WEAK NARRATIVE by senior most politico

To begin with you trust everyone. As you grow up, you develop cynicism and prejudice when you see people lying. Naturally, you don't trusteveryone you come across, but only a few of them,more so, in the case ofpoliticians. In politicians you trust because of their ideology orbecause of their values. But when the trust is broken because ofpromises not kept, it will be hard to regain. Much faster it erodeswhen it comes to plain lies. However much convincing lies seem to be,it is difficult to keep people hooked to you forever. All yourprejudice and cynicism have been justified then. One is only as honest as one's mind wants to be. No more.

Now-a-days, when you either hear or listen to Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu offering his excuses for walking out of the NDA alliance, youare not so bemused. As days pass by, his explanations areonly becoming frivolous. Everyone knows why Naidu has walked out of thealliance, asking his Union Ministers to resign in protest against theCentre's refusal to accord the Special Category Status to AP. Naiduwas simple and plain afraid of Jaganmohan Reddy and jumped the gun.

Naidu needed a narrative to convince people as to why he did so but could not talk of the domestic situation. Hence, he allowed his MPs to continue their theatrics for sometime in the Parliament – at least as long as the YSRCP MPs' continued their protests – to script his 'Struggle for SCS' story.

It was not a convincing story and even his own media could not help him achieve his goal of becoming a hero of the AP people. Then, he began seeking out theories to project himself as a victim. He began lashing out at the Centre to claim that it had not done anything for the state. His unease over his failure to convince people on this count too became obvious, when he began targeting Narendra Modi personally.
He gradually began updating his version by claiming he had been to New Delhi on two scores and more times to seek the SCS, but Modi had ignored his pleas. Aided by a section of the media in his new offensive, he began drifting further in his imagery fight.

For a commoner, it is clear, however, that Naidu is just struggling to keep his popularity intact. But, despite his 'seniormost politician' tag that he wears on his shoulder, Naidu seems to have made some juvenile moves. Retaining power being his primary target, Naidu began deconstructing his theories to start linking YSRCP and Jana Sena to the BJP.

Now, he is sure that he has lost the support of Pawan Kalyan. With the BJP too gone whatever may be its vote share, he is only banking on the Muslim minority vote bank. This segment had deserted him in the last elections to a good extent and YSRCP had been its favourite. With the consolidation of minorities against the BJP in general across the nation, Naidu now wants to exploit the situation to his benefit.
Hence, his attacks on Modi and Amit Shah are only growing. He is under the impression that he could convince the Muslim voters to desert YSRCP "which has an understanding with the BJP" and vote for the TDP.

His effort to exploit the heinous rape of a girl child recently raisedmore questions about the safety of girl child under the TDP rule asits record does not convince anyone in this regard. Next, he gives a call to the Telugus in Karnataka to trounce Modi (hedeliberately chose Modi, not the BJP) in their Assembly elections, but goes back on it now, and says he only gave a general call. In between, he blames the YSRCP for supporting the BJP in Karnataka. His latest argument is that he had demanded Modi's resignation after Godhra riots and, hence, Modi was harming AP's interests.

If one were to recall the instruments which Providence employed to create a British power in India, were often of the basest metal. Often it was conspiracy, tyranny, diplomacy and valour. Publicadministration is no less tainted now in AP. Naidu never addressed thereal issues so far in his bid for supremacy.

His sloth and indolence in securing the SCS is well known. He willonly be forced to seek newer narratives to convince people of hissincerity. What does he expect the voters to do? Not to see his administrativefailures? How many promises has he fulfilled in the last four years?How many jobs has he created? How many industries have come out of allthose MoUs' signed to the tune of lakhs for crores of rupees so far?Has he addressed the allegations against land and sand mafiassufficiently? What kind of a politician gives a call to people toprocreate more except for those from the fringe group? How does heexplain his failure to secure delimitation of the Assembly segmentsthat he was banking upon so much to all those who defected to hisparty?

The entire story-telling effort of Naidu is bound to be questioned by the voter sooner. He cannot project himself as a paragon of virtues,butwill only come across as a paragon of fascinating wiles and duplicity as long as hekeeps blaming everything under the sky for his labour pains now.Creating a frenzied atmosphere won’t help him create a happy society ashe seeks to do.

Multiplicity of words will only multiply the sense of one's loss. Butit does not reimpose faith in a person often changing his versionswith ulterior motives.Naidu's ludicrous explanations remind one of this joke published longago in a Weekly of our country in which a deponent says:

“These realfacts, I have come across - my plumber's sister's husband's boss/Whosegirl who's on the government staff, was apprised by her betterhalf/That his friend's wife when in a dance, was told by one returnedfrom France/That when he had been on his morning walk, he overheard aprisoner talk/Of which the purpose this in brief, that he had met alocal chief/Who told him when that man he saw, that his old uncle'sfather-in-law/Had in New York an astute friend whose barber knows whenthe war will end/What time the clashing arms will cease, the worldwill bear the fruits of peace.”

Well, Nara Chandrababu Naidu is taking a long walk on a short pier!