Great Indian political drama steals the show

Vijay Deo Jha RANCHI Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Agog with excitement everyone from political pundits to commoners glued to their television sets watching the great drama of Indian politics in Parliament with million-dollar question.

keeping everybody on tenterhook: would the UPA be able to manage the magic number or the alchemists of NDA could bleed the UPA white on the floor of the House. With hectic political activities including horse trading charges making it no longer possible to predict what will happen on Tuesday in Parliament Ranchiites were found flipping through various news channels with breathtaking curiosity.

Politics invaded televisions in offices, homes and public places with an intensity never known before with people vying for space to watch the exclusive and the latest from Parliament and power corridor on the television. The office of the state BJP and Congress were a buzzed with the party workers working out queer arithmetic of the number game. With each passing of Lalurama Chupp... Sansad Ke Andar Mahabharat Mach Jayega and boorish hoopla, stories of political conspiracy against Samajwadi Party coming out of Amar Chitra Katha and a BJP MP flashing wads of currency on the floor of House left no doubt in the mind of people that Parliament turned into a theatre of absurd.

Although from the last one week, Shibu Soren had kept Ranchiites busy to invest their quality time to solve the political sudoku - his stand towards UPA. For many viewers, it was interesting to see 'Guruji' taking siesta in the House while bellicose MPs from Treasury and Opposition were speaking hoarse about the success and failure of the UPA.

Sutirtha Sahariya, a Ranchiite, who has keen interest in the politics, said with a pun that the body language (of Soren) had some definite political sign that he would again save the Government. The five MPs of JMM have emerged as a key political factor, tilting scale in favour of Manmohan Singh. A majority of people said it was not only the fate of nuclear deal and the UPA Government that was at stake, ironically, the fate of the State Government was also hooked along.

Balram Thakur, who watched confidence vote with cautious optimism, said that money and lungs power overpowered logic and healthy debate. "One has to wonder how can a Government, a political party or a leader talk so high about the morality when they are fighting among themselves and jostling each other to gain power and perks. With such a diverse coalition, I will not put much hope in the present Government surviving and finishing its full term. But alas, one can hope only and do nothing", said Thakur.

But the peculiar mindset 'let other be king it does not affect me' was also found among some of the people who find it sapless and a sheer wastage of time. Jaishankar Sinha, a bank employee said democracy does not function in such a way.

An adamant government is hell-bent not to be reason with the apprehension of the people on the nuclear deal. The way money has been pumped, in no future is left for the country. The fate of country cannot be decided by some ayes and no.