Bharat Bhushan: Three hollow men

The candidates for the country's most important job seem unconvinced and unconvincing about what they claim to stand for

Commenting on Narendra Modi and Arvind Kejriwal, Union Law Minister Kapil Sibal wrote that of the two alternatives presented by the Opposition to the nation - one was a "salesman" par excellence and the other, a quintessential "showman". "The salesman has outsourced his own packaging; the showman packages himself outdoors". What he did not say is that the Congress party has also bought into professional packaging - the Japanese advertising agency Dentsu is to handle the party's audio-visual and print campaigns and Burson-Marsteller has been hired to handle the campaign on social media.

Rahul Gandhi is also a salesman and a showman. He sold his five-point agenda with much fanfare at the recently-held meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC). The creation of Lokayuktas in all Congress-ruled states by March; delinking food and vegetables from the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Act to control prices; implementing the Essential Services Maintenance Act to deal with hoarding, black marketing and profiteering; effective implementation of the Public Distribution System; and setting up fair price shops are all measures that did not require an announcement at an AICC session. Likewise his pretension of requesting the prime minister to increase the number of subsidised LPG cylinders was more of a show of his apparent public connect than anything else.

On the other hand, his promise that half of the party's chief ministers would be women tests public credulity. Not a single woman is either a Pradesh Congress Committee chief or a Congress Legislative Party leader, the stepping stone to the job.

Modi's political marketing provides simplistic solutions to complex problems. First, he tried to suggest that every Indian state is to be turned into Gujarat. Then caste populism was tapped, repackaging Sardar Patel into a Kurmi leader and Modi as an OBC tea-seller. Now "Brand Modi" has turned into multi-brand retail - promising Indian Institutes of Technology in every state, Bullet trains, 100 smart cities and fibre optic communication networks criss-crossing the country. Had Modi built even one smart city in his 13 years as chief minister of Gujarat, or had the state figured in the top 10 cities with the highest telephone density in India, or had the indicators of well-being improved for Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims in his state, his claims would be credible. His promise to inter-link Indian rivers shows no understanding of the ecological consequences of such a move or of the intractability of inter-state river water disputes.

The fix for India's complex problems is packaged in marketing catchwords - five T's (talent, trade, tradition, tourism and technology), Brand India, Vote for India, or "One India, Excellent India". But outside these marketing phrases, his regressive social vision keeps slipping through, from his infamous "kutte ka pilla" comment to the patriarchal exhortation of followers to perform the "garbha-dhaan" (impregnation) of democracy at the polling booth.

The reality of the anti-Muslim riots that he oversaw as chief minister in 2002, make a mockery of his rallying cries of "Sarva dharma sambhava" (tolerance for all religions), "Satyamev Jayate" ("Truth alone triumphs"), "Aa no bhadrah krathvo yantu vishvat" ("Let good thoughts come from all over the universe"), and "Vaishnav jana to tene kahiye, je peer parayee jaane re" ("He who feels the pain of others is the true devotee of God"). Societies that have been violently torn apart cannot experience a closure without punishing the perpetrators. Despite the passage of time, Nazi war criminals are still being put to death; South Africa had a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to get the victims' point of view on board; and war crimes trials continue in neighbouring Bangladesh to prosecute the collaborators of 1971.

Arvind Kejriwal's focus on systemic change came as a breath of fresh air. His diagnosis of the ills of the political process, though simplistic, seemed to touch a popular chord. People were willing to forgive his lack of a coherent political ideology, his about-face on taking the support of the Congress and even his half-measures on water and electricity tariffs, as long as he kept his focus on governance. However, with the declaration that he might contest the Parliamentary elections, that commitment seems shaky. He is being projected as an ideal prime ministerial candidate as other members of his party prepare to contest the Lok Sabha.

Kejriwal is in danger of mistaking the vote for systemic change as a vote for himself. The electorate may not forgive a permanent agitator for public good sliding towards personal aggrandisement. If the electorate is only to be manipulated for personal ambition then how is Kejriwal any different from the others?

His almost mousy public persona of a modest "aam aadmi" seems increasingly hollow when he asks "Who is the chief minister of Delhi? Shinde or I? I will decide where to protest, not Shinde". When his minister, Somnath Bharti, orders a policeman to violate procedure, one wonders whether that is an "aam aadmi" speaking or someone flaunting his constitutional privileges to violate the rights of others. Soon the public modesty of the Aam Aadmi Party may increasingly be seen only a façade for arrogance based on the assumption that everyone, except them, is corrupt.

While Modi's sales pitch is that of a dream merchant, Kejriwal packages himself as a street vendor, deeply attached to his roadside stall despite being given a "pucca" shop. His street demonstrations for the transfer of some junior policemen found little purchase with the so-called aspirational class in urban India that voted for him. The aspirational class in India is not an "agitational class". It may want political culture to change but it also wants stability and predictability in daily life.

The Gandhi family scion remains a reluctant salesman - forced to manage the family business and yet to make his first million. His clunky jokes and contrived moves may have cheered indulgent party men, but they may not be good enough in a competitive market.

Unfortunately, the three candidates for the most important job in the country seem no more than salesmen, unconvinced and unconvincing about what they claim to stand for.

The author is a journalist based in Delhi