Brahmanyan
Active member
I wish to share the following forwarded mail that I received recently. The subject is little old,
but it deserves spending a few minutes of reading.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
*Grace in defeat, a lesson from Britain for Indian Politicos*
Posted by: Navhind Times May 24, 2015 in Panorama
By KARAN THAPAR
I am an unmitigated — some would say incorrigible — Anglophile and I’ve
always believed there’s a lot that we can learn from this small island
nation. For example, its humour and its willingness to laugh at itself, its
talent for pageantry, the use of the understatement, Westend theatre and
the uniform high quality of its broadcast and print media. Now, let me add
a sixth item to that list: the British knack for responding to political
defeat with grace.Within hours of the result —in fact even before the sun
had set — three political party leaders resigned. They were Ed Miliband of
Labour, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats and Nigel Farage of the UK
Independence Party. They accepted moral responsibility even though they
were not personally to blame. They recognised the need for new leadership.
They accepted that their parties cannot recover under a defeated and
discredited leader.
How different that is to the way we respond. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi reduced
the Congress to just 44 seats but the very thought of resignation did not
occur to them. Mayawati saw her party’s fortunes reduced to zero but,
unconcerned, soldiers on. The DMK was reduced to a mere rump in the
assembly and obliterated in the Lok Sabha elections but the Karunanidhi
family’s control stayed unchanged. The CPI(M) lost Bengal and Kerala and
ended up with their worst Lok Sabha tally but Prakash Karat was unaffected.
I remember John Major’s famous words at two in the morning when it was
clear Tony Blair had swept the Tories aside. “When the curtain falls it’s
time to leave the stage and that’s what I intend to do. Tomorrow I shall be
watching cricket.” Can you imagine any Indian politician similarly rising
from the ashes of defeat?
What our politicians forget —but the British are all too aware of —is they
have a limited shelf life. Once defeated the electorate deserves a new
leader. That new leader has a right to re-fashion the party according to
his or her vision. It’s only then that a democracy provides a critical and
meaningful choice. Simply recycling discredited leaders with the obstinate
insistence that at some point the people will have to opt for them is to
force yourself upon the electorate by wilfully denying them anything else.
I know Jayalalithaa can be cited as proof of the opposite because she’s won
three elections after three defeats. You could say the same of the
Abdullahs or Mulayam Singh. But I believe they prove a different point
about family-based parties or caste based politics. Neither should have a
place in a true democracy.
Finally, the British, you could say, are cruel to defeated leaders. When a
prime minister loses he’s moved out of 10 Downing Street within hours. It
happens swiftly and smoothly.
Usually, defeat is clear by three or four in the morning. Around 11 a.m.
the defeated prime minister leaves Downing Street for Buckingham Palace to
hand back the seals of office. The movers arrive through the back door and
clear out his belongings. After meeting the Queen he departs the palace in
a courtesy car offered by Her Majesty. He’s no longer entitled to the Prime
Minister’s limousine. And he heads for his own home. He cannot return to 10
Downing Street until he has earned the right to do so.
This speed may be harsh but there’s no room for misplaced sentiment in a
democratic transition. The British understand that. Unfortunately, we don’t.
http://www.navhindtimes.in/grace-in-defeat-a-lesson-from-britain-for-indian-politicos/
but it deserves spending a few minutes of reading.
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore.
*Grace in defeat, a lesson from Britain for Indian Politicos*
Posted by: Navhind Times May 24, 2015 in Panorama
By KARAN THAPAR
I am an unmitigated — some would say incorrigible — Anglophile and I’ve
always believed there’s a lot that we can learn from this small island
nation. For example, its humour and its willingness to laugh at itself, its
talent for pageantry, the use of the understatement, Westend theatre and
the uniform high quality of its broadcast and print media. Now, let me add
a sixth item to that list: the British knack for responding to political
defeat with grace.Within hours of the result —in fact even before the sun
had set — three political party leaders resigned. They were Ed Miliband of
Labour, Nick Clegg of the Liberal Democrats and Nigel Farage of the UK
Independence Party. They accepted moral responsibility even though they
were not personally to blame. They recognised the need for new leadership.
They accepted that their parties cannot recover under a defeated and
discredited leader.
How different that is to the way we respond. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi reduced
the Congress to just 44 seats but the very thought of resignation did not
occur to them. Mayawati saw her party’s fortunes reduced to zero but,
unconcerned, soldiers on. The DMK was reduced to a mere rump in the
assembly and obliterated in the Lok Sabha elections but the Karunanidhi
family’s control stayed unchanged. The CPI(M) lost Bengal and Kerala and
ended up with their worst Lok Sabha tally but Prakash Karat was unaffected.
I remember John Major’s famous words at two in the morning when it was
clear Tony Blair had swept the Tories aside. “When the curtain falls it’s
time to leave the stage and that’s what I intend to do. Tomorrow I shall be
watching cricket.” Can you imagine any Indian politician similarly rising
from the ashes of defeat?
What our politicians forget —but the British are all too aware of —is they
have a limited shelf life. Once defeated the electorate deserves a new
leader. That new leader has a right to re-fashion the party according to
his or her vision. It’s only then that a democracy provides a critical and
meaningful choice. Simply recycling discredited leaders with the obstinate
insistence that at some point the people will have to opt for them is to
force yourself upon the electorate by wilfully denying them anything else.
I know Jayalalithaa can be cited as proof of the opposite because she’s won
three elections after three defeats. You could say the same of the
Abdullahs or Mulayam Singh. But I believe they prove a different point
about family-based parties or caste based politics. Neither should have a
place in a true democracy.
Finally, the British, you could say, are cruel to defeated leaders. When a
prime minister loses he’s moved out of 10 Downing Street within hours. It
happens swiftly and smoothly.
Usually, defeat is clear by three or four in the morning. Around 11 a.m.
the defeated prime minister leaves Downing Street for Buckingham Palace to
hand back the seals of office. The movers arrive through the back door and
clear out his belongings. After meeting the Queen he departs the palace in
a courtesy car offered by Her Majesty. He’s no longer entitled to the Prime
Minister’s limousine. And he heads for his own home. He cannot return to 10
Downing Street until he has earned the right to do so.
This speed may be harsh but there’s no room for misplaced sentiment in a
democratic transition. The British understand that. Unfortunately, we don’t.
http://www.navhindtimes.in/grace-in-defeat-a-lesson-from-britain-for-indian-politicos/
