign trail with him. As the chopper in which we flew from Patna circled over Samastipur, Prasad soaked his hand towel with Bisleri water to rinse his face. Seeing his starched, white-kurta drenched in sweat, I asked, “Politics is a lot of hard work; it isn’t an easy call. What keeps you going?” He pointed to the crowds below, gyrating to the chopper’s chuffs, amid clouds of dust: “Ye hai hamara indhan (that’s what fuels me on).”
The Rashtriya Janata Dal leader is in jail now in the fodder scam. The vignettes from his past juxtapose starkly with the social distancing norms likely to be in force in November in Bihar during the country’s first post-covid-19 polls.
If the pandemic sustains, Bihar’s poll template may be replicated in the April-may elections next year in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. A noiseless, crowdless celebration of democracy’s biggest festival will, if it so pans out, mark a paradigm shift in these provinces with a history of mass agitations and gigantic election-time rallies.
The organisational muscle of Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian parties has been nurtured since the late 1940s by such iconic leaders as CN Annadurai, MG Ramachandran, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa. When marching to their call, their cadres haven’t ever brooked barriers.
In contrast, the 1998-born Trinamool is a party much younger and more impetuous, taking after the temperament of its founder, the redoubtable Mamata Banerjee, serving a
A CROWD-LESS CELEBRATION OF DEMOCRACY’S BIGGEST FESTIVAL WILL, IF IT SO PANS OUT, MARK A PARADIGM SHIFT IN POLL-BOUND STATES WITH A HISTORY OF MASS AGITATIONS AND GIGANTIC RALLIES
second term as chief minister in the state she wrested from the then mighty Communist Party of India (Marxist), which in turn, remains in power in Kerala.
These parties have a mastery over stirring up street power. Their workers are trained to draw out crowds, not observe protocols for social distancing. They will need a veritable personality transplant to follow the inhibitory rules.
“If sent to polls in Octobernovember, Bihar will be the benchmark for other states,” said Dr V Maitreyan of the AIADMK. He foresaw, in the event of the pandemic persisting, transformative changes in campaigning patterns. The elections will be party and leader-centric, rather than candidate centric, given the inevitably greater reliance on the social and electronic media.
Maitreyan may well be right. His prognosis? The assembly polls in which local candidates traditionally got higher weightage could acquire the characteristics of parliamentary or presidential form of elections — for the public rallies or streetcorner meetings where the voter got to see candidates up close may not be permitted.
Conscious of the dynamic situation, the Election Commission is studying various possibilities which include the conduct of campaign and polling as per “health” guidelines, said Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa. He agreed that contestants might have to devise their campaigns differently if the threat lasted longer.
Overwhelmed as they are by the social, clinical and administrative odds on account of the health emergency, politicians in Bihar haven’t yet applied their minds to the November elections. One among them, the Janata Dal (United)’s KC Tyagi succinctly summed up the mood: currently, religion and electoral politics are on the backburner: “Dharm band, rajniti band.”
There hasn’t been any substantial stock-taking in the Opposition ranks barring informal suggestions of a video conference, said Sharad Yadav of the RJD. He thought the prospects of timely polls in Bihar would hinge on the Janata Dal (United)-bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) coalition’s handling of the return and rehabilitation of natives from other states.
From wider conversations this writer had with leaders across party lines, it was evident that they were unsettled the most by the possible political implications of the human cost of Covid-19. “Assembly elections aren’t on anybody’s mind as they’re some distance away,” noted the Trinamool’s Derek O’brien. From what he said, it seemed the Trinamool regime’s immediate concern was to have in place a mechanism to run the 100-odd civic bodies — that are crucial for fighting the virus and where elections couldn’t be held because of it.
In democracies across the world, leaders have been graded, mandated and assigned their places in history on their ability to move the masses — in death and in life. So Whatsapp cannot substitute for what exists on the ground. The hope nevertheless is that Corona too would go the way past pandemics did, returning to us the way we’ve practised democracy. demand can also happen at the institutional level.”
A QUICK-FIX RECIPE
Mor Kali or Mor Kuzhu (a buttermilk and rice flour savoury cake)
Ingredients: 2.5 cups buttermilk; 1 cup rice flour;
4 red chillies; 5 tsp sesame or other oil; 5-7 curry leaves; 1 tsp mustard seeds; 2 pinches hing; salt to taste activities in the various zones...,” the order said, indicating relaxations could largely be dependent on state-specific rules.
The opening of marketplaces, albeit in a staggered manner, is expected to help put economic activities, stalled by the unprecedented lockdown, back on track to some extent. Another major decision in that direction was the decision to lift curbs on establishments and factories that were restricted to work with just onethird of their staff from office. However, firms were advised to allow their employees work from home to the extent possible. The guidelines reiterated that wearing of mask was mandatory in public places and offices.
States and UTS were asked to make sure that the movement of cargo trucks or medical personnel was not hindered.
The nationwide lockdown, the first phase imposed on March 25 for 21 days, has been extended thrice. The second and the third phases of the curbs – starting April 15 and May 4 — lasted 19 days and 14 days, respectively. On March 25, India had 657 Covid-19 cases, which have increased to 95,656 infections as of Sunday.
After the central guidelines were issued, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all states, asking them to ensure strict compliance of the lockdown rules.officials across states held emergency meetings, and many of them said they will come up with their own guidelines by Monday.
Amir Subhani, Bihar’s additional chief secretary of the home department, said the state will adhere to the home ministry order.
Uttar Pradesh chief secretary RK Tiwari said, “...We will release Uttar Pradesh-specific guidelines after studying the Centre’s guidelines.”
While Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal were likely to announce their guidelines on Monday, Punjab, too, will hold a key meeting to take a call on the rules dictating the terms for lockdown 4.0.
Meghalaya and Nagaland announced that the existing restrictions will continue for the next round as well.
“In Meghalaya, keeping in mind the inflow of Meghalaya citizens from different parts of the country, we have decided to maintain the current restrictions and no further relaxation are planned as of now. If (there are) any changes, it will be notified accordingly,” Meghalaya chief minister Conrad Sangma tweeted.
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