O, Ganesha, help us with our misguided political deities

The arrival of Ganesha – remover of Obstacles, guarantor of auspicious beginnings, Lord of wisdom and intellect – is a good reason to pray for our political deities, who appear to have largely gone astray in recent weeks, months, and years. Here are our prayers on behalf of India’s flawed democratic deities. For the Prisoner of 7, Race Course Road, Delhi – Prime Minister Manmohan Singh – we pray for a quick release from his self-imposed prison of indecision and inability to grow into his job. He is a good man incarcerated by bad circumstances and karma. We pray that he sees the light and starts behaving like a true Prime Minister with a mind of his own – or moves on to higher things like the presidency as soon as possible. For the Deity of 10 Janpath, Sonia Gandhi, we wish her speedy recovery and a return to guiding the course of Congress politics, which seems to have lost its way during the course of several scams and the Anna antidote. We also wish she puts Manmohan Singh out his misery, for it is the divided nature of political power and executive authority that is at the root of the current governmental paralysis. [caption id=“attachment_74382” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“The arrival of Ganesha – Remover of Obstacles, Guarantor of Auspicious Beginnings, Lord of Wisdom and Intellect – is a good reason to pray for our political deities, who appear to have largely gone astray in recent weeks, months, and years.  PTI”]  [/caption] For the Crown Prince of Congress politics, Rahul Gandhi, we pray for the quick conferment of responsibility and formal power even before the next election. We cannot have a situation in which Rahul is supposed to be the next Prime Minister, but has no responsibility for any of the decisions of the current lameduck dispensation. For the Pitamaha of the BJP, LK Advani, we pray for a quick and early retirement that will allow the party to grow new leaders faster. Both Manmohan Singh and Advani have remained in politics far beyond they sell-by date, and a quick s_anyas_ or elevation to Emeritus roles are the best options for them. For the Goddess-in-Waiting Sushma Swaraj, we wish her freedom from the tainted associations of the Reddy brothers of Karnataka’s mining scandals. She is too gifted an orator and potential leader of the party to be stuck with these kinds of handicaps. For that Gifted Acolyte of TV Anchors Arun Jaitley, we pray that he starts to develop his political roots beyond TV studios. Whatever his prime ministerial ambitions, he cannot grow to stature only on the basis of closeness to the media. If chance were to put the BJP-led NDA in line for forming a government after the next election, his position will be no different from Manmohan’s if he has no political base. The Rajya Sabha is not the route to PM-ship. For the Ample Deity of Tamil Nadu Politics, we pray for political wisdom that goes beyond ordinary witch-hunting. Jaya Amma’s DMK enemies are about to fall on their own swords – thanks to the conflicts of dynastic politics between Karunanidhi’s two sons and a jailed daughter. Anything Jaya does to harass them further will rebound on her.  She should learn from her own past mistakes. For the Nemesis of Godless Communists, Mamata Banerjee, we pray for luck in getting better friends in the future. Having used the Maoists to tame the Marxists in West Bengal, she cannot hope to create a new Paschimbanga in her own image if she has friends like these – who anyway are not her friends anymore at Junglemahal. For India’s more recent Fast Forward Hero, Anna Hazare, we wish for a fast-less future. We hope India’s politicians have learnt their lessons, and will stick to the straight and narrow. But politicians will be politicians, and we wonder if even Ganesha has given up on them. However, we wish Anna gets the Vighnaharta’s full support in combating the emenies of the nation: graft, greed, hypocrisy, and many other evils. We also wish Anna the best of future advisors.