Not just Keshubhai

Disgruntled leaders are turning to social media. Where are the people in power?

Disgruntled leaders are turning to social media. Where are the people in power?

Keshubhai Patel,83 years of age and a BJP veteran pushed to the political margins in Narendra Modis Gujarat,has taken to blogging. In his first post,Keshubhai called Modis tenure in the state worse than the Emergency. Before each assembly election in the state,the former Gujarat CM has attempted to organise a Patel consolidation against Modi,which has never quite materialised. As he pours his antipathy and resentment into a blog now,Keshubhai joins the ranks of other political leaders who feel marginalised by their parties,or have been cornered by events,and have responded by using social media to present an unmediated version of their narratives.

Just over a month ago,Advani,for instance,used his blog to express his grievance with BJP president Nitin Gadkari,and his increasing discontent with his own relative relegation,by accusing the party leadership of bungling in UP,Jharkhand and Karnataka. Mamata Banerjee turned to Facebook to prop up A.P.J. Abdul Kalam as a presidential candidate after her hand was forced by the Congress. She turned to it again to vent her disappointment after a Calcutta High Court judgment went against her high-decibel campaign in Singur. Modi himself runs an active blog and tweets regularly to him,social media offers a platform to speak directly to citizens without having to face difficult questions about his past record.

But even as leaders with a resentment and a gripe gravitate to social media,the conspicuous silence from more powerful addresses persists. The PMO tweets,but it does little beyond revealing the prime ministers schedule. Where is the Manmohan Singh blog that could break through the quiet and the opacity that continues to lie at the heart of so many political storms? Or a glimpse into the world according to Congress president Sonia Gandhi? Rahul Gandhi continues to practise his politics in a bubble,emerging from it at the moment and venue of his choosing,and not of those who voted for him and his party. A blog would help restore the democratic balance of the relationship between the leader and the people,and enforce a degree of accountability. The trend of politicians taking to social media must grow stronger,but for it to really enhance the quality of public conversation,some crucial silences will need to be broken.