Must-have qualities of a winning candidate
Political parties are working on strategies to face the Lok Sabha elections due to be held next year. All parties are only focused on winning elections, and none of them are bothered about the kind of candidates they would be staging for the polls. Their sole need is to get a winning candidate into the fray. Congress party has already held a meeting under the leadership of state incharge K C Venugopal to strategise the approach to elections because the party has to win maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha elections. Hence, media reports suggest, the winnability of the candidate will be the most decisive factor. Yeddyurappa of BJP has also said something similar to this. Who are such candidates who will ‘win for sure’? What are their qualities? No party has bothered to elaborate on these aspects.
Earlier, political parties would specifically mention candidates with criminal background would not be given tickets to contest at all. Or, the focus would be on those with clean character and fresh ideas. But today, no party makes such declarations even for the sake of it. Because criminals are inevitable today for every political party. If a party decides against inducting them into the cabinet, the leader of the said party will have to lose his position.
BJP has no survival beyond the Reddy brothers. Congress cannot keep out the likes of D K Shivakumar. Which is the reason for political parties going silent on their background. Today BJP has the highest number of criminals and anti-social elements in its party ranks. Leaders like Yogi Adityanath who comes with criminal background, and the likes of Anant Kumar Hegde with his lack of character, are regarded as best bets in the party. How would the better ones even dream of getting tickets amidst such elements?
With their declaration of ‘tickets to only winnable candidates’ the parties are conveying victory as the only parameter to get tickets. This is the lone criterion, with money-power aiding this victory. If a leader like Siddaramaiah could come close to a defeat against Sriramulu, money was the reason and not political statesmanship that could have caused this shift. Srimramulu is hardly a statesman or a seasoned politician when it comes to politics. The Reddy brothers bought votes with money. BJP was hesitant to identity itself with Reddy brothers after Janardhan Reddy was jailed on corruption charges. But ever since demonetization, the flow of money was affected and to depend on Janardhan Reddy became an inevitable thing. The money amassed by Reddys has contributed big time to the position of party with highest number of elected seats in the state. The winnable candidates in BJP are those who keep making instigating speeches in public and remain in the eyes of the media.
The contribution of MPs Ananta Kumar Hegde and Pratap Simha is hardly a matter of cognizance. But their instigating speeches always keep them in news. They always ensure people fight in the name of religion, dharma and caste. This is how they remain relevant to people of today’s generation. Their speeches reveal a lot of their mindset without any hesitation, that they are fond of violence. This apart, they have no other deserving quality in them. And this may be the lone quality for them to even get a ticket from their party to fight elections again. Being communal and disrupting the peace of the society is another big deserving quality too. Yogi Adityanath became the CM of UP on the same basis.
This apart, having high followers among chelas and goondas is another winnable characteristic of the candidates. No party now needs good and deserving candidates anymore. Because everyone is after defeating their opponent and holding an office by hook or crook. Hence parties have come to understand giving tickets to new candidates does not yield good results. If the good persons are staged for polls, the party will have to give them funds along with facing the revolt of old candidates as well. As a result of all this, the country is now on the threshold of being ruled by criminals and corrupt politicians.
If this has to change, the voters need to wake up from their slumber and elect better candidates among the lot. So long as a voter does not realize the most important role he/she has in safeguarding democracy, there would be hardly any change in the political reality in this country. The same criminals will continue to rule us. If their choice gets better, even politicians may be forced to change their ways and become the leaders of people’s choice.
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'Warm and engaging atmosphere reigned', Shashi Tharoor on Putin banquet
New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who on Friday attended a banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, on Saturday described the atmosphere there as "warm" and "engaging", and said he enjoyed his conversations with many of the attendees.
Tharoo’s remarks came a day after President Droupadi Murmu hosted a banquet for the visiting Russian president at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here.
“Attended the @rashtrapatibhvn banquet for President Putin last night. A warm and engaging atmosphere reigned. Enjoyed my conversations with many of the attendees, especially my dining companions from the Russian delegation!" Tharoor said in a social media post.
Murmu, while welcoming President Putin and his delegation at the banquet, had said that his visit marked an important milestone -- the 25th anniversary of the India-Russia strategic partnership, which was established in October 2000 during his first visit to the country as president.
Murmu also appreciated Putin's support and personal commitment to the India-Russia special and privileged strategic partnership.
The Congress on Friday said that the leaders of the opposition, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, were not invited to the banquet, and took a swipe at Tharoor for accepting the invite.
The party’s media and publicity department head, Pawan Khera, accused the government of breaking protocols daily and not believing in democratic principles.
“There is no invite to both the LoPs, Mr (Mallikarjun) Kharge and Mr (Rahul) Gandhi. This comes as a surprise, but I don't think we should be surprised. This government is known to be breaching all protocols. What else to say, ask the government,” Khera said on Friday.
Asked about Tharoor accepting the invite for the banquet, Khera said, "Ask Mr Tharoor. All of us who are in the party, if our leaders don't get invited and we get invited, we need to question our own conscience and listen to our conscience. Politics has been played in inviting or not inviting people, which in itself is questionable, and those who accept such an invite are also questionable."
“We would have listened to our voice of conscience,” he added.
Earlier, Tharoor had said that there was a time when the chairman of the external affairs committee was routinely invited, but that practice seems to have stopped some years ago.
On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that the government tells visiting foreign dignitaries not to meet the leader of opposition due to its "insecurity".
His remarks came hours ahead of Putin's two-day visit to India.
