Welcome the new politics

Sonia Gandhi's ascension is a new symbol of awareness in the electorate. The time had come, as the catalyst worked this time. The people in Bangladesh are waiting for a similar type of catalytic action to purge our politics of the traditional garbage and head-load (of parading fossilized leadership).

The rate of change in political events (local or global) is now outside the control of any one group (even the mighty US cannot befool time and again). What was the invisible new element in the Indian elections? Foreign interest, detached, seemingly remote, and indirect. Saarc is too rich potentially, not to attract interest, specially when its assets could not be harnessed by the regional leaders, for several generations. The phase of the "end of history" is gone; and new history is in the making, although the molds and the models are still experimental. There is active politics in the Third World, while the western civilization has entered the sunset years.

The third platform is already emerging in Dhaka . The message is clear enough to political observers: get the local politics in order, and set the sight for regional cooperation and signboards. The cracks and weaknesses in the whole system of regional politics have to be cemented. It was not a pleasant and easy task for Europe to go in for the EU concept the force of circumstances work beyond calculated risks (the same situation in Iraq under US occupation).

Local politics at the national level has to look beyond the nose. The supposed intruders are rich and vicious, with long-range logistic network control. Losing power and control are nasty experiences, better plugged at the earliest. Vajpayee's noble retreat and acceptance of peoples' verdict is a gesture pregnant with possibilities, which time would unfold phase by phase (yield during a storm, stand up later to survey the debris).

Poverty and financial constraints do not erode much the intuition or hunch of the ruled (but access to the mass media is lacking). The voter awareness and sensitivity have been rising each successive decade, and today it cannot be ignored as was done in the past. The mass have 'mass' (weight), and it can be very much weighed .

The politicians have to talk to or communicate with the people, without pointing with the finger. "Are you nagging or complaining?" Leaders who sulk cannot carry bulk. Who will solve the leaders' dilemmas? Themselves. Watch the patience of Sonia. It comes from 'egolessness' no obsessions.

Dhaka is not insulated from political magnetic storms. Who are more prepared, the leaders, the politicians, or the masses? Politics is a public service; anything beyond it is untenable.