7/31/2019 Raisina Road to Redemption: A Reality Thats Far Shriller, Subversive and Absurd Than The Reality Shows

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7/31/2019 Raisina Road to Redemption: A Reality Thats Far Shriller, Subversive and Absurd Than The Reality Shows

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7/31/2019 Raisina Road to Redemption: A Reality Thats Far Shriller, Subversive and Absurd Than The Reality Shows

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Gangetic barbarians I am a proud progeny of.The fact that Netaji, Mulayam Singh Yadav forthe uninitiated, has been very close to the Left

for almost ninety per cent of his political lifewas, again, beside the point. There was noth-ing that bound the two regional Chatraps. Asagainst Mamata being a product of theCongress juggernaut, Netaji has been a proudinheritor and champion of the politics of anti-Congressism. His partys support to the UnitedProgressive Alliance reflects on nothing morethan the absurdity of our times that find hisbte-noir Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party inthe same camp without even a hint of irony.

Only things that bonded the two was theirquest to remain relevant in Delhi and that they

did with aplomb. Or so it seemed when Didi,and not Congress announced the name of Pranab Mukharjee as UPAs preferred choicefor the post. Stating that Didi was not happywith the name is immaterial and that shebreached unwritten codes of high-level politi-cal engagements beside the point! And thenshe did what she does the best by presenting alist of possible consensus candidates for thepost beginning with the name of former presi-dent A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and ending withSomnath Chaterjees! Somnath? Is she not on amission to demolish the Left, all of it? Well, noneed to trouble oneself over that. Didis mis-sion is not known to anyone, she included.

That is the point where the reality becamemore like the reality shows playing themselvesover all those satellite channels. Treating thisact as an affront to the High Command,Congress did not lose any time in declaringPranab as the official candidate and bingo,Netaji was back in the Congress camp! In fact,he even claimed credit for the nominationasserting that he did that to stop Congressfrom dillydallying and clear Dadas name! Thencame another twist. Support started tricklingin for Dada, though not from the UPA camp asit was expected but from the constituents of the National Democratic Alliance, that too fromparties ranging from the Shiv Sena to JanataDal (United)!

Now, none expects Mamata to take thingslying down and what else could she do if notstanding true to her image. Stung and sulking,she made a quick retreat to proverbial KopBhavan, just that her Kop Bhavanwas nothing

less than Facebook, a medium she abhorred tillthe other day and started an online campaignin support of Abdul Kalam. Unexpectedly as itcame out later, now it was the turn of always-so-apolitical and never- in- the- race- for-power- and-posts Kalam Sahab to get stung.

He had declined to contest the last Presidentialelections if he was not the consensus candi-date. This time there was no such assertion.The fact that the NDA candidate was bound tolose the last elections is, again, beside thepoint. It took Kalam sahab a full two weeks fordeclaring himself out of the race that too afterUPA has officially declared Pranab as its candi-

date! Kalam did not bow out in silence; he didthat only after thanking Didi for her gracefulpolitics!

That brings one to the politics as it isunfolding and the candidacy of P.A. Sangmathat is not. In fact, his hat was the first to bethrown in the ring, that too not by him but twoother prominent regional Chatraps namelyNavin Patnaik of Odisha and J Jayalalitha of Tamil Nadu. But then, there was a glitch forhim. Despite being supported by two regionalparties, he could not garner any support fromhis own Nationalist Congress Party, that is apart of the UPA. Neither did he receive muchsupport from the NDA constituents notwith-standing the fact that Bhartiya Janta Partystood by its second choice wholeheartedly.

Is not the race so much more unreal thanany of the reality shows? Are not reality showsmuch more real than this real race? As in theshows, victory of Pranab Mukherjee is a fore-gone conclusion. And as in reality, it is nothingless than redemption for someone who hadfallen out of favour for betraying his wish tobecome the Prime Minister long ago. Very fewpeople in history have redeemed themselvesso strongly, that too without cooking for theirhigh commands as the allegations went in aprequel. Or perhaps, cooking did play a rolealbeit not the kitchen one. UTS

Pranab Mukherjee filing the nomination papers for the Presidential Election, in the pres-ence of the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Chairperson, National Advisory Council,Sonia Gandhi and other dignitaries, at Parliament, in New Delhi