Why Indians are obsessed with politics and political leaders?

Political debates and discussions is a common sight in India. People at tea or a cigarette shop, milk booths, public parks, vegetable markets, usually exchange political views with each other randomly. ‘I go for an early morning walk every day, and there is always different group of people especially of aged men, who discuss Indian politics. Some of them aggressively’, said Ishika. She further added that it gets disturbing to hear all of the propaganda at the start of a day. The obsession is quite evitable but the question arises, is it for politics or political leaders? Lot of people in India worship political leaders and calls them their ideal.

Rajan is a daily wage worker. He said his way of passing time is to talk about Bihar’s politics. Bihar is a state in India dominated by regional political parties. According to Rajan, it is the most interesting topic. ‘Whenever I and my mates get free time, we discuss Nitish Kumar, elections, alliance. What else can we discuss? Everybody should know who is ruling and who can be a potential candidate for our own good’, he said. Politics is a hot topic not only among poor but also among elites in India. When asked, what excites them in politics, Businessman Govind told EAT news, ‘We should be aware about what is happening in our country. Plus it is very important for us to keep an eye on who is a ruling party to maintain a balance and stability in our work. Because business includes permissions from high authorities and lot of paper work that requires us to keep them in loop.’

Ishika is an engineering student and believes politics has blindfolded every Indian. ‘Why people don’t talk about rapes, women safety, climate change, unemployment or even education? Why Indian news channels briefly cover political stories and the rest goes for a minute or so? They go on and on with crowd and nobody talks sensible’, she said. Has it become noticeable now or did it exist from a long time? According to Divaker V Vittal, an expert in tradition, culture, Hinduism and history, there are numerous reasons behind Indians to have deep interest in politics. ‘In India, politics is feudal hero based; hence the general public sees their representative or their political leaders as super stars and super heroes. Politics is like a movie industry in India. The senior leaders and lead workers would pull glamor quotient often to lure public people attendance for mass speech on any event or issue’, he wrote.

There is no particular counting on the number of political events that take place annually in India. At local level, it goes for days. Rajan is from a village in Bihar and waits eagerly every year for political events. He said, ‘I go to my village whenever I hear of a political rally or an event coming. Big leaders come there to speak, and getting a little sight of them is enough for us. In some of the events, we were given juice and biscuits.’  People like Rajan attend events just to have a glimpse of their leaders who are celebrated no less than a superhero.

But are they really a superhero? As per the ADR (Association for Democratic Reforms) report 363 MPs and MLAs have proclaimed criminal charges against them. According to the information, 83 of them are from BJP (current ruling party) on the list, 47 of them are from Congress and 25 lawmakers are from AITC who are involved in criminal cases. It is already out that four of Union Ministers – Sanjeev Kumar Balyan, Satyapal Singh Baghel, Kailash Chaudhary and Ashwini Kumar Choubey are accused in abduction, dacoity and attempts to cause grievous injury and death.    

Expert Vittal noted, ‘Political leaders typecast themselves with costumes reserved for political characters, every designation has a set of costumes which is pre designed and these political leaders are trained in body language, diction, oratory skills like how an actor is molded for a movie.’ Indian political leaders through their grand entries attract minds of people. In an article written by siliconindia, it is mentioned people’s craze for political leaders. Late Jayalalithaa (political leader) who was also called ‘Amma’ (mother) was worshipped religiously by every section of the society. But she is the same person who was jailed twice during her lifetime for corruption. There are many instances like her in Indian politics, Bal Thackeray, NTR, and MGR.

Ishika told EAT news, ‘Indian news channels should prioritize other issues too on screen. It is important for such news to reach to as many people as it can. And every political leader has a dark history, which is why they are where they are today.’ Supported by ‘awareness’ the prepossession with politics of Indians convince Indian media houses to run political news and neglect other salient issues of the country and vice versa. In addition, Indians should think twice before choosing political leaders as their ideals.