Converts and Support

Editorial:-
Politicians in our country, and in Sikkim, have lived in the make believe world of sycophants and appearances for far too long to be able to see realities unless strained through the reassuring filters that suit them. In their defence, it is not just politicians who take on such imagined sense of power, significance and influence, and one sees such attitudes among government officials, social and religious organisations, and yes, even in the media. It is however only the politicians who are lobbying for direct endorsement of the people and stand a chance of deciding policy in the future, hence it becomes important the priorities are aligned properly for them and political-speak nuanced with a better sense of proportions.
One could argue that selective perceptions would affect only individual fates and political careers, but it becomes important to marshal the debate on the right course when these impressions begin hogging public engagement. Take for instance the trend of claiming turncoats, a gimmick which gains currency every time elections come calling. These are fine as campaign-trail asides, but rankle when they become the centrepiece and obsessive pursuits. One speaks here of the frequent claims and counterclaims of number of supporters gained and weaned away that compete for headlines on pg 3 nowadays. While these displays may be necessary to send out a signal of increasing popularity or resurgence, they are not ladders on which political futures can be reached. To begin with, commitments so fickle that they the ringing in of elections can signal an ideological shift can hardly be considered endorsement strong enough to heave the parties to power. Anyone who has followed campaign politics in Sikkim long enough will know how these inductions are managed and of how routinely such claims are announced. At best, these are interesting sideshows to the circus of elections, not the election itself. Agreed, there are some crossovers which are politically significant in that they help open some unreached pockets, but to believe these to have the potency of changing political fortunes is misplaced and in fact demeaning to the intelligence of the electorate. To believe that the voters cannot see through the political opportunism at the root of such election-time fluctuations in allegiance reflects an inexcusable disconnect with how and what the people think. Induction ceremonies and claims of winning new members are at best stepping stones to catch the attention of the people, an attention span that should then be captivated with policy and programme commitments to make voters seriously consider the options on offer. At the end of the day, it is for the political parties in the fray and there leaders to decide where their priorities rest – whether it is to believe their own PR or work alongwith and among the people to expand their support base. The Opposition has often made the mistake of buying into the anti-incumbency fiction because anti-incumbency does not translate into votes by itself and the ruling front would be mistaken to believe that anti-incumbency is not a factor in Sikkim. All parties and leaders need to approach the campaign as a starting-from-scratch effort; past experience has shown that only those groups which campaign in earnest, and not on the crutches of past record or existing fatigue, win favour with the people.
For those watching the electioneering from the sidelines, the most wonderful experience is in witnessing the people leverage the weak ears of the leaders to raise a noise and ‘play’ some ‘politics’ themselves. It is not rare in these times to find groups of 10, or even less, come together and claim to speak for all the people of their constituency and communicate either support or condemnation of the sitting representative. In normal times, they would just be scoffed away, but in the uncertainty of campaign times, they are cajoled, pampered, instigated, approached and placated. Counter groups are sponsored to offset the embarrassment that these groups might have caused and either way, it’s the people who win because they become important again. For the next few months, the people wrest for themselves the opportunity to talk down to elected leaders and leaders wanting to be elected. In a setting where hierarchical protocols continue to be observed, this is a welcome, albeit brief, change. But then again, like the misplaced perception of new members meaning stronger influence, even this flicker of a more vociferous electorate is far from the realities that remain.