Amid campaigning in Chandigarh for my wife Kirron who is contesting as a BJP candidate, I am taking some time off to share my concerns on the disturbing trend of political leaders indulging in dirty rage rhetoric while targeting rivals. While the situation seems terribly sad, this trend will not cast any shadow on India's future polity as her youth are sure to raise the bar for governance and public conduct, and deliver.
We have all kinds of people in our society, not just politicians. We hear people swear at each other, or at nobody in particular. And now we are hearing our leaders say the most unfortunate things. It only shows the kind of upbringing and the kind of person you are.
I feel the Indian political system is going through a change. Change is inevitable in everything. You will have to change. Change is very silent always. We will know the effect of this change over a period of time because such people (who are making nasty rage remarks) are actually not going to be perceived as people's representatives in the coming years. So this is a churning time for Indian politics, and this election is going to be the defining time for us.
Today's youth is very smart and very intelligent. And their perception is pretty good. They are not interested in abusive people; in fact, they would scoff at them. Our youth are interested in governance, development, empowerment, infrastructure, jobs, and such serious issues.
I think I should blame the media also because today people who are doing good are not getting attention as they are perceived as boring by the media, while the abusive negative people get mileage on the channels because they deliver better TRPs.
People like to sensationalise. I am not saying this should not be done. But unfortunately, today, it is more interesting to give media coverage for such candidates.
He (Saharanpur Congress candidate Imran Masood, who threatened to kill Narendra Modi) has been punished; he is behind bars. Fine, but there are many people who deal with things, with people, with respect; do positive things, but they and their deeds are not becoming newsworthy. If a person says 'Mey boti, boti, kaadthunga', that's big news. I condemn the type of things that are abusive, whether it is targeting Modi, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul or Arvind Kejriwal. But there should be some moderation in making such thing a national issue and as I said earlier, this only shows his (abuser's) character and upbringing.
It will be good if you (media) are also doing a story that speaks of people who are doing positive electioneering. That will be good; people are bound to like it.
The most important thing is the change that is happening in today's political system, and that's because of today's youth. They are my big hope. Today's youth is my big hope; they are not going to fail us.
