For the first time in my life I was actively involved in an election campaign. During that time, the one question I felt people had on their mind was 'what will you do for me and my village'. I rephrased that into two questions, what is the role and responsibility of an MP and second, what obligations do they have towards their constituency? After hours of googling and pestering the seniors in politics I got my answers. The second answer is simple - none. That's why once elected, many MP rarely visit their constituency and MPs can get away with less 30% attendance in the parliament and still win again. The MPLAD scheme did give our leaders some homework but it too has been plagued by mismanagement, favoritism and delays in approvals. The first question is a tough cookie to swallow. We all know MPs make, modify and oppose laws. But our mps, instead of focusing on improving the people, have focused narrowly on the economy as a measure of success. They pass laws so that it helps the gdp, inflation, sensex and rupee. In the quest for economic superiority, they have neglected education, judiciary, defence, womens rights, human rights, environment etc. Is the economic model about sustainability? No. It's about inequality-take wealth from the middle class, give 90% it to the rich, 1% to the poor and 9% to the Govt. It's this economics that drives the parliament. Environmental law and every other law is modified to favor this economic model which will push the people ,directly and indirectly, in debt. Parties like bjp and Congress thrive on this economic model. In their manifesto, most of the promises is about money and economics which they say will benefit the people but actually favor the corporates. They are already using petrol prices, govt jobs, interest rates and even distributing cash to influence voters. Why is money a poor incentive for the voter? Because value of the rupee is controlled by the value of the dolor which is controlled at US federal Reserve which is inturn controlled by Crony Capitalists. So when your life depends on the rupee, who exactly is controlling you? In the celebration of bjps victory nobody is asking, where did all the money in the campaign come from? What do the donors expect in return?. These questions will remain forgotten till the next elections. You'll be preoccupied either with the pride of Hindutva philosophy, the fear of it or the hope that you'll benefit from the vague Gujarat model of development. Being an aapian, it's not easy to counter this philosophy with one of self governance and sustainable economics and development. One reason we lost is because we were not asking for votes, we were asking for a change in the beliefs and character of the voter which was an impossible feat in 3 months. But the most important reason we lost is that most aap candidates fielded were not prepared with an answer for the two questions. When asked their answer was no different from the answers of bjp or congress mps. Even the ones who had the answer failed to be convincing enough to wake the voter from the 50 year old political hypnotic trance. So what's the answer? What is the role of a modern MP in his or her constituency? Modern MPs need to be the voice of people of the constituency. Their job towards their constituency is to address human rights violations, ensure environmental protection, implement measures to protect local indigenous culture, monitor infrastructure and govt institutions like hospitals and schools with regular visits, ensure proper implementation of schemes and policies and to work with local defence and security to manage and solve issues such as naxalism and terrorism. If not all this, do MPs have any real purpose? Not this time, thanks to the creation of our own Putin. We've handed our liberty to one man with a thunderous applause. What he does with it for the next 5 years is a mystery because there in our quest for a stable govt, we've neglected the need for a stable opposition. The next 5 years aap will play a role of an activist group disguised as a political party, fighting any abuse of power by the bjp govt. If we survive and people notice our sacrifice and success, maybe, in 5 years people will believe in aaps philosophy and give us a mandate. That's when real human development will begin.
-- *AATavares* *Phone : 9657210949*
