Let there be a winner

Karunanidhi, the present Chief Minister of Tamilnadu is a self-proclaimed atheist. But once in a while, the mask slips and the superstitious, sentimental, god-fearing – as in literally ‘fearing’ – face pops up, only for a brief moment before he notices and adjusts the mask again.

In those slippery moments, he prays to god. Since it will be below his dignity to seek unbelieving divinity, he prays to ‘Nature’, because nature is universal and yet can be seen, the later quality that god cannot claim.

Jayalalitha, the present opposition leader is openly devout, religious, superstitious and a practicing Hindu.

That’s probably about the only difference we could claim between the two dominant leaders of Tamilnadu. The rest are only seasonal and cannot be considered a lasting trait. For instance, Jayalalitha was a despicable, autocratic, narcissistic and corrupt-to-the-core CM in 1996. Karunanidhi was a soft, tolerant, democratic leader.

Come 2011, the tables have turned. Karunanidhi is nepotistic, tinpot, demagogic and corrupt-to-the-core. Jayalalitha is an uncorrupt and deterministic administrator.

We, the people of India, have seen so much water flow under the bridge that we won’t be surprised to see the tide turn around again. However, in the current scenario we couldn’t help see a pattern. Why was Karunandhi a tolerant democrat in 1996? Because he saw what happened to Jayalalitha in the elections and he was eager to paint a pleasing picture. Why did Jayalalitha turn quieter in 2001? Because she still carried the wounds of 1996.

So what should happen now in this election? Karunandhi should go. Not in a meagre loss but in a total washout. The loss so devastating that the wounds shouldn’t heal for another five years. That will teach him a lesson when his party comes back to seek votes again. Probably Jayalalitha would have turned autocratic again. But we’ll have a humbler alternative then.

What’s worrying is that some of the post-poll results are predicting closer to hung-assembly. THAT would be a disaster. Nobody would have learned any lesson and everybody would jump into the fray kicking up the dirt and making the real mockery of our democracy. Our democracy is indeed a mockery, but let’s not say it out loudly or see it in papers. Let one party win decisively so that we know where our people’s loyalty lies. If Karunanidhi were to come back, so be it. But let them not trade horses.

I pray to god, sorry, I pray to Nature that there shouldn’t be a hung-assembly in Tamilnadu. Let there be a clear winner. May the Nature grant my wish.