A few days ago I had seen two articles on India Special – one on Identity Politics (written by Yours Truly) and the other on Family Politics (written by Suraj).
This led me to another interesting thought i.e. merit based politics
We have had enough of the likes of Mayawati, Kumaraswami, Thackerays, Paswans, Yadavs et al. They have grown strength to strength purely on votebank politics. And none of them have the charisma or qualities that an educated India can say that they are proud of.
Consider that and consider America where you have a Harvard Law Graduate with almost no political back up ran for the presidency and won it with élan.
Will we ever see such politics in India which is purely based on meritocracy? Or do we have to wait for generations to see a glimmer of hope ?
My Vision 2020 for India is based on merit based political system where politicians are elected not on the basis of who is their father , what is their caste, religion or sex but on the basis of merit, performance, education, demonstrated leadership qualities, empathy, conviction etc.
Although democratic, India has seen politics whose basis has been anything but meritocracy based. Some of the names given below are shining examples…
- Plutocracy – By Wealth – Vasundhara Raje Scindia
- Nepotism – Family Connections – Deve Gowda & Kumaraswamy, Shekh, Farooq & Omar Abdullah
- Identity Politics – Mayawati, Kanshi Ram
- Tenurocracy- Based on seniority – PV Narasimha Rao, Sitaram Kesari, L K Advani
That said, don’t we have leaders who are purely merit based ? Of course ! Dr. Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, SM Krishna, Chandrababu Naidu et al have proven themselves quite capable.
Shouldn’t we have more of them ?
High time the parties in India elected leaders who are visionary, educated and proven performers in their field.
If the reform doesn’t start with you and me, then Vision 2020 will only remain a distant dream !
Image Credit: David Paul Ohmer
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