Skip to main content

The minacious road to the chair.

Indian politics has remained a bastion for the old guards, a system that feeds from the young workers and rewards the ancient dynasties. It is, therefore, not surprising that the MP's average age of 60 in the world's most young population. Only those blessed with ancestral thrones have made it to the parliament, even young politicians. Only a few times have reigning leaders handed the helm to ambitious newcomers, and only sometimes have they been women. Today, look at two of the most shameful events orchestrated against two of India's brave chief ministers.

To start with Jayalalithaa. Things went south with her after the demise of MGR, leaving a vacuum in the AIDMK. Even in his funeral procession, Jayalalithaa was brushed off by MGR's relatives. But the worst came on March 25, 1989, when the DMK and AIDMK legislators faced each other. Midst abuses and allegations, the assembly turned violent. Attacks were directed at both the leaders, Jayalalithaa and Karunanidhi. And just as she struggled to leave the premises, D Murugan allegedly attempted to pull the loose end of her saree. This is one of the most atrocious attempts ever in the legislative history. 

A case not too different, on June 2 1995. With the falling health of Kansi Ram, Mayawati has seen heir to the BSP, which was in power owing to an alliance with SP. On an unfateful day, Mayawati was meeting with BSP MLAs on the partnership's future, which looked bleak. Thus an enraged SP supremo Mulayam S. Yadav signalled his men to gherao the guest house. The attack was so deadly that Mayawati locked herself in a room to survive a physical assault. BJP MP Brahm Dutt Dewedi saved her from what could have been the most shameful page in UP politics.

It may seem like a traditional episode of violence, but in both these contexts, what's stands out is the massive intolerance against emerging young leaders. The stench of a patriarchal supremacist with a devilish design to humiliate an ambitious woman. This is a weak signal of how minacious this realm of politics can be for people without a safety harness.

Popular posts from this blog

Election afterthoughts

The unfolding of the Indian election might have come as a surprise to many, for one is the BJP who steamrolled the campaign seasons with slogans of "400 par". While it remains 240 seats popular in a house of 520 members, a few stories should not go unnoticed. First, the BJP's popularity and the win for a third term is no ordinary feat. Only a few leaders of the past have managed such an elusive feat. This, indeed, is the trust that the brand Modi has built over the years. In politics, we often get acclimatized to the situations, in certain aspects too critical of it. When the young generation looked at Indira Gandhi's cabinet, they vowed never to again let such a solid mandate to a single party that its chief could declare an emergency, and no structures would be able to prevent that. This, however, ended up in fragmented colours in the Lok Sabha, the era of coalitions and surprise prime ministers. Needless to say, the horse-trading of MPs and the mindless corruption ...
dive in...

Birth of a flood - a poet's admire of rain

The sky is almost dark, save for those last golden tinges that would fade in no time. As palm trees mark the oblivion, a muddy reflection forms the ground. The last few days were mostly rainy. So profound is our love for rain. And why wouldn't we? Unlike most other seasons, rain is so tender. A drop of patience which is about to reach its final destiny. Every time I look at raindrops, they remind me of a struggle. A journey that begins with summer in an aura of dry and burning heat. And in no time, the drop loses its sources. The long-held identity of its mother. With the loss of identity, an awakening awaits. The pleasure of reaching out and bonding. As our drop moves up and up the end of the sky, it realises the futility of pride and the necessity to bond. This comes with age. Not until it is near Earth does it agree to meet with other wanderers of the new world. And finally, all our drops reach the cold atmosphere. The coldness makes life dreary and lonely. As the youthfulne...
dive in...

Turning back from pull to push

Two recent campaigns deserve attention from marketing enthusiasts, one of Campa Cola (reenergised by the Reliance Group) and of Tata Sampann's species. The challenges these two brands face are too distinct from one another. Campa, on the one hand, aims to fight the global brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola, whereas Sampann looks to create a market in indian spices that has been dominated by local players like MDH and Everest. However, their strategies have something in common: getting the distributors to stock more of their products on the shelves. Campa is offering the distributors twice the margins, while Sampann is leveraging its vast portfolio to make stocking only Tata products a win for the distributors. Image credit: Economic Times To understand why this is happening, and what makes this interesting, one has to look back on the history of marketing, more specifically the shift from a push to a pull-based marketing, where the focus of the brands shifted from pushing their produc...
dive in...