K.V. Seetharamaiah
Yesterday’s politics is today’s history and today’s politics is tomorrow’s history. Politics is an art of favouring the supporters, disfavouring the opponents and neither helping nor harming the neutrals.
If politics is like a river, Unions, Associations and Federations are tributaries of politics. Largely, what is said is not done and what is done is not said by the politicians. False assurances and false promises mark the political life.
Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, aptly says “Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers”.
There is a proverb which says “Politics is war without bloodshed and war is politics with bloodshed”.
Politics is war of words, war of letters and many times politics leads to physical fights often leading to bloodshed. Political murders are not uncommon. “Politics is almost as exciting as war, and quite as dangerous”, says Winston Churchill.
Politics is both armed and unarmed conflict for power while war is only armed conflict. In other words, politics is more a struggle for power than service to the people. Politics is also used as a forum for acquisition of wealth through unfair means by circumventing the rules and procedures and by accepting the bribe. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Ambrose Bierca rightly says that politics cannot be adopted as a profession and remain honest. A man is judged by the company he keeps. A new entrant into politics can be honest if he is allowed to be honest by the people whom he accepts as his leader. All the eggs cannot be put into one basket. There are honest and sincere politicians. But their strength is negligible. Ancient Greek philosopher Plato motivates people to join politics by saying “One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors”. Principled politics is alien to a large number of politicians. Good people do not show interest to join politics because the moment they join politics, they must be prepared for mudslinging. Only thick-skinned people can survive in politicians. Former US President Donald Trump has lamented that politics is a disgrace. Good people don’t go into government. Criminals will be in fray. Criminals know only the lessons of goondaism. Many politicians in the past have assaulted their own followers and the civilians who approach them seeking favour. “Just as bad as too much power in the wrong hands is too little power in the right hands”, anonymous. Wrong hands are placed in right place and right hands are placed in wrong place. Therefore, more power concentrates in wrong hands. No country can find a political party which is not tainted. If Dr. Samuel Johnson says that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, George Bernad Shaw says that politics is the last of scoundrels. This is exactly in contrast to the advocacy of Donald Trump and Plato for the good people to join politics. There is a strong feeling that politics is vitiated more by the silence of good people than by the violence of bad people. If G.B. Shaw’s statement is considered, good people also become scoundrels if they join politics. Politicians always think of next elections while the statesmen think of next generations. Political and personal interest matters a lot. Wide gap between promise and performance is the indelible mark of majority of politicians. Bernad Baruch, American financier and statesman advocates to vote for the man who promises the least so that the disappointment will also be least. “Politicians and diapers must be changed often, and for the same reason”, says Mark Twain, American Writer and Humorist. It is no secret that there are no permanent friends and permanent foes in politics. People know that politicians are like chameleons. They change their colours according to their convenience and needs. Politicians resent any investigation or inquiry against them even when there is strong allegation of corruption and misuse of power. “Politics and Church are the same. They keep the people in ignorance”, says Bob Marley, Jamaican singer, guitarist and songwriter.
The centre-state relations run into rough weather when states are run by the opposition parties. It is always the problem whichever government may be at centre and states.
What the ruling party at centre does is what it was opposing when it was in opposition.
And what the opposition party leaders oppose is the same what they were doing when they were in power. Politics upstages. National interest is relegated to last seat.