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State of no return

One would think that habitually commentating on the foibles of our politicians would inure one to their ways, lead one to never expect them to be different in a given situation, and conclude that the difference among politicians depends on whether they are in power or out of it, that the minute the opposition replaces the ruling party it behaves in exactly the same manner as how it criticised its predecessor.

Still, human beings being what they are, cannot but be surprised by the politicians' will/desire/ability to break the mould, and since political commentators -- despite their critics' disbelief -- come from the same stock, so allow me the luxury of indulging in some deja-vu, ho-hum whatever.

This round is sparked off by the developments in Maharashtra, developments which at the time of their happening are nothing but civic in nature but which, in my opinion at least, are bound to have a major bearing on the assembly elections roughly a year hence.

Bhayander is nothing but just another overcrowded Mumbai suburb, a place that the city's well-heeled would not have come across a month ago. That's not to say all was hunkydory with the place; in fact, there is little that is hunkydory with most of Mumbai, and in Bhayander it was more so. Since it was just beyond the pale of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, its destiny was governed by a lesser municipal council which apparently did not have the kind of coffers that the BMC was privy to. The BMC's annual budget, it is often exclaimed, was larger than that of some states in the Indian Union, even though Mumbai-ites themselves will scoff at such claims as hyperbole.

Thanks to the way the rules of governance are in India, the government's prime task is administration, being involved in a lot of things that it has no business to be, being involved in a lot of things in our daily lives. Thanks to a wave of civic awareness all over, the citizen has for long been nursing a sense of having been sold a lemon by the powers that be.

In Bhayander, and I daresay in most parts of Mumbai, which is often touted as the answer to financial capitals around the globe but again, such claims are made by those whose life begins and ends with Malabar Hill or Cuffe Parade, whose idea of a weekend outing is a drive till Bandra. A visitation slightly beyond will show the reality about Mumbai's quality of life.

Of course, saying that will open the floodgates on a horde of explanations as to why Mumbai is what it is, an overgrown, underplanned, overpopulated, underprovided expanse of land. But that is neither here nor there. The point is, Mumbai is what it is not because a vast number of Indians have made it their home, but because it has been successively let down by a string of administrations. The Congress, with its headquarters in New Delhi and a marked penchant to choose the state's chief minister, was for long blamed for the state of affairs, but the last four years have shown that even a regional outfit like the Shiv Sena, with its headquarters in Matushree, Bandra East, is no better at governance.

Four years ago, Maharashtra decided by and large that enough was enough. That a corrupt, inefficient Congress was better off in the opposition. No, the state did not vote for the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party combine, which was denied a simple majority and which was forced to take the assistance of a bunch of independents to cross the magic figure that would ensure political stability in the state.

There was a lot of discontent with the Congress administration prior to the last round of assembly elections. The state had just been racked by the worst round of communal rioting in its history, its capital had been brought down by a series of bomb blasts, there was no way the Congress could hope to be re-elected, not after this. And once again, the extent of public anger at those who had hither-to governed the state's administration was provided in the suburbs, in Borivili. Tired of waiting for the administration to ameliorate the conditions in the suburban railway network, despite paying through their nose, despite the suburban networks filling the Indian Railways' coffers, finally the people went on the rampage, setting fire to the railway station and focusing attention on their problem. As the opposition party, the Sena-BJP then milked the protests dry, projecting themselves as politicians concerned over the state's welfare.

It has taken five years for this claim to be given the lie. Four years of Sena-BJP have shown that this combine has not been able to provide a better administration than what preceded it. Four years of Sena-BJP have made Maharashtra easily rank among the most venal states in the Indian Union. Four years of governance by the sons of the soil have shown that they are no more concerned with the voters' welfare, than the preceding government was.

Just as Borivili was a warning shot to the Congress of what lay in store for it five years ago, Bhayander is to the Sena-BJP administration now. The people's message from the Mumbai suburb is that they cannot be expected to pay out civic cess for services that are clearly not being provided, that every government now on is on probation of five years, that charisma and local flavour don't matter before citizens' woes.

It is a message that the people gave the Congress five years ago, and it's a message they will give five years hence to whoever claims to safeguard their interests. Just as the politician refuses to learn, forgets the lessons learnt while in opposition, the people too will refuse to buy their excuses. In Mumbai, what matters is paisa-vasool.

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Saisuresh Sivaswamy