Poll: 62 pc think India can get its Obama too

America seems to have found its agent of change in Barack Obama, whose captivating speech and arresting charisma has transcended borders and racial divides.

He's also given the country much-needed hope.

Obama's election also offers a monumental transformation of America's face to the world.

Many see him as the epitome of the American dream. But his appeal is not solely based on the fact that he is Black or that his middle name is Hussein or that his father was Kenyan or that he spent part of his childhood in Indonesia.

The global excitement over Obama's election is that change is truly in the wings for America now.

But what of India? Can the world's largest democracy throw up an Obama-like figure who cuts across the country's various and diverse divides? That was the question asked on CNN-IBN show Face the Nation.

On the panel of experts were actor and activist Nandita Das, historian Ramachandra Guha and Haryana Power Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala.

Obama, the bridge builder

An individual without a political dynasty, highly educated and an outsider in the political system, who is blessed with talent and oratory – that is Barack Obama for you. Can such a person emerge in Indian politics?

“As a historian I would like to look backwards and say that India did throw up a character recognisably similar to Barack Obama and that was Jawaharlal Nehru who had charm, eloquence, intelligence and integrity,” Guha said.

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“Nehru’s triumph was the 1952 General Elections. These are striking similarities to Obama's triumph now. The great thing about Obama is that though all of us speak about his race, he has made it completely irrelevant. He has transcended sectarian divides of class, gender and region. So, 20th Century India did throw up a Nehru and we should look to Rahul Gandhi's great grandfather as a Obama-like figure than to Rahul himself,” Guha added.

If he is able to translate this kind of transcending identity into his presidency then are we going to have an American President who leaves a legacy by which he completely reinterprets identity politics?

Guha said that one can only hope for such a scenario. “One can't be unduly optimistic because we know politicians once in office are tamed. They are constrained by the legacies of the past and the problems of the present. But one can only hope that he reaches out to the rest of the world of which India is only one part,” he said.

“One of the greatest things about Obama's victory is that it will reintegrate the world with America. It should now be global non-sectarian politics which would mean no unilateral action and no consulting without allies. Also, the US must recognise now that talking is better than bombing,” Guha reasoned.

Crave for a Obama-like figure in the Indian political landscape, Das said, “Obama is just a reflection of our collective consciousness. He reflectes our hope, not because of his charisma, because he is a man of integrity. Even in his speeches he never quoted the cliches. He has risen above a lot of things and that is the reason we all need Obama.”

Experts believe that the absence of hatred and bitterness and the magnanimity of spirit is what drew the young to Obama.

However, Das said that it was a mutual feeling between the youth and Obama.

“He drew the young and so the young get drawn to him. Even his campaign, the means to his end, has been very special. He never relied on corporate funding and so he made every individual who contributed felt special. In fact young people coaxed their conservative grandparents to vote for Obama. So it is the youth of the US who backed him. Our young people too are idealistic, I hope we too get a Obama-like person before our idealism fades,” Das said.

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India trapped in identity politics

Surjewala said that he would like pick up from where Guha left the debate.

“We had somebody like Obama, but I think it was Rajiv Gandhi. Obama is 47, Rajiv was 41,” he said.

But Rajiv relied on dynasty and his name. Obama has come from nowhere and pulled himself up with no political patron at all.

“That was an accident of history but you will also realise that there was a sincerity of purpose in both the leaders. There is a freshness of ideas in both. And there was a deep yearning to change. And which attracted the young people in the country, cutting across religions, regional and the caste divide. And it finally led to the coming together of many religions and bound them together behind one solid force and that is what Obama represents. India has thrown up such a figure in the past and we are capable of doing it in the present times,” Surjewala argued.

Guha partly agreed with Surjewala party.

“Rajiv did bring energy, youth and enthusiasm in the beginning but not quite the intellect of Obama. But he also got corrupted very quickly. Look at what he did in ‘86 and ‘87. That he upturned the Shah Bano case, bowing down to the Muslim fundamentalists and in the next breath opened the lock in the temple in Ayodhya, bowing down to Hindu fundamentalists. So Rajiv Gandhi succumbed very quickly to sectarian issues,” Guha said.

Guha also explained that India is not run on a presidential system. “So we should not look at a single individual to redeem our country and renew our hopes. We need 15 or 20 minor Obamas, preferably one in every party because we are a party-based parliamentary system. Also, if you look at one single person then you will end up with Indira Gandhi and an Emergency-like situation.”

Obama is the former President of the Harvard Law Review, he is a constitutional lawyer and professor – he is one of the most top-of-the-line individuals in America. These sort of highly educated idealists don't come into Indian politics any more.

“The sad part is that the system has failed to attract many of the most talented people. We become skeptical of politicians as a class. That needs to change. For that we must ensure that the young people in the country ensure that the change they want to see transcends their personal ambitions,” Surjewala said.

He added, “The idealism of the 50s and 60s has given way to the likes of Mayawati, Narendra Modi and Raj Thackeray. These people are seen as the heroes of modern India. This must change if idea of the nation has to survive.”

What is the structural limitation within our system that is preventing future Obamas from joining Indian politics?

“One of the lessons of Obama's victory is that it is the victory for hope and change. It is also a victory against dynastic politics. It is a victory over the Bush and Clinton dynasty. The two major American parties were dominated by these families and he challenged that,” Guha said.

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He then explained that the “Congress party is subservient to a family. Other major Indian families like the DMK, SP, RJD – all parties started with noble aspirations have been generated into family firms. Unless these liberal, middle-of-the-road parties are open to talent of all kinds, the ambitious politicians will go to the extremes like Raj Thackeray.”

However, most Indians believe that they simply cannot join politics because it is a closed shop. It is a monopoly of 200 families in India.

“I would be apprehensive about losing my soul and values to join politics. One has to go through a lot of muck that exists. It is true that we have very little faith in our politicians but not in our political system. But the wish is always there for a clean party that would motivate people like us to join politics,” Das said.

Obama transcended the politics of hatred and that is the language that politicians are using across the board now. Can India get a unifying figure in these clashing ethnicities and religions?

“We did have those unifying figures but that broke down. Identity politics is sometimes necessary because it articulates, as in the case of untouchables and blacks, the aspirations of a long suppressed group,” Guha explained.

“But identity politics for four-five decades leads us nowhere. So then it has to be incorporated into the larger agenda of democratic reform. Mayawati tried to reach out to the other communities in her last elections but now she has gone back to her authoritarian ways. But one hopes that one can invent a trans-sectarian politics,” Guha added.

Surjewala concluded the debate by throwing the ball in the youth’s court.

“The best thing that Obama did was that he reached out to the people at the grassroots. So every person had a sense of belonging. Obama conveyed his message in a simple and articulate manner. Now everybody is skeptical of politics but we are not ready to take the plunge so we also need to introspect. No one wants to leave their cushy job or do something that harms their surroundings. So we too need to introspect,” he said.

Results of the question of the day:

Yes - 62 per cent

No - 38 per cent