Need real leaders, not celebrities

Neela Sood

Dates for the elections have been announced. Political parties look like preferring celebrities, ignoring the claims of professional politicians. It gives rise to a debate whether celebrities should be given the ticket instead of local professional politicians.

We prefer a professional doctor, architect, engineer and well-trained teacher etc., then why not a professional politician? We fear to hand over our kin to a non-professional, novice doctor, but why do we not have this consideration while handing over our constituency for five years to a greenhorn? Without doubt, any professional has higher stakes than the celebrity whose main area of interest remains the field in which he or she earned name and fame. The example of actors Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra and Govinda are before us. They served a term as MP, but soon realised it was not their cup of tea. 

India, with its huge population, has 545 MPs, which is about one MP for around 2.5 million people. It is foolish to think that any novice can take care of a constituency, unless he/she has been working there for years, and understands the needs of the people. 

Experience is crucial. Society respects an experienced advocate, a doctor or any other professional, for they are better equipped to handle the job at hand. Why is this not a consideration while giving the party ticket, or when we vote?

 The Indian caste system, varna vyavstha, was founded on the notion that children imbibe much of the professional skills from their parents. For example, a goldsmith’s son learns the skill from his father, without attending any academy. It holds true for politicians also. Parents of the present-generation politicians were also politicians, be it Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sukhbir Badal, Sunil Jakhar or MK Stalin. The most glaring aspect is their conduct with people, which they fine-tune, having spent time and worked closely with their parents.

The ‘professional’ politician is more accessible, responding to people than a celebrity MP. It is vital to consider factors like experience or professional grooming in politics, which incidentally, has become a sought-after career among the youth. 

The need to field a celebrity with the sole consideration that he/she has a better chance of winning is to undermine the democratic system which hinges on the principle that an elected representative is the voice of the people, which any novice celebrity cannot be. 

The high command of political parties should desist from projecting celebrities. When they do so, they do enormous injustice to the people of that constituency. On their part, people should also prefer a person who has experience in the field, for the betterment of society.