Narayana Murthy, MP?

Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew recently exhorted Infosys chief N.R. Narayana Murthy to enter politics and refashion it just as he had shaped ...

Singapore leader Lee Kuan Yew recently exhorted Infosys chief N.R. Narayana Murthy to enter politics and refashion it just as he had shaped his company to become an IT leader. Even though Lee8217;s experience of an island state 8212; homogeneous, smaller than East Delhi, run by an autocratic hand 8212; may not apply to India, the issue has a resonance here and merits a debate.

There have been many professionals 8212; honest, good, efficient men and women 8212; who have tried their hand at politics in recent years, but did not succeed. There was Arun Bhatia, who as Pune Commissioner took on the land mafia. He contested from Pune in 2004, and lost. He was the byproduct of a movement in the middle class but that was not good enough. Even someone like Shankar Guha Niyogi could not enter mainstream politics though he was an established trade unionist in the Bhilai belt. There have been army generals like Gen S.K. Sinha and film stars like Shatrughan Sinha.

There are some obvious reasons for their failure. Electoral constituencies are huge, candidates need large networks to reach millions and big time money to win elections. By definition, professionals are without a party, though many may fight on a party ticket. Unfortunately, even after winning elections, many 8216;politician professionals8217; are more disappointing than 8216;professional politicians8217;. Few are able to give politics their time, they8217;re unable to sense people8217; needs or identify with them.

In any case, winning polls has become an altogether different kind of 8220;art8221; perfected by some individuals and groups to perpetuate themselves in power. Like Laloo Yadav, in power for 15 years, though he doesn8217;t look so confident this time; like the CPM, in the saddle in West Bengal for just under three decades; like Narendra Modi, fast acquiring staying power in Gujarat.

What is true of professionals is also true of activists. I remember being shocked when an activist of the JP-created Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Vahini lost his deposit when he contested from his 8216;karambhoomi8217; in Gaya district in the assembly elections. He had organised the Musahars, the lowest rung of the Dalits who survive on rats, leading to the distribution of the land to them that was illegally held by local religious mutts. Sarvodaya-ites have fielded 8220;people8217;s candidates8221; from time to time, without much effect.

This is not to say that people do not respect activists. But instinctively, they make a distinction. What the voter expects from a politician and a professional or activist are two different things. He sees politics as a patron-client relationship, in which neither the grassroot activist nor the professional, unless he becomes like any other politician, will be able to deliver. This does not mean the voter endorses what is happening, only that he is shrewd enough to recognise the reality. Even if the occasional professional or the jholawalla makes it to the legislature, and hangs on to his integrity and beliefs, he is likely to get increasingly marginalised. Forget professionals, the system has marginalised even honest politicians. There was a limit to which those like Madhu Dandavate, who died recently, or Surendra Mohan or Rabi Ray, who turns 80 this week, were able to rise.

Eminent political scientist D.L. Sheth has described politics as a 8220;five year thekedari8221;, categorised by the three 8216;Cs8217;: caste, corruption, career. Just as you purchase the 8216;thekedari8217; of a mango garden for a sum of money, so you buy a term in the legislature, then go on to recover what you paid out, and make as much profit as you can. It is a business move like any other. As far as caste is concerned, Laloo Yadav was quite open about it earlier this week when he said that elections are about caste and not about development. Whatever be the November 22 outcome, it was the MY caste combination which kept him in the saddle for 15 years. This time, Nitish Kumar may have forged a more effective caste combination of upper castes, non-Yadav OBCs and Most Backward Castes.

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What, then, is the chance for the likes of Narayana Murthy to reshape the country8217;s politics, by joining it? As individuals on their own, very little. As individuals in parties? It would depend on the role the party decides to assign them. There could certainly be an increased role for them in the government structure to ensure better delivery and governance. To build a new party? Not so easy. Their conditioning largely limits them to middle class concerns. And building a new party, which even someone like V.P. Singh balked at, at the peak of his popularity, requires skills of a different kind and a staying power professionals have not demonstrated in politics.

That 8220;better8221; people should come into politics goes without saying. But this calls for the reform of the party system. Reform will happen only when parties agree. It cannot be done by individuals. For the moment, Narayana Murthy and his ilk are probably better off where they are.