By now, you all know me. I am Jasoos
Narayanan Kutty. It's my habit to give unsolicited advice, especially when I am
vela. At such times I watch television and update myself with news that is
breaking 12 hours a day, from around 10 am to 10 pm. These days it means Modi
breaking news or Rahul breaking news and Kejriwal wanting to break some news,
but the media not allowing him. So we have two contenders for 2014, and many
pretenders.
When I watch cricket, I watch it as
a lover of the game. I want the best team to win. It's the same with politics. I
want a good, exciting, nail-biting finish to the Modi-Rahul match. Keeping this
in mind, I am giving a few tips to the two, they may or may not act on
them.
Tip No. 1
The Lok Sabha elections are a Test match. It tests the players' skills over a long period of time, on a pitch that is degrading all the time. Perseverance, endurance, patience, technique, some play-acting to fool the referee, ground support – all of it matters. If you go into a Test with the mindset of a Twenty20 player, you will be out by the 20th over. Right now Modi and Rahul are playing a Twenty20 match.
Tip No. 2
The Lok Sabha elections are almost
six months away, we have 4 Assembly elections in between. I am reminding them,
just in case they forgot it.
Tip No. 3
India's
population in 2011 was 121 crore. Of them, 76 crore are above 18, they can cast
votes. Now the clincher: 37.9 crore or 50 per cent of the voters are 35 or
below. That is the vote bank both Modi and Rahul should be vying
for.
Tip No.
4
In this segment, 11. 7 crore are
aged between 30 and 35. They are probably married, have kids and work to earn
their living. They have a hundred things to worry about: Like how will they
build their first home, most will die without one; which school to send their
children if they get admission; what should their children grow up to become;
how to give their kids the best of life.
Tip No.
5
26 crore of India's voting
population are aged between 18 and 29. They were born after Indira Gandhi's
assassination. Rahul can talk hours about the sacrifice made by his grandmother
but it won't connect with this segment. They don't know there were not many
television sets in India then, that people walked miles
to reach the nearest TV to watch the last rites live. They don't know hundreds
of women in south India didn't eat for days, mourning
Indiramma's death. The Congress believes the anti-Sikh riots that followed are
now forgotten. If that's the case, I am sorry the assassination that sparked the
riots is also a blur in the memory.
Tip No.
6
Nearly 10 crore of Indian voters are
aged 18 and 21. They were born after Babri Masjid was demolished. If there was
no Gujarat 2002, the BJP could well have started on a clean slate. Yes, there
would have been no Modi-Rahul contest either. By the way, for some people, 2014
would have been a tough choice, but for 2002.
Tip No.
7
37.9 crore voters below the age of
35 are the real beneficiaries or sacrificial lambs, opinion differs on it, of
Rao's Reforms. All of them have access to television, and most have relatives
who have migrated to cities for a job. All of them know there is something
called 24-hour electricity, 24-hour water supply, expressways, shopping malls,
etc. They wonder if these benefits will reach them at
all.
Tip No.
8
Steve Jobs and Larry Page have
together done something India's politicians have strived to
keep the citizens away from: information. Recently I re-painted the office, the
young man who did it had a touchscreen smartphone worth 8,000 rupees. He had all
kinds of information and misinformation on fingertips. And oh yes, he and his
friends use facebook, not twitter. All this feku-pappu debate targeted at a few
intellectual narcissists is a waste of time and energy.
Tip No.
9
Most of the Rahul speeches televised
live are targeted at the rural audience. The media and his party are doing a
great disservice to him, especially when English channels cover them live. He
stands to lose what little urban fan base he has.
Tip No.
10
Rahul talks about food security but
the freebies already exist in many forms in many states. Discourse has to go
beyond that, people are no more satisfied with the poori roti or the one full
roti he is promising. Coin a better slogan.
Here is another
thought.
Follow me on twitter @jasooskutty
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