Looking for Issues

Looking for Issues DESPITE all the ranting and rhetoric, the ideological content of the so-called mini general election touched zero. All the efforts of press reporters to make issues out of non-issues actually yielded a sorry tale of caste divisions and animosities. The political leadership (if it can be so-called) has certainly brought the Indian people to their lowest level of consciousness. The field is now wide open for all manner of lumpen elements, including matinee idols, Every now and then, there is an effort to create an artificial issue. Indira Gandhi, never very sophisticated in political theory, thinks up the idea that she can swing votes by warning the people of the damage they will do themselves by voting for a government different from the Centre. This is immediately interpreted to mean that she is against other parties enjoying a bit of power somewhere on this sprawling sub-continent. She, of course, denies this when she realises the implications.