Level of political discourse going down in India

The level of political discourse has come down in India in the personal jibes that politicians, especially the top ones, are taking at each other ahead of crucial elections in five states and the 2014 national polls. While the federally ruling Congress party and the Samajwadi Party which governs the largest state of Uttar Pradesh are also to be blamed for the situation, it is the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party’s poster boy Narendra Modi whose personal remarks and innuendos are particularly tasteless.“All sides are guilty but Modi is beating all records. The campaign has come down to a very low level,” political commentator and former MP Kuldip Nayar said. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was recently asked by the Election Commission to exercise caution in future after the BJP complained his speeches violated the model poll code. The poll watchdog also issued notice to Modi for his “khooni panja” (bloody hand) remark aimed at the Congress.Not to be left behind is Samajwadi Party leader Naresh Agarwal who said a tea seller cannot have a national perspective, a reference to the Gujarat chief minister’s humble beginning. Modi is the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate. But what has shocked many are Modi’s recent jibes against Congress chief Sonia Gandhi over her illness and his use of the term “shehzada” (prince) for party vice president and her son Rahul. They feel Modi is not raising issues but abusing people, he is getting personal. They wonder what will happen if Modi became the prime minister. “It would be unfortunate if he becomes the prime minister. Modi’s campaign is all about attack, abuse and distortion. The attack is not only personal but vicious,” according to Zoya Hasan, a political science professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. In one of his campaign speeches Modi said: “If madam (Sonia Gandhi) is unwell, hand over the work to her child.”Again, without naming former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident, Modi spoke of a Bollywod film analogy where a family introduced their beautiful daughter while finalising a marriage proposal but actually switched sisters by bringing in the one with disability for the marriage ceremony. Modi continues to refer to Rahul Gandhi sarcastically as ‘shehzada’ despite a strong objection from the Congress.What is happening in politics is but a reflection of the general deterioration in standards in every sphere of life. But thanks to round-the-clock media vigilance, the public is getting to know about these things almost instantly. There has always been an element of name-calling and vilification but these have generally been at the lower level while the top leadership has largely been refined in their rhetoric. But when the top leadership of a party indulges in such low-level politics, it is shocking.