Behemoth Election

The world's largest democracy started casting ballots last week. With an electorate of 714 million and a mind numbing thousand regional and national parties to choose from, the Indian election is undoubtedly the world's most complex and truly democratic plebiscite. It is also the world's longest election. It is unveiled in five phases starting on April 16th and ending on May 13th. The final results are announced on May 16th and then the wrangling for power begins.

Being a parliamentary system of democracy, the party that wins the most number of seats ushers in the Prime Minister. The people do not directly vote for the Prime Minister. Since there are so many parties and such a diverse electorate it is almost impossible for any one party to win the required two thirds majority. In this election the two major national parties The Congress (ruling party) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (sitting opposition) or BJP will vie to form a majority coalition by forming alliances with a whole range of smaller parties and independents to take control of the parliament.

While for the most part the Indian elections are largely free and fair by no means are they peaceful. They have not been so in a long time. Election violence, vote rigging, vote buying and machine tampering have become a common feature. But it is to be expected in a land that is so vast, diverse and sometimes impossible to govern. Many regional conflicts around the nation have a stake in undermining the state. But largely the Indian elections are free and fair enough to swear in a government with legitimacy and an election commission truly autonomous and powerful to implement their mandate.

The ruling class or the breed of characters who enter the arena and practice the art of Indian politics have long been maligned as they have preyed on the weakness, desperation and ignorance of the electorate and exploited them for their own benefit. The poor, illiterate, rural India has always been the vote bank that put people in and out of power. In this election the middle class disinterested youth could change that tide but the rural folk still hold the key. And therefore it is the village where candidates go making false promises and bribing voters with free TV's, electricity and cheap food, in a land where increasingly the poor keep falling of the bottom.

Largely the admiration and respect for the Indian politician died soon after the generation of freedom fighters began to fade from the scene. After Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri departed an era ended. Then entered Indira Gandhi, Nehru's daughter who dramatically changed the political culture the remnants of which still plague the system. She fostered nepotism and rewarded people based on their loyalty to her and her party. Merit and character came second or did not count at all. And so began the dynastic rule of a family within a democracy and the rise of the corrupt politician who could be bought and sold. To this day the Indian elections are shaped by the Nehru-Gandhi family. Indira Gandhi's widowed daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi wields immense power and is a king maker, and now her son and daughter have entered the arena, walking in the footsteps of their grandmother more than their great grand father or father. Like the Kennedy's in the US the Gandhi's see it as their destiny to be pulled into the ugly business of politics as their fabricated mystique draws voters to them. Their fair skin Kashmiri/Italian good looks adds another layer of celebrity which the masses are drawn to like people are drawn to movie stars. A history of assassinations plaguing the family does not deter them from immersing themselves into the ugly seedy world of Indian politics. Today Rahul Gandhi, son of ex-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi is being groomed for the throne. He is a few years away from it, but by all indications he is on track, as his cult of personality grows.

Indian politics has never been for the faint hearted. It has always been the bastion of seasoned criminals, movie stars, businessmen and groomed politicians risen through the ranks. Corruption, monetary and moral, has been one character trait that has defined the Indian politician. Into this gumbo, this year, have entered two most unlikely candidates, Shashi Tharoor and Mallika Sarabhai. Both artists with global flare and pizazz. Neither was groomed for politics but both certainly were born with pedigree which in Indian politics can offset certain deficiencies.

Both candidates are contesting for a seat in the parliament. Tharoor is running from the southern state of Kerala, the most literate state in the country and Sarabhai from the western state of Gujarat which is the strong hold of the Hindu right wing BJP.

Mallika Sarabhai was born to Vikram and Mrinalini Sarabhai. Vikram Sarabhai was an Indian physicist who became a national hero when under Nehru he pioneered the Indian space program. Mirnalini Sarabhai, an accomplished dancer, is credited with reviving some of India's dieing classical dance traditions. Mallika herself is an accomplished dancer and fashions herself as an activist and development worker. With her classic good looks, suave persona and an impeccable Gujarati and English diction she has forged an institution unto herself in her home state. With the support of the NGO community she has launched herself as an independent candidate and is going head to head with the leader of the BJP, the seasoned 81 year old L.K. Advani.

Shashi Tharoor was born in London and educated in India and the United States. With a PhD in Law and Diplomacy he spent his career writing books and working at the United Nations. With eleven books, both fiction and non-fiction, and countless articles, op-ed's, book reviews published in most major American, British and Indian publications, he established himself as a formidable literary figure. He had aspirations of becoming the next secretary general of the UN when Kofi Annan stepped aside, but did not make the cut. So he took early retirement from his UN post as Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information and jumped into Indian politics head on. Being an avid admirer of Nehru and having written a book about him and being a close confidant to the Nehru-Gandhi family, it was but natural for him to join the Congress party.

While both these candidates have launched their campaigns on the heals of Obama's sleek victory, using the word "CHANGE" where ever possible, it is Mallika Sarabhai who has charted a more independent path. Both have fancy websites and youtube videos clearly trying to appeal to the younger generation. Like Obama, Mallika Sarabhai has mobilized a grass roots fund raising movement to finance her campaign and has been extraordinarily successful. Shashi Tharoor in contrast has used the established gargantuan machinery of the Congress party to win an election in a traditionally communist state. He has dropped his suit and adorned the white shirt and dhoti (Indian sarong), the dress that epitomizes and denigrates the visual look of an Indian politician. While Mallika Sarabhai prances around the countryside in her designer Shalwars, these two candidates in a sense are trying to signal a change in the political psyche of the Indian electorate.

While they may bring their pedigree and a level of sophistication to the arena, it will have to be seen how this would play out in the minds of the savvy voter who at times is highly educated, if not literate, in their decision making. While to a young urban audience they both bring a certain level of integrity, they also bring ambiguity. How this will be parsed, will be seen on election day. It is what it is.