Neeraj Sharma
“Asalaam Walekum, ladies and gentlemen. I must complement you all on your support for the
alliance. Our performance has been good. We are here to discuss the modalities for future.”
The senior leader set the ball rolling for discussions.
“Ladies first…” He smiled courteously.
“Well…frankly speaking, I did not expect that we would come this far…” She said candidly. “We know that we cannot go ahead with this alliance for eternity, given our ideological differences and political ambitions…but let us not burn our bridges. We may require each other again and thus we must have a road map…”
“I will be giving out the broad framework. First, those who will break away will not do it abruptly or without informing. It should appear to be a breakup due to ‘ideology’, ‘conflict of principles’, ‘scheme of centre’, ‘larger good of Kashmir’, oul searching’ etc. Secondly, there should be no mudslinging…I mean, you are free to gain political mileage out of your statements while breaking away but do not go so far that it jeopardizes the reputation of the alliance….”
The ‘senior leader’ said as he saw the ‘agitated leader’ wanting to say something. “…Sir….I mean….” The ‘agitated leader’ cleared his throat and looked for encouragement which the senior leader accorded through a gracious smile.
“Can we make new alliances while still being part of this one?” The ‘agitated leader’ blurted,
inviting smiles from all. “Sure you can…but on your own turn about which, you will be told in due time.”
“But sir….time is going past ……fast.” The agitated leader said.
“You must understand. We have made a roadmap for it. Since it will have to appear natural, we will create triggers for everyone’s turn. But some of us may have to stay for a longer time…as the ‘nodal group’ that can be used later. So the alliance will not be totally defunct but at the
same time will all be free to continue our politics. It will also prevent our ridiculing for the apparent ‘marriage of convenience’. We will discuss the detailed modalities today itself….so hold your horses.” He explained.
“What about embarrassment ….. I mean, what would the public think of us?” The ‘young leader’ asked.
There was a mocking smile on the face of the senior leader. He took a deep breath and explained “Young man…..I was in the politics when you were born….so take an advice. Work on developing a ‘thick skin’…it will help you. There will be many occasions when you will have to bite the bullet, eat your words, put a foot in your own mouth, cut a sorry figure and get ridiculed. If you are sensitive to all this, you will not survive long…remember, ‘emotional politicians die early’. He opined while raising his finger.
“….Once we are on our own, it is but natural that we will try to get after each other like earlier…personal attacks, allegations, accusations etc...What about that?” The ‘tainted leader’ tried to clarify.
“Thanks for reminding. Ladies and gentlemen…little bit of allegations and accusation etc which are enough to ‘rock your boat’ is okay but nothing below the belt please…….as said earlier, we may require each other again.” The ‘senior leader’ then addressed the ‘breakaway leader’.
“As discussed, your press conference tomorrow is important. Your statement should hover around the issue of proxy candidates in the Elections. It should appear as ‘matter of principles’.
….and do remember to keep your statements vague.”
“What about taking forward the restoration of Article 370….” The ‘sincere politician’ asked. The senior leader took a deep breath and said - “Well, Article 370 can never be restored…..We all know that…but this is the only available stand that we could have adopted…..so we will continue to ‘use it’. Remember, alliance or no alliance, we have to stick to this stand.
At the same time, we may continue with our previous ideologies of independence, autonomy etc…but this stand will remain. What must also be remembered is that the people voted in large numbers because they want power in their hands and not in the hands of handful of those who sit in this room….so they came out in large numbers to vote…braving the threats. The overt success that the alliance got is misleading because people ‘voted for candidates’ and not for the alliance. We have been made irrelevant…so the main thing is ‘survival’ and carve out a place in the changed scenario. My experience says that it will be difficult….but let us keep trying.”
For another few hours, the discussions went on with respect to the ‘survival strategy’. Smiles
were exchanged, hands shaken, legs pulled, back handed compliments exchanged, promises
made…..all hunky-dory …all well.
Bilal, the new steward looked astonishingly at this vivacious crowd of people who otherwise were thirsty for each other’s blood….but had come together for survival.
Комментарии