1 week Ago
Pune: This poll season, speeches of several politicians are a teaser to voters' ears. Personal attacks on physical disabilities of opponent leaders have put off many. Senior leaders, active in politics for decades, claim that the decorum in political debates before elections in yesteryears has taken a back seat.
"Maharashtra is known for its rich and matured political culture. It made the state stand out from others. Even politically high-profile issues were handled with great sensitivity in past decades.
The current political scenario is a threat not only to the political culture but also to the social fabric," says senior Congress leader Ulhas Pawar. Recalling high-voltage rallies during the Emergency period, he says, "Congress party was compared with plague rats, but no one retaliated with derogatory remarks then." Unparliamentary words have been used aplenty already in the run-up to the assembly polls scheduled on Nov 20.
Mahayuti leader Sadabhau Khot's remarks about Sharad Pawar's health status at a public gathering in Sangli district drew sharp reactions from both wings of NCP. Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar also expressed strong exception to his comments. Khot later apologised.
NCP (SCP)'s Parli candidate promised to take up the responsibility of marrying off bachelors, if elected. BJP's Vasantrao Deshmukh courted controversy after he allegedly made a derogatory remark against Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat's daughter at a rally in Sangamner. Senior BJP leader and party's spokesperson Madhav Bhandari says maintaining political decorum is a collective responsibility.
"All political parties should make sure that they control their leaders, known for making indecent remarks. If one party starts aggressive campaigning, the reaction from the other side is obvious. The code of conduct should be in place internally for the parties," he says.
According to sociologists, the use of derogatory language by some politicians is worrisome because it is adversely hitting the voting percentage. "Many voters prefer to stay away from voting because they feel the real issues are not being addressed," one of them says. Shruti Shrikant Tambe, the head of the department of sociology at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, says the quality of speeches has started diving from the last Lok Sabha polls.
"The principles of democracy and decency, which social reformers of Maharashtra followed, are missing in the current political discourse. Polarisation on caste and religion lines will not help in addressing larger social interests." According to Ajit Abhyankar, a social activist, the current level of politics in Maharashtra has possibly stooped to its lowest.
It is a deliberate attempt to trivialise electoral politics and reduce it to the level of personal hatred. "The ruling party seems to have decided to abandon constitutional political practices and rely completely on identity politics. The purpose is to camouflage the real policy matters on socio-economic problems," he says.
He feels that identity politics not only undermines, but dissolves all socio-economic issues. "The way out from such a scenario is to stick to the socio-economic issues, and make voters and society at large think about the same rather than the issues of identity, looks and body-shaming.".
