Food for Thought

Panchayat poll results in Assam are coming out in dibs and dabs, thanks to the slow counting of paper ballots. The ruling BJP is celebrating, having bagged the largest number of zilla parishads and GP wards, and getting the largest number of its candidates elected as gaon panchayat presidents and anchalik panchayat members. The saffron party’s joy appears to be more for displacing its ally AGP in several of the latter’s strongholds. The Congress is drawing satisfaction at winning 40% of the seats, compared to the 50% seats in BJP’s kitty; in this context, the State Congress chief has reminded that his party used to sweep rural polls during the three terms it ruled the State, leaving other parties fighting for minor spoils. As for the AIUDF, it has been worsted in its bastions like Barpeta and Dhubri where the Congress (with which it occasionally talks about striking an alliance) has taken upper hand. Surely the panchayat poll results of Assam cannot be linked to recent assembly election results in five States; neither will it be sensible to discern patterns for the Lok Sabha elections just five months away. These are elections at different levels, and correspondingly different issues are at play. It is all very well to speculate about BJP no longer needing to ride piggyback on AGP in Assam, or whether an emboldened Congress will bargain hard with AIUDF for the coming parliamentary elections. But what no party in the State can afford to take lightly is the woeful state of development in our villages or the condition of farmers. What was the outcome of big ticket schemes for agriculture and rural development undertaken during the 15-year Congress reign? How is the present ruling dispensation at Dispur carrying out schemes in rural areas for imparting skills, building infrastructure, enabling farmers and ensuring them a better standard of living? Rural India is holding political parties to account in other States for their work in these sectors. All the parties in Assam have made grand promises this time, many related to specific localized needs, in their panchayat poll manifestos. It is said that rural voters usually favor the ruling party in panchayat polls, because which way they vote gets known — which in turn determines the flow of goodies from rulers! It is high time voters hold parties accountable over their promises. Public discourse in the State ought to be more about development on the ground, rather than the thrust and parry of Machiavellian politics that take people nowhere.