Many years ago, the well known diplomat and cousin of Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote his autobiography titled – “Nice guys finish second”. I haven’t yet read the biography but the title – tinged with elements of truth and irony has always enchanted me. And that seems to be the fate of our current Prime Minister. The vocabulary in which two members of the Knowledge Commission – both well known academics have worded their resignation letter leaves no other conclusion but this. Interestingly, the commission’s chairman – Sam Pitroda seems to have forged better unity and a team spirit with in the commission than the Prime Minister seems to be managing with his cabinet and the nation. Even though the commission was not united in opposing quotas in educational institutions, the verdict was split 6-2 and the two who supported quotas sent dissenting notes- today the commission is cracking up not because of its own internal divisions but because of actions directly attributed to the Prime Minister. Andre Beteille quotes in his resignation letter that the Prime Minister chose to remain silent when the commission and its members appointed by the PMO were being ridiculed by Arjun Singh in full media glare.
Elsewhere, in New York, the maverick writer, Arundhati Roy has alleged in a glittering book reading ceremony that India is not s democracy with several states of the country on the verge of a civil war and also alleged that George Bush had to face the ignominy of having to address the Indian People not from the precincts of Parliament but from a Zoo (Presumably because the Purana Quila from where he did make his speech is next to the Delhi Zoo!) for a long time now , Man Mohan Singh has enjoyed the dubious reputation of being a shadow Prime Minister with his party president and the CPIM Politburo making the real decisions. Perhaps for the common man it did not matter so much as to actually make the decisions as long as the decisions made were made in the interest of the common man.
Now with the quota imbroglio, it is not clear whose good will the Prime Minister actually retains. Most sections of society have exposed their fractured lines and behind the reasoned arguments that both sides make, one can hear echoes of the speaker’s caste origins. A policy decision that is one day supposed to make society inclusive has actually fragmented all of us. And with two members of the knowledge commission resigning with bitterness and sadness in their hearts , it is possible that the PM , not ever having a political constituency in the first place , has just lost the good will of his core constituency – the intellectual class.
A Nice guy just might finish – when the history and annals of democracy are written some day for this country.