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Correspondent

23 August 2024 at 4:29:04 pm

Manufactured Martyrs

The attempt by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to turn activist Sonam Wangchuk into the next Anna Hazare has exposed how manufactured symbolism cannot compensate for the absence of genuine public outrage. What began as a grievance over the NEET paper leak, one of India’s gravest examination scandals in recent times, has drifted into an exercise in political pageantry, where the cause has been eclipsed by its chosen mascots. Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike was plainly meant to recreate a...

Manufactured Martyrs

The attempt by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) to turn activist Sonam Wangchuk into the next Anna Hazare has exposed how manufactured symbolism cannot compensate for the absence of genuine public outrage. What began as a grievance over the NEET paper leak, one of India’s gravest examination scandals in recent times, has drifted into an exercise in political pageantry, where the cause has been eclipsed by its chosen mascots. Wangchuk’s indefinite hunger strike was plainly meant to recreate a familiar script where an allegedly unassuming public figure embraces personal sacrifice and a reluctant government buckles under mounting moral pressure. But history does not repeat itself on command. Anna Hazare’s fast in 2011 succeeded not because fasting possesses mystical political powers, but because it rode a tidal wave of public anger against corruption. Millions identified with the cause. That equation is conspicuously absent today. The platform that ought to have belonged to students who suffered from the NEET paper leak, or to parents whose children bore its consequences, instead became crowded with the usual constellation of professional activists, ideological campaigners and political fellow travellers. The faces dominating the stage were not those most directly affected by the scandal. A movement demanding educational accountability gradually came to look like another gathering of Delhi’s permanently aggrieved activist class. Even Wangchuk appeared to sense the contradiction. During the protest he reportedly lamented that while he was observing an indefinite fast, many around him were happily eating meals, urging at least a token one-day fast in solidarity. Successful protest movements depend upon authenticity. Once the public begins suspecting that an individual is being deployed less as a leader than as a moral accessory for someone else’s ideological project, sympathy quickly evaporates. Nor does Wangchuk arrive without controversy. Questions have been raised over the cancellation of the FCRA licence of SECMOL, the educational organisation associated with him, and over allegations regarding subsequent foreign funding arrangements. Critics have also challenged aspects of the carefully cultivated public mythology surrounding his achievements, from the origins of the ice-stupa concept to the popular belief that he inspired the protagonist of 3 Idiots. These matters deserve scrutiny on their own merits rather than hagiography or character assassination. The greater failure here surely belongs to the protest’s organisers. The CJP has mistaken optics for momentum and symbolism for public sentiment. Instead of allowing the victims of the NEET scandal to speak for themselves, they attempted to manufacture another national conscience by placing a familiar face at the centre of the stage. Political legitimacy cannot be outsourced to celebrity. Nor can mass movements be assembled from social-media influencers and habitual protesters. Anna Hazare became powerful because the public chose him. Attempts to manufacture his successor merely underline how rare such moments really are.

Once neglected, voters in high-rise buildings on candidates’ list

Updated: Nov 15, 2024

Bala Nandgaonkar

Mumbai: In the last four months, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Bala Nandgaonkar has visited the high end Parel based Ashok Tower four times holding interactions with the residents.

Ashok Tower has more than 600 families and would be hosting a polling booth in its premises. Nandgaonkar is currently the MNS candidate from the Shivadi constituency where he is fighting a pitched battle against Shiv Sena candidate Ajay Chaudhari.


This is the part of the current trend where the candidates are busy wooing the tower residents. This is especially due to the twin factors....increased participation in voting by the residents living in skyscrapers and shrinking winning margins where a couple of votes are capable of tilting the scales.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) in its initiative to boost the voting process has allowed 709 housing societies to host polling booths in their own premises.


Sarika Poddar, secretary, Ashok Tower Housing society who was instrumental for following up with the ECI to set the booth said that this move will boost the voting percentage in high rises. “The residents of high rises are now becoming increasingly assertive and are demanding accountability from the local representatives. Due to the booths in the society premises, we will see more residents exercising their franchise this time,” said Poddar. There are more than 1300 voters in Ashok Tower.


Dhaval Shah, chairman, Lokhandwala-Oshiwara Citizens’ Association, consisting over 150 societies described it a consolidation of the middle and rich class voters. “We have issues like conveyance of buildings, parking, water shortage and traffic congestion. The politicians who neglected us till date are now wooing us with gusto,” said Shah.


For years, politicians focused exclusively on slum and chawl voters and hardly looked at the towers.

In the recent Lok Sabha polls, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led in 158 assembly segments in Maharashtra while the ruling Mahayuti led in 125. The winning margins of 16 seats of MVA were less than 5000 votes while in Mahayuti, 15 seats have less than 5000 margin.


In fact, Shinde Shiv Sena candidate Ravindra Waikar won the Mumbai North West Lok Sabha seat by a meager 48 votes in a nail-biting finish.


Waikar’s wife Manisha who is fighting the Jogeshwari assembly seat from Shinde Sena said that they have always been amenable to the residents of high rises. “We had set up Matoshree club, the first of its kind recreation club in Western suburbs for the people of this area. In addition, we set up aerobics centre as well as state of art gymnasiums for them,” said Manisha Waikar.


There has been mushrooming of towers across Mumbai due to the large-scale revamp taking place where chawls and small buildings are replaced by high rises. In addition, there has been upward mobility of the residents to these skyscrapers.


Surendra Srivastava-National President, Loksatta movement and Board member, Foundation of Democratic Reforms said such assertiveness is fuelled by the social media. “The middle class has created a narrative where they are demanding that their voice be heard. The politicians can no longer neglect this section which is increasingly demanding answers from the politicos,” said Srivastava.

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