For reasons that have as much to do with marketing as with upholding virtuousness, India’s TV channels have made a great show of their indignation at the allegedly unfair treatment of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal by the Akhilesh Yadav government of Uttar Pradesh.

The irritation of the Media Sultanate stems from two factors. First, there is the obvious attraction of a story involving a woman officer out to do her bit for the country pitted against a “sand mafia” controlled by disreputable politicians. The story of the harassed junior officer corresponds to a good Bollywood storyline. Second, the apoplectic anger at the Samajwadi Party government also arises from the fact that it not only disregarded the judgmental tone of the TV anchors but proceeded to do exactly what it deemed fit. Far from being apologetic, the Samajwadi Party leadership was unambiguously brazen.
Discerning observers may detect similarities between the reaction of the Akhilesh Yadav government to this kerfuffle and Mamata Banerjee’s seemingly exaggerated reaction to media criticism of her handling of various atrocities on women. Just as the SP is claiming to have unearthed a sinister conspiracy to trigger communal disturbances in western Uttar Pradesh, Ms Banerjee sincerely believed she too was a victim of a plot hatched by media barons acting in concert with both the CPI(M) and the Congress. She believed that the needless harassment of a Jadavpur University lecturer for disseminating anti-Mamata cartoons would not have any larger fallout. The SP, too, is of the belief that setting the dogs on Kunwal Bharti, a dalit intellectual who posted some anti-Azam Khan remarks on his Facebook page, would actually be politically rewarding.
Mulayam Singh Yadav may have taken heart from the Trinamul Congress’ remarkably good performance in last month’s panchayat elections in West Bengal.
Ms Banerjee conclusively demonstrated that the depiction of her as a crazy nutter by the media and the state’s intellectuals — West Bengal is the only state that has a sizeable group of professional intellectuals — has had absolutely no impact in the districts. Outside Greater Kolkata, Ms Banerjee still prevails. With general elections only a few months away, political calculations, it would seem, favour uninhibited brazenness.
Whether these trends are a commentary on the explosive mix of sectarian populism and democracy is for the political pundits to ponder over. What can be said with a measure of certitude is that never before have the middle classes — by which is meant that group which accords primacy to modernist and consumerist aspirations over sectarian identities — felt so disheartened and despondent at the course Indian politics is taking. Bogged down by a serious economic crunch that has seen food inflation, a depreciating rupee and shrinking opportunities jeopardising their once rosy belief in the future, the middle classes are beginning to feel left out of the political process. The last occasion when this sense of hopelessness was detected was in the aftermath of the 1973 energy price hike. At that time, a combination of economic difficulties, anger over corruption and an imperious government set the stage for the movement led by Jayaprakash Narayan and contributed to the declaration of Emergency in 1975.
History doesn’t repeat itself as a carbon copy. The middle classes today are more prosperous and integrated into the market economy to permit themselves the luxury of sustained agitational politics. True, there are occasional flashpoints, as was witnessed during the anti-corruption stir organised by Anna Hazare, a movement that was subsequently hijacked by a clutch of determined activists who have now chosen to participate in electoral politics. However, by and large, the middle classes have reacted to their disappointment with the UPA government in a passive way. Their anger has been confined to partisan stands in TV chat shows involving voluble politicians and a lot of freestyle verbal wrestling. A minusculity may have discovered the delights of social media where the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been portrayed as the man capable of leading India out of darkness. However, even this belief in the new messiah is tempered by a disgust with the party Mr Modi belongs to.
These cross-currents make political forecasting extremely hazardous. A robust democracy involves an enlightened citizenry that is capable of blending self-interest with a larger sense of the national good. It is not that this enlightenment is totally absent from India, but the equation of personal well-being with the common good has led to politics becoming murky and fractious. The SP government in Uttar Pradesh, for example, is disproportionately preoccupied with the aggressive empowerment of one caste and one religious community at the cost of everyone else; the UPA government feels that a culture of entitlements will offset the accumulated effects of prolonged misgovernance; and a section of the BJP believes that a combination of fiery rhetoric and anti-incumbency will see them back in power. Each of these groups fears a silent counter-mobilisation of those who are exasperated by the prevailing culture of politics. That is why there is a fear that a complete outsider like Mr Modi will capture the popular imagination and unsettle the cosy consensus based on short-term selfishness.
Whether a reaction will indeed manifest itself in the election or India will prefer the comforts provided by a rotten status quo is not known. There are trends that point in both directions. However, what is certain is that India cannot walk down the path it is currently taking without doing irreparable damage to the prospects of the present and future generations. Something, somewhere has to give way. The sooner that happens the better for everyone. There is awareness that the old order is crumbling, but there is equal determination to prolong that process as long as possible. In the coming general election, there is a national duty to turn off the life-support system of a patient who for all practical purpose symbolises the living dead.

The writer is a senior journalist