Apropos Devangshu Datta’s column “Generation gap #fail” (Viewpoint, December 29), the ruling political establishment has failed to fathom and respond to the changing mindset, expectations and aspirations of the young and educated generation — judged by the way it handled the upsurge of protests against the brutal rape of a young woman in New Delhi. However, it is debatable for two reasons, whether this failure has raised “considerably” the chances of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to be voted out. The profile of the youth described by the writer is confined to the educated urban class who has easy access to electronic and social media. But nearly 70 per cent of Indian voters live in villages whose exposure to these influencing means of communication is limited by lack of education and opportunity. It is unlikely that the upheaval against corruption and social degradation that the urban generation is experiencing or supporting (opinion leaders like Anna Hazare, Ramdev and Arvind Kejriwal) has affected the rural populace to vote en masse against the UPA.
Besides, as revealed by the recent Assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the voting pattern in rural areas is related to the personality of the leader, undivided commitment of the party cadre and degree of industrial growth in the state. If the opposition fails to meet these criteria, the phenomenon of voter inertia might opt for the old, even if discredited, faces. In the poor, education-deprived villages, the magic of the Nehru-Gandhi name might succeed as much as it fails in the cities.
Y G Chouksey Pune
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number