Can an Aam Admi Become India’s Prime Minister?
“I am an aam aadmi (common man). If I can become the Prime Minister, then so can you. I came from a very ordinary, lower-middle class family. It is because of my education that I am what I am”
These words were uttered by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to children during the Children’s Day festival in New Delhi today. Education is very important and statistics show that the achievements of an individual greatly depend on the level of education of that individual. Clearly people who only have a high school degree earn far less than individuals who have college degrees. This theory holds true in many areas but does not hold true in politics.
I think that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for a moment forgot the role that he is currently playing. Before I start I want to point out that in my opinion Jawaharlal Nehru, Manmohan Singh and Atal Behari Vajpayee are three of the best Prime Ministers India has ever produced. They have a very clean image and have the respect of the general public. For the most part they keep the best interests of the country in mind when they are making critical decisions (this however cannot be said for some members of their cabinet, party members, MLA’s and MP’s). However, Manmohan Singh is not a politician. He does not have a real political base and cannot win an election if not for the Congress Party nominating him from very safe constituencies.
Not having a real political base has its problem. Manmohan Singh appears to be a front man for the real powers that run India. Most people speculate that the power lay at the hands of the Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi. During the Prime Minister’s term most of the important dignitaries who have visited India and met with our PM have also met Sonia Gandhi. In all important occasions (including the Children’s Day celebrations) you will find Sonia Gandhi standing next to our PM. This is deeply disturbing.
Studies have shown that in the 2004 and 2009 elections that almost 136 out of 543 members of the Indian Parliament faced criminal charges including rape, murder and kidnapping (this gets worse at the state levels where in states like Uttar Pradesh over 50% of the elected members have criminal charges that are pending). At the national level over 50% of Indian MLA’s and MP’s have little or no education. It is clear that Indian politics is slowing getting into the hands of the criminals and thugs. Serious reform is needed immediately (It should be noted that the voting process itself is getting better. The election results definitely reflect what is going on at the voting booths. In the 70’s and 80’s it was very common to see booth capturing and rigging of elections but the Election Commission has become very independent when compared to the past).
So is the Prime Minister right when he is telling young children that education is the best possible way to become a Prime Minister? I think it is the ideal but reality is different. These kids are more likely to taste political success if they become criminals. There is no room in Indian politics for the aam admi and the educated man. Now it is the time of the armed admi and the illiterate admi.
Related posts:
- You Are Welcome Mr. Prime Minister
- The Back Seat Drivers
- Sonia Gandhi Destroying Indian Religion, Culture and Traditions
- Mamata Banerjee is Unfit to be Cabinet Minister
- Rahul Gandhi – India’s Confucius
Category: News & Government
nehru and a clean PM! that’s a revelation for me!. He’s the reason we have this sh**y Kashmir issue today. he’s just luck that there was no active media like today, else all his deeds would’ve come out and we would be painting him the same was as others.
ok, i know i will be asked to prove my thoughts here, but anyways, i hate nehru! stupid fellow for me!
we would’ve been better off not having ppl like him as PM.
manmohan singh and ABV, yes they are good ppl in the wrong situation! :) working with their hands tied!
Nehru is the architect of modern India. India today is the 12th largest economy in the world and has a growing middle class. So some credit should go to the architect!!
Credit should go to him for taking the post of prime minister in an undemocratic way, losing a war against the Chinese, manhandling the Kashmir issue, and the whole Ghandy (not Gandhi) family dynastic rule too. All these Chacha Nehru flying white pigeons and loving kids, you don’t think that was real right, it’s more sort of marketing gimmicks.
Kurtz,
I think most Indians have a much more balanced view of Nehru than you do. Nehru became the PM of India in as much a democratic fashion as George Washington did in the United States. What is going on in Kashmir today is much more of a war than what happened in 1962 with China (almost 70,000 Indian citizens have died in Kashmir since 1988). China and India did go back to the original LOC after the brief conflict ended.
Most Indians also remember that it was under the BJP that Pakistan attacked India in Kargil. Some of the territory captured by Pakistan in the Kargil war in 1999 is still with Pakistan. How can we blame Nehru for the Gandhi dynasty? India is a democracy and Indians by and large like the Gandhi family and vote for them. This is no different than the Kennedy family, Clinton family and the Bush families. Almost all Indian political parties are family dynasties. The Gandhi name happens to be the most well known.