After Anna, Crowd Pulling Black Comedy . . . by BJP leaders LK Advani and Narendra Modi

From: The Times of India

COMMENT

Anna games that politicos play

Sep 17, 2011, 12.00AM IST

In politics, nothing succeeds like imitative success. Coming on the heels of Anna Hazare's crowd-pulling anti-corruption movement, at least two politicians so far are attempting to follow in the self-styled Gandhian's footsteps, blithely disregarding the awkward fact that the main target of the anti-graft crusader was the political class as a whole.

Veteran BJP leader L K Advani has announced that he will go on an anti-corruption yatra, which will possibly begin in Gujarat. The proposed starting point of Advani's yatra, the fourth such excursion of his career, lends support to the theory being floated by some that this is an attempt by the never-say-die neta to project himself as a future prime ministerial candidate and to do so on the home turf of Narendra Modi, viewed by many as the saffron party's most likely choice to grace the PM's gaddi.

Not to be outdone, NaMo in the meantime has declared that he will go on a three-day fast for the sake of 'peace and harmony' in Gujarat. Both NaMo's fast and Advani's yatra are obvious exercises in demagoguery a la Anna. That Advani's anti-corruption expedition could pass through BJP-ruled Karnataka, which of recent times has become literally a mine of graft and scandal, will not be lost on those who might view this yatra more as a jatra, or folk theatre, replete with unintentional dramatic irony.

Similarly, Modi's fast for peace and harmony in a state scarred by the post-Godhra riots, in which many claim he is complicit, could be likened to a black comedy of terrors. Interestingly, Modi's fast coincides with BJP president Nitin Gadkari's plans to undergo an abdominal surgical procedure which will reduce his food intake capacity and help him shed unwanted kilos. By curtailing calories, one aims to lose weight while by fasting the other seeks to become even more of a political heavyweight than he already is.

But, like chickens and conspiracies, political spoils should not be counted before they are hatched. The best- laid plans of might and mien often go awry, and backfire on those who devise them. Indira Gandhi's much-touted slogan of 'Garibi hatao' was lampooned by her detractors who morphed her mantra into 'Garib hatao: garibi bachao'. In much the same way, the NDA's catchphrase 'India Shining' lent itself to mischievous metamorphosis and became 'India Whining'. Despite such lessons of the past, in politics as in marriage, hope persistently triumphs over experience with netas and would-be netas in search of a sure-fire formula for success. This being the case, Advani and Modi apart, other political players may soon jump onto the Anna bandwagon. A word of caution, however, is advisable. An Anna by any other name or anagram becomes 'Na, na', which is the vernacular version of what in English might be called a strict 'no-no'.