This is a work of fiction. Although it may appear closer to reality than fiction for some.
Respected President,
We, Committed Bureaucrats of India, are a group of retired and serving officers. Most of us have held high positions of authority. We write to you in all seriousness and with enormous sense of responsibility.
We write to request you to direct the Election Commission of Bharat to reconsider the very idea of holding the next general elections, and instead explore the option of declaring Shri Narendra Modi as the prime minister again.
Madame President,
Please do allow us to state our well-considered and thought-out reasons for this admittedly unusual suggestion.
Madame President, you are well-aware that every single survey and opinion poll, native or foreign, genuine or concocted, has reached the same conclusion: not only does Shri Modi remain the most popular leader in Bharat (as also in the world) but he is also the preferred choice of overwhelming numbers of Indians to be our prime minister as long he can or wants to be.
Most television anchors and editors would readily concede that the outcome of the next Lok Sabha poll is a foregone conclusion. In fact, Shri Amit Shah, who is the greatest election strategist the world has ever known, has already predicted a 400-plus tally for the BJP. We do not pretend to vouch for his methodology or his resourcefulness but we do know that he has never been wrong in his predictions.
So, Madame President, we ask: where is the need to go through the motions of holding the next Lok Sabha poll – admittedly a long, expensive and disruptive exercise?
Madame President,
Please do permit us to point out the structural and institutional gains inherent in our proposal.
First, if there were no elections, there will be no need for anyone to cast any kind of doubts about the integrity of the electoral process or cast aspersions on the neutrality or absence of it on the Honourable Commissioners with offices in Nirvachan Sadan. Reputation and image of our institutions are equally, if not more, important as any democratic principle or constitutional requirement.
Second, if there were no Lok Sabha elections, there would no need for the Modi sarkar to overuse the Enforcement Directorate or Income Tax agencies against non-BJP leaders and groups. It is essential that our citizens have trust and faith in such agencies; if there is no election, the competent authority would see to it that these agencies go after genuine offenders rather than squandering their energy and reputation in going after the sarkar’s political rivals.
Third, it is universally accepted that elections are a costly business. If our proposal is accepted, then an immediate pay-off would be that the ruling party’s dependence on the two or three industrialists, whom the media in its ignorance call “crony capitalists”, will get dramatically reduced. Once the cause of this dependence stands eliminated, the country will be able to enjoy the fruits of genuine and honest ‘vikas’ and there would be no need to rig every single economic decision in favour of a few rich men from Gujarat.
Fourth, we know that all political parties make extensive use of muscle-men and other assorted criminals at the election time; the bigger the party the greater its reliance on the Brij Bhushan Singhs or Baba Ram Rahims of this world. We are absolutely convinced that if Shri Modi is assured of an (uncontested) prime ministerial innings, he would gladly put half of his own MPs and MLAs in jail.
Fifth, if there is an election, there will inevitably be needless allegations and counter-allegations. We know Shri Modi to have the most tolerant and ‘shaant’ persona, but when provoked he knows how to be most toxic. We believe the onus for making him use poisonous rhetoric – eg. talking of shamshan-kabiristan or Udaipur’s tailor or the ‘minority is majority’ in Wayanad – rests entirely on the Opposition leaders, who quibble and quibble and quibble. The polity can do without any such “democratic” indulgence if our collective life is to be spared such cheap, shoddy and communal rhetoric.
And, lastly, if there were to be no Lok Sabha polls in a few months, Honourable Shri Modi would not have to resort to gimmicks like 11 days of “fast” before the grandest event of the last 700 years on Monday in Ayodhya. We shall like to believe that because Shri Modi is so unreservedly dedicated to serve the masses of India that is now Bharat, he finds himself having to reluctantly go through this kind of ostentatious religious rituals. A man who is burdened with micro-managing all aspects of our national life should not be burdened with such inconsequential chores like electioneering, road-shows, rallies, just to consolidate the “Hindu vote bank”.
Madame President,
We are not partisans of Shri Modi. We are not Bhakts. Most of us have given the best years of our lives to the well-being and prosperity of this nation. But we do believe that we live in uncertain times and it is vitally important for us as a nation to get our priorities right. An electoral contest, whose outcome is a foregone conclusion, is a luxury we can best avoid.
Madame President,
We pray that our plea will receive the serious consideration that it deserves. May you be able to spare Bharat a bitter and divisive contest.
Vande Matram,
Most sincerely
Committed Bureaucrats of India.
Atmanirbhar irregularly contributes a column, From the Vishwavguru Archives, and believes that ridicule and humour are central to freedom of speech and expression.
