IS IDEALISM IN POLITICS POSSIBLE Dear Friends:
I have a dream. And that dream is to create Assam's, and maybe India's most ethical/honest and inclusive political party. Democracy is about making political choices. And it is the job of political parties to present people with such alternatives. In my opinion, today there isn't a single party in Assam that can claim to be qualitatively different from each other. And this is precisely the reason why I resigned from the BJP. So why don't we create one? WE DON'T NEED A MODI, WE DON'T NEED A KEJRIWAL Mr Modi and Mr Kejriwal may have their strengths, but the salvation of Assam is in the sole hands of the people of Assam. No Modi or Kejriwal will come and solve our local problems. We ourselves have to be our own Modi, or our own Kejriwal. If we put our hearts and minds to it—and if our intentions are pure—there is nothing that they have done that we cannot do. Lot of people ask me to join AAP in Assam. I say 'no'. My argument is: why do we have to ride on the back of a Kejriwal? Why can't we be Kejriwal ourselves? We don't need to get Kejriwal to Assam; instead, if we like, we may adopt the values of integrity and transparency that he espouses. Rather than borrowing a template from outside, why can't we create such a model party that the whole of India emulates us tomorrow? Let me tell you how we can create that dream party. FINANCES: THE ROOT OF ALL CORRUPTION The root of all political corruption is party finances. There is no accountability of where money comes from, and where it is spent. I want to begin here. I estimate that the monthly running cost of the state unit of BJP Assam is Rs 10 Lakhs. This is the operational cost of only the state unit, not the districts. Secondly, this does not include election campaign expenses. Now, for a moment if we forget election campaign finances, and concentrate only on the monthly running cost of the state unit, the question is: how do we raise Rs 10 Lakhs each month, such that we have no apparent handicap vis-a-vis the BJP and Congress. My proposal is: if 1000 people contribute Rs 1000/- per month, its adds up to Rs 10 Lakhs. If at least a thousand good people believe that they should contribute to the creation of a party that does not have to go to questionable characters for money, I think the financial sustainability of this new party is assured. Once we have the daily sustainability assured, I think we can find out other innovative and ethical means to raise election finances whenever necessary. The big question is: whether we can get a thousand good people in Assam who would back the idea? Come to think of it: it is not a big sum. Rs 1000/- is just the cost of two kilos of rohu fish. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose said, “give me blood, I will give you freedom.” Let us go to these prospective thousand donors and say, “give us Rs 1000/- per month, and we would give you Assam's most ethical and performance-driven party, something that we can be proud of.” Two points here: (a) accountability and (b) performance Accountability: We would ask these donors to give us 12 post-dated monthly cheques of Rs 1000/- each. This way we would not be able to spend all the money in one go, and our sustainability for the year in assured. In return, what we would give to our donors is a quartely (3-monthly) financial report, audited by a chartered accountant, on how we spent the money. In India, only listed companies prepare quarterly balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements. If we do this, we would be the first party in India to be doing so. This would set a new paradigm of probity in Indian politics. Performance: At the end of the year, we would again go to these donors for their next 12 post-dated cheques. Unless we perform, our donors would not fund us for the next year. This would ensure that we perform. IDEOLOGY: LIBERALISM & DEMOCRACY The 'ideology', if you wish to use this word, of this new party should be liberalism and democracy. Liberalism means personal, as well as economic freedom. It means social inclusiveness. It means the promotion of entrepreneurship and the reduction of state control. By democracy, I am referring to inner-party democracy, which today is almost non-existent in most parties, including the BJP. I am also referring to 'social democracy', which means the promotion of an equitable society. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE Just as freedom is not free, there is a cost of representation. You need to pay for petrol/diesel to drive a car from Point A to Point B; you need money to photocopy pages. And unless somebody pays for it transparently, political parties will always resort to questionable sources of fund. I will start a new political party only if at least 1000 people, contributing Rs 1000/- each per month, agree to be patron-members. If not, I shall bid goodbye to politics. NO SHORTCUTS I do not promise any miracles, for I have no magic formula. I also don't want to resort to gimmicks like Mr Modi did before the Lok Sabha elections: 'if the BJP comes to power, Bangladeshis better pack their bags and go'. The only thing I promise is that we would attract the most honest and dedicated people in Assam, and put them to work in the grassroots. Just as Mr Kejriwal did in Delhi! The BJP deployed 120 MPs, 20 Ministers, about 15 National Office Bearers, and thousands of RSS cadres. And yet they could not stop the volunteers of AAP! Therefore, the only learning is that we have to build this new party brick by brick. It will take time, but we have to be patient. We would also do things differently. No Assam Bandhs, under any circumstances; no violence, no anarchy; and no abusing opponents. If you are willing to be patient, and ready to contribute to building a political platform that would honestly strive for a new Assam, let us join hands. We would be the third front—and the preferred choice—of Assam politics. Prodyut Bora Mobile: 91-9435408658 http://www.flickr.com/photos/prodyut http://www.youtube.com/user/prodyutbora http://www.facebook.com/prodyutbora http://www.linkedin.com/in/prodyutbora _______________________________________________ assam mailing list [email protected] http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
