Once Birbal escaped a fix with Akbar when he answered in an affirmative that there exists someone who could pull the ruler’s beard, and later, he wittingly mentioned that it would be Akbar’s own son. In present day India, if you were asked to name a person who can get away with slapping the PM of India (and I do not mean it literally), the answer, without any wit involved, is obvious. Though, I leave that to your logic.
I thought of lending my ears to an occasion where the Prime Minister of India and the youth congress leader shared the same platform. On 30th of April, I happened to witness Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi speak on the same platform at Banda, UP. Unfortunately there was not any spark I had expected, nor any novelty from the two generations of politicians.
Rahul Gandhi
I am sure he has read many plays, for sure he must have read Shakespeare adequately and probably fancied Mark Antony’s class act at impressing the people of Rome after the Caesar’s assassination. Gladly for Mr. Gandhi, the fickleness of audience he gets here, rivals that of the Romans of that age, though the trigger must be different. Aristotle and Quintilian discussed oratory, and the subject, with definitive rules and models, was emphasized as a part of a liberal arts education during the Middle ages and Renaissance. It is as much relevant today as it was then, if not more. Mr. Gandhi has plenty to do in the field of oration. Whenever he is eloquent with the flow, he falters with the logic and if & when he speaks logic, he lacks conviction. While attempting to evoke the sympathies of the people of Banda for his party, he referred to a boy who narrated to him how his father succumbed to hunger. Later in the speech, he referred to non inclusion of people under BPL as one reason for the plight. Whilst he might be true about the inefficacy of the government on their part, he did not present any solution.
What is poverty line?
It was in January, 1979 that a Task force charted a methodology (taking into account the recommendation of Nutrition experts group) to define Poverty Line. As per this method, people who consume less than 2400 calories in rural areas and 2100 calories in urban areas would fall below the poverty line. In 1993, an expert group was set up to examine this methodology. This committee came up with some very valid concerns and recommendations. However, these recommendations, if accepted, would have shot up the number of poor to a great extent. It suggested that this method, among other things, does not take into account items of social consumption such as education, health, water, sanitation etc. and as a quantity, poverty line, is a reductionist. To the defense of those who took the first pain of ‘cracking the poverty line code’ in 1962, P. Sainath, comments that “They were idealistic citizens who believed that the state had certain duties to fulfill. They believed for instance, that the state is bound by constitution and other commitments to provide its citizens, both health and education.”
Will Mr. Gandhi accept these recommendations? Did he have this in mind while he was accusing all non-congress governments who ever ruled the land? Or was he just playing with one of the themes to garner the support of potential votes.
Going further, Mr. Gandhi also tried to be witty and logical. A lethal combination otherwise, but for Mr. Gandhi… He said “Delhi is 200 kms from Banda while Lucknow is 465 kms, and yet the voice of people of Banda had reached Delhi while failing to hit the drums in Lucknow”. Two things to notice :
a) Delhi is 465 kms from Banda and Lucknow 219 kms ; hence factually flawed
b) If we discount the error and give the benefit of doubt for the above to a slip of tongue, there remains no logical consistency in the statement ; hence logically flawed
One more thing that Mr. Gandhi forgot was the plight of people of Rai Bareilly – his mother’s constituency that is gripped with almost the same issues that hangs around Bundelkhand’s neck. The congress general secretary, thus, does not have any moral ground. The sooner he realizes that there is more to rural poverty amelioration than taking Miliband to dilapidated huts or occasionally eating a loaf with some of the many, the better it is for him.
The Prime Minister
Whenever I see Mr. Singh taking to the mike, I pray I hear a strong willed Prime minister of India whose word, along with echoing the sentiments of the people, promises actual work with uncompromised conviction. I think, I will have to wait. He began and ended with Rahul Gandhi’s name on lips with almost four other references in his speech thanking him for something or the other. What we forget is that under his blue turban and behind his soft voice, there is a shrewd politician who does his job of promising to the people the cliché of offerings … “food, water, shelter etc.” I take strong offense to his calling Mr. Rahul Gandhi Bharat varsh ke nav yuvko ke Neta (Leader of India’s youth) as I am not led by someone on shaky moral grounds, ignorant of reality but good at attempting to woo voters by leveraging a piece of speech prepared by a paid employee, without logic , intent or conviction.
