Degree of Thought

Vote for a True Leader – Prasenjit Bhadra, Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce

Prasenjit Bhadra

Accountability is crucial to effective political leadership, as without this there is no true respect from the people. A good political leader is someone who is honest and feels responsible for everyone, and also has the courage to admit when they have made a mistake. A good leader is a self-actualized leader, one who can achieve one’s fullest potential and thereby become an asset to the nation.

Vote for a True Leader

A country’s economy and its overall development depend on the leaders who are leading the country. If the leaders are not responsible for the promise made during the election campaign, then the outcome of the election could be a disaster.

The 17th Lok Sabha General election is tentatively to be held in India in the month of April or May 2019. Every now and then we are getting updates of the different political parties trolling and criticizing each other in the media, and social networking sites. The main audience here is us “the citizens of India”. The wise decision taken today by the citizens of India will lead to a better future tomorrow. But the question here is,- how to make the choice of electing the right leader?

Indian National Congress governed India since India got Independence in 1947 with “Jawaharlal Nehru” as the first Prime Minister of India. His famous speech-“Tryst with Destiny” marked India’s Independence from the British rule and expressed the vision of democratic, egalitarian, united and modern India. Over the last 54 years of leadership they have contributed a lot to the society. The Indian national congress led India’s independence movement and successfully achieved it and then enacted the constitution of India on 26th Jan’1950. Since then the face of India has been changed. Some of the major developments under the Congress government are – setting up of CBSE(1962), ISRO(1969), IITs, NITs, IIMs and NIDs(1961), AIIMS(1956), introduction of PAN(1964) & Aadhaar 2009. Under the defence also there are remarkable changes over the last 60 years like formation of DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) in 1958, RAW(Research & Analysis Wing) in 1968, ATS(Anti-terrorism squad) in 1990, NIA (National Investigation Agency) in 2009

Other major programmes and schemes delivered by the congress government are Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, SEBI Act, RTI (Right To Information), Lokpal and Lokayukt Act, Companies Act , establishment of Panchayti -Raj System to empower rural India, National Pension Scheme, RTE (Right To Education), Green Revolution, White (Milk) Revolution, Computer Revolution. The Congress government did not ignore infrastructure development too. From Independence till today major communications towers, railways, bridges, and roads are established to make the life of the people comfortable.

However, the work of any government cannot be judged by words or through inspirational speech, but by facts and figures. From independence till today, they contributed a lot to the society which is clearly shown by the facts listed above but at the same time there were some major scams like the 2G Spectrum(2008), Satyam Scam(2009), Common Wealth Games(2010), Coal Scam(2012) etc. that came up during their term, for which they lost the support of the people.

Bharatiya Janata Party who is presently the ruling government came to power for the first time on 16th May 1996. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, one of the most respected Prime Minister’s became the Prime Minister, but it lasted only for 13 days after which he resigned because the party was unable to prove majority. BJP once again came to power but for 13 months only (Mar 1998 – April 1999). In 1999 general elections, again, BJP (under NDA) came to power by winning 303 seats in Lok Sabha. This time they managed to rule for 4.5 years. But in all the 3 terms- Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the PM. Later In 2014, after a decade of being ruled by UPA, Indians decided that it is time for a change and voted for BJP. Shri Narendra Modi one of the well known personalities became the PM of India. If we consider the facts and figure of the work done by the BJP government, they have also contributed a lot within the stipulated 10 years tenure (approx) of their ruling. Although India had faced catastrophic events during Vajpayee tenure; including the oil crises (2003), Kargil war (1999), and a horrible drought (2002-2003), but managed to keep the GDP stable. Many government corporations were made privatized like Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) and Hindustan Zinc, Indian Petrochemicals Corporation Limited and VSNL to give rise to private business in India. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan(2001) a scheme was launched in India to provide free education to all the elementary education level. In 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests in one week under his leadership which is a bold decision taken, after which India can boast of their nuclear power. Various projects under BJP government till now were- Golden Quadrilateral, the Pradhanmantri Gramin Sadak Yojna, 25 operational airports have been added in just 4 years, as opposed to 75 airports between Independence and 2014,Statue of Unity(World’s tallest statue)Dhola-Sadiya bridge(longest bridge in India), Bogibeel India’s longest rail-cum-road bridge, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) indicates that the Narendra Modi government has built 73% more highways in its first four years, upcoming projects like World One tower, Bullet Trains, Sagarmala project, Bharatmala project etc. Various schemes were also launched under the present BJP government like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme, UDAN Scheme etc.

However, along with the developments under the BJP government, the party also had to face various criticisms for the GST tax, hike in petrol prices, unemployment problem, etc. which I feel is not at all practical in nature because whichever party forms the government in the upcoming elections, they can also promise but they too might face difficulty to improve the above said problems because of the inflation rates and rapid increase in population.

In few months time, the citizens of India will have to make a wise decision in bringing a government that will rule India for the next 5 years. As the saying goes, “Leadership is not about next election, it’s about the next generation”. Therefore, the decision is yours. Give your vote to a corruption free leader who can work and lead our nation to progress instead of making lame promises.

Degree of Thought is a weekly community column initiated by Tetso College in partnership with The Morung Express. Degree of Thought will delve into the social, cultural, political and educational issues around us. The views expressed here do not reflect the opinion of the institution. Tetso College is a NAAC Accredited UGC recognised Commerce and Arts College. The editors are Dr Hewasa Lorin, Tatongkala Pongen, Aniruddha, Meren and Kvulo Lorin.
For feedback or comments please email:  dot@tetsocollege.org.

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