One-on-one debate by candidates never happen in India

As the US Presidential elections are approaching, the contest between the Presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, is getting intense with each passing day. Having spent one month in the United States, I noticed a plethora of similarities in the style of campaigning of the star campaigners of India and the United States. Allegations and counter allegations, usage of vitriolic language, spewing venom in public is common, though they still manage to maintain some decency, as compared to India, where all limits are crossed to demean one’s rivals.

Different methods are being tried to woo the voters with Trump’s video at the McDonald’s going viral. He is seen preparing french fries and delivering them at the counter, much to the pleasant surprise of the citizens.

The US Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump can be easily compared with Narendra Modi. Both are in their seventies, with the former four years older than him. While Modi is tough and energetic, practising yoga every day, age is catching up with 78-year-old Trump, who is less receptive, though equally witty, adorning a charismatic infectious smile on his face. Interestingly, both Trump and Modi invoked the Gods during elections. While Modi claimed to be a non-biological entity, Trump too felt that he was saved by divine intervention after the shoot- out incident. In their Presidential Debate in Philadelphia, Harris didn’t forget to take potshots at Trump over his deteriorating health. Remember, it was one of the main reasons why Biden was forced to step out of the Presidential race and replaced by Kamala Harris. With barely a few days left for polling, no one can predict who will finally occupy the White House. Both the contenders proved to be equally sharp and quick in their response.

Imagine in India, if Prime Ministerial candidates Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi ever come face to face and are asked to participate in a one-on-one debate!! Will they be equally calm and composed, though being critical of each other at the same time? One would really like them to debate on matters of national priority, security and public importance. But neither of them have the courage, though Rahul Gandhi did invite Modi for a debate in the Lok Sabha elections.

Both the US Presidential candidates are engaging themselves in name calling, with Trump referring to Kamala as “worse than Biden”, “weak and incompetent” and “horrible negotiator” and the latter referring to him as a “liar” and a “dictator,” tweeting “ Is he fit for the topmost job in the World?” However, they are also talking substance, touching upon all the issues asked by the anchors, in detail. When it comes to the US Presidential debate, it’s not picking and choosing the subject as you like but responding to each & every aspect of the issues concerning the nation and its people. In their first & the last Presidential debate, all serious issues were touched upon by the TV anchors. Whether it was defence, health, economy, law & order, youth, women, employment, race, war and infiltration, the US candidates gave a detailed answer. It’s up to the public to decide who is best for them. Wonder if our Prime Ministerial candidates can emulate the same practice! For this to happen in the future, first they will have to educate themselves on all the issues and learn to be tolerant towards each other. Can Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi share the dais for two-and-a-half hours at a stretch ? Even in Lok Sabha, both of them seldom sit face-to-face for such a long period. In India, it’s very convenient to campaign as the issues are selected and prepared as per the particular State or region one is campaigning in

The media houses and the channels in the US are equally biased, as in India. Trump has threatened to subpoena the records of Kamala Harris 60-minutes interview with CBS News, alleging that it was doctored and edited beforehand. The teaser of her interview was different from the real interview. In India, too, TV Channels are often tilted towards a particular political party and mostly towards the ruling party. In fact, there are a host of the issues that are identical in both the elections of the oldest democracy, the United States and largest democracy, India.

In both the countries, Democracy is at stake and the Constitution is in peril. In India, this narrative is often built by the Congress, which accuses the BJP of rigging the polls and trying to replace the Constitution by asking people to give them a larger mandate of 400 seats. Former US President Donald Trump has not accepted the mandate of the last elections. He still believes that he won the elections in 2020, though he is again campaigning and contesting elections. Will he accept his defeat this time, if he loses? Trump has no answer, but he threatens that when he wins elections, he will prosecute the people who were accountable for his rigging. As in India, where the BJP is supposed to have got less number of seats due to the narrative set by the Congress that they would try to replace the Constitution, in the United States too, Trump is blaming the Democrats for the cases filed against him, terming it as “weaponization of the Justice Department.” This blame-game reminded me of the sparring between the Congress and the BJP on demeaning the Constitutional Institutions of the Country, namely Election Commission and Parliament, besides Agencies like the CBI and Enforcement Directorate.

Just like in India, US candidates are also competing with one another in giving sops to all sections of society, to small manufacturers, youth, women, homeless etc. US Vice-President Kamala Harris has promised to give $ 50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses, terming them as the backbone of the American economy. She also announced down payment assistance of $25,000 for first time home buyers besides others.

In India, party leaders often blame each other for border infiltrations, to gain more votes. The infiltration is mostly from Bangladesh due to the unrest. The Rohingyas are beingconsidered a threat to the security of the Nation. However, the US is facing a much bigger crisis. According to Trump, illegal border-crossing reached a record high in the Biden Administration. In both the countries, political opponents are blaming one another for playing divisive politics. While in India, it is the caste system, in the US it is the racial discrimination. Kamala Harris, whose father was an Afro-Jamaican and mother from India often reminds the people of her humble beginning. She alleged that Trump is biased and against the Blacks while she will unleash policies and programmes for all its citizens if elected as the President of the United States. Don’t forget that the chaiwala from India is running the NDA Government, who often flaunts his credentials in public rallies.

While there are umpteen similarities, we can’t forget that while they talk of managing the war of other countries -- Russia and Ukraine and Israel and Iran -- and also about preventing the World War 111, being a Super-Power, we in India, confine our discussion on safeguarding our nation from the threat of Pakistan and China. Here lies all the difference !The United States is far ahead of India and it will take ages for us to reach the level of the great Nation, the sole Super-Power. Till then, we can take solace by comparing the campaigning styles of the two largest Democracies. Here, perhaps, India is better than the United States, as far as the counting speed with which our elections are declared that quickens the transition of Power, which is smooth & peaceful.

(Writer is Delhi-based senior journalist. Views are personal).