Vijender’s punchnama

Rohit Mahajan

Vijender Singh — boxing great, former Congressman — turning turncoat represents the moral conundrum of our times: what to choose in the conflict between principle and careerism, and must the choice be made on the grounds of morality or of success and profit?

Vijender Singh’s move to the BJP — as of several other non-sportspersons — suggests that he, and they, believe that a political career out of the BJP is doomed to fail. Principles and convictions, thus, can be forsaken for a better future if, as Vijender says, one is determined enough to “serve the country”.

In the winter of 2020, for rebels looking for a cause, Singhu border was the place to be — to march and shout slogans and carry placards and camp, in solidarity with the farmers protesting there against the three new farm laws.

Vijender, though, wasn’t at Singhu out for a spot of union-style agitational tourism — he was already in politics, having fought the 2019 Lok Sabha election on a Congress ticket. He had finished third in the contest for the South Delhi seat that year, sinking without a trace — with 13.56 per cent of the votes cast, he had lost his deposit.

His appearance at Singhu inspired other sportspersons to speak out against the contentious farm laws. He said he was aware that the farmers enjoyed the support of sportspersons. He said he was there because he was grateful for what Punjab had given him, for he had trained in Patiala. “I have trained in Punjab and eaten their bread. They have been protesting in this biting cold and I have arrived here as a son and a brother. Other athletes from Haryana wanted to come too but they have government jobs and fear repercussions. I am in touch with them and they are with our farmers,” Vijender said at Singhu.

He also declared that he would return his Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the country’s highest sporting honour, if the government did not withdraw the farm laws. They are “black laws”, he said. Yet, during the 11 months the government stonewalled before deciding to repeal the three laws, Vijender did not return the award.

“I am from a farmer’s family and have worked in the fields. I understand their concerns and pains. We want to return our awards so the government pays heed,” Vijender had said.

Times change, views change, ideologies change — farming is so tough, farmers often turn non-farmers when they have the choice. Vijender might be from a farmer’s family but he’s no longer a farmer tilling his fields, and a political career would offer much greater allurements than working in the sun.

This is reminiscent of what Indian migrants in the UK have told this writer — as fresh immigrants, they voted for the Labour Party because of its economic policies, which were friendlier towards the working classes and migrants; after they settled down into comfortable financial security, they started voting for the Conservative Party — because its economic policies and tax cuts suited them. This is human nature — the adage ‘consistency is the virtue of fools’ is truest in politics, as is being demonstrated every day as smart politicians mock at their previous selves by moving to parties whose ideologies they once hated.

“Today I am joining the BJP… it is like ghar wapsi,” Vijender said after joining the party this week. His instinct of career advancement is sharp, though one reason he cited for the switch seemed a bit too simplistic: “When we used to go abroad to fight earlier, to the UK and Dubai, for instance, certain things would happen at airports... But since the BJP and the Modi government came to power, we can go anywhere easily.”

It would appear that switching parties with a massive swing in political principles is a big phenomenon in democracies where the electorate is less aware, numbed into indifference — or is non-homogenous and very complex and varied. Right next door, we have several Pakistani politicians who have managed to be part of practically every government over the last two decades.

Things could be different in older democracies. An analysis of the list of politicians leaving their parties in the UK in the recent decades shows that when they leave the Labour or Conservative party, most turn independent; many were forced out after being convicted of a crime, or for committing an impropriety. A Labour politician joining the Conservatives, or vice versa, is a very rare phenomenon. However, in the dark stages of the British democracy 300 years ago, the practice of switching between the Tory and Whig parties was very common in the House of Commons — those were benighted days, when all women and most working class men were disenfranchised.

Are British politicians now more moral, or more securely grounded in their political ideology, or is it that they’re fearful that an aware voter would mock them out of politics if they dumped their lifelong political beliefs for diametrically opposite ones? One would bet that fear of the intelligent electorate is the reason they don’t burn their beliefs at the altar of expediency, as politicians in our country do.

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