Reflections on current political scenario in India

Current Indian politics is marked by communalism castism and annexation of vote bank by political parties. Ancient political thinkers such as Plato and Aristotle looked at politics as something pious and ethical. Politics was regarded as part of ethics. They were not mistaken. After independence till the declaration of emergency in June 1975 Indian politicians cherished values based politics. They were committed to certain ideologies till the end of their life. Declaration of emergency heralded a new era of opportunistic politics. All the opposition parties irrespective of their ideologies got together with the single objective of over-throwing Indira Gandhi’s government. They succeeded in their mission under the leadership of Shri. Jai Prakash Narain but as expected they scattered like play cards in less than three years. Janta government fell and the alliance partners got back to their original destinations. Indira Gandhi regained power. Although stable government followed, but stability was provided not by honest activities, but either by sympathy factor or due to defection. Ethical conduct remained a distant dream.