Who should be our next Prime Minister?

In just under a year (or over it, not too sure L) the country would be have its Assembly Election in order to elect the next Central Government. There are whispers (and some noise) on who the Prime Ministerial candidates are, but there are no direct acknowledgement (as of yet). There is a notion that it would be a battle between one Rahul Gandhi versus another Narendra Modi, a Congress led government versus a BJP led government.

The Congress (and its allies) are the current ruling government and from all the scams and scandals that has mired it term, things don’t look good for it to return to power. The silence of Mr. Singh, the taunts that it is a remote controlled government, the numerous scams, inflation and the current state of the economy, all cuts its chances of winning the election. Moreover, its face for the election (though not officially declared) seems to be Rahul Gandhi, who is totally wet behind the ears with huge case of foot-in-mouth disease. He doesn’t have the experience, credentials, as of that of his adversaries or even have the oratory skills or persona like them. Definitely someone not suited to lead the world’s largest democracy.

Mr. Manmohan Singh, our current Prime Minister, has proved to be an able administrator with previous governments, is surprisingly in effective leading the current government. His silence has come on under heavy criticism and the butt of many jokes. He seems to have lost the plot, somewhere along the way, for whatever reasons. The growing amount of scandals and scams that are creeping through the woodwork, makes you question what is he doing? Why is he silent and turning a blind eye? What is he doing for the widespread corruption that is rotting our system, eating at our lives? The current economic situation, inflation, price rice, the cost of living and all, are seem to be running around uncontrolled.

On the other hand we have the BJP, a party known for its Hindutva agenda, backed by the VHP and RSS, Hindu hardliners. Its face is Narendra Modi (all but anointed the official candidate) is someone who gives me the creeps. Someone who constantly has the sword of the Gujarat riots hanging over his head. No matter what he does, the question of the riots always pops up. Someone who know how to use the social media to his benefit (judging from the post I constantly keep reading on Facebook), someone who is techno-savy.  Someone who, at time, comes across as arrogant and overconfident. His constant smirks don’t read humility. He may feel that he is not guilty for the riots and has nothing apologise for it, but the question is what did he do to control it (if not to prevent it), to bring the culprits to the books. After all lives were lost, whether it was in the burning of the Sabarmati Express or during the Godra riots. Innocent lives were put to the sword, raped, burnt, put to an end, all in the name of religion (whether Hindu or Muslim). The taint of the riot is something that will never go away. Another question for Mr. Modi is how is his ‘Gujarat model’ going to translate on a national stage. Yes Gujarat’s progress is admirable, but how has this contributed in relieving the pressure on other cities. We don’t see ads for jobs in Gujarat or post in there.

Moreover the BJP is known to be communal. Who can forget Ayodhya. There have numerous attacks on churches in most of the states run by their government. So a lot of minorities do not feel safe. With Modi stating that he is Hindu Nationalist, it may seem right in his eyes, but it reads of vote bank politic trying to win over the Hindus. We need to remember that we are a country with no official religion. So when someone uses his religion will looked upon with suspicion. I would never trust someone who stated he was Religious National, whether Hindu, Christian or Muslim.

At least for now, both these parties seem unsuitable. But who do I choose. Should I choose the lesser evil? I know I have to choose between corruption and my sense of security? What I do know is like always we are going to have a hung government, which is not good for the country. What we can do right now is just to wait and watch and see how things shape up and play out. See who are the likely candidates and what they have envisioned for the country. Just hope whatever the outcome the nation benefits from it.