Travelling on a train through Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, one gets a sense of the people’s frustration with a faltering Congress party which has its blinkers on, and refuses to see rapidly changing realities. While looking to hang on to some semblance of hope for the future, my fellow travellers from far and wide, across divergent economic backgrounds, exchanged their socio-political views during the journey. Intellectual gymnastics have often complicated the simple truths that ordinary, honest citizens comprehend and believe in. Politicians have, over the recent decades, interpreted realities and truths to suit their predetermined stances, thereby isolating themselves from the gargantuan metamorphosis that India is experiencing.

Why Mayavati? And, the simple answer was — who else will uplift the downtrodden? But, doesn’t the Congress promise the same in its election manifesto? It does, but it has exploited us, the party’s traditional and largest voter base, for decades. It has taken our vote for granted and let us down. I carried on asking questions. If the Congress had not failed so miserably, would you have stayed the course with that party? Yes, no question about it. Why? Because the Gandhi family, presently at the helm of the party, are more imandaar than most other politicians. Would you vote for Rahul Gandhi, despite his lack of experience, if he sought a mandate to become prime minister in the next election? Yes, was the reply. Why? Because he is young and fresh, different, serious, clean and honest, and without corrupt, archaic ‘political’ baggage. I persisted. But his party is old and tired, its leaders never let go and pass the baton, said I.

The response was what ordinary people believe in and want — he could change all that, engage with the new aspirations and demands of a new age in an effort to take India forward. The conversation lasted a long while, but the core was that people wanted change and clean governance from the politician and the administrator, not ‘experience’ and status quo.

Make a difference

But the risk may well upset the applecart, said I. And the reaction to that comment was a surprise. In chorus they said, it is time we turned it all upside down and did for the people and not for the politicians, their acolytes and administrative minions! India is being left behind because of a selfish leadership. It was a very enlightening conversation that meandered on many issues, leaving me convinced that the Congress Party, for one, needed to undergo a radical surgery of body and brain as well as a cleansing of the soul.

The upshot of endless encounters in rural and urban India over the last three months, even in a state like Madhya Pradesh, points to a few common truths based on the people’s sentiments. Firstly, that the Congress has lost its connection with a changing India. That its ‘loyalists’ are in fact traitors, making lies appear as truths. That, in order to remain as a ruling coalition or as an opposition entity in parliament, its courtiers are desperate to keep the realities away from the ‘bosses’, lest they be shown up for being inept and truly corrupt and disloyal. Such operators know well how to ‘fill the ears’, keep the truth away by keeping fearless people at bay, ensure isolation of critical leaders by discouraging meetings with those well-wishers outside of the many ‘gangs’ that work against each other. Even written missives are intercepted before they reach homes and offices and are made to vanish in case of an ‘unneccessary revelation’.

And the staggering truth is that potential voters across all castes, faiths, economic backgrounds and locations know that the Congress is far removed from immediate needs. Will it rise to conquer reality and deliver change within itself?