Fed up with Delhi

Last week hours after he signed into law a bill cobbled together to end the 16day US government shutdown and a close brush with a debt default US President Barack Obama said that due to the events in the past two weeks ldquoThe American people are completely fed up with Washingtonrdquo Barely a day after the American President made that comment thousands of miles away prime ministerial hopeful Narendra Modi echoed similar sentiments in Chennai He said that the people of India were fed up with New Delhi There are interesting similarities in the frustration that people have with the insulation of governments While Obama heads the American government Modi is hoping to head the Indian one Yet both seem to be befuddled with the way the systems work Capital unrest Recently Barack Obama and Narendra Modi echoed similar sentiments saying that the people were fed up with their respective governments Both claim to be lsquooutsidersrsquo both are from nonpolitical backgrounds who were never expected to rise to the levels they have considering that they have no political godfathers or backers Obamarsquos obduracy in pushing forward with the Health Bill Obamacare is driven by the belief that when it comes to what is good for America or what he thinks is good for America there should be bipartisan support for it In every speech he betrays his frustration in trying to work within a system so mired in politics that it will not give way to revolutionary ideas because they seem to appear mildly socialist Obama is annoyed with the way Washington works the politicians the pundits and the media He said ldquoAll of us need to stop focusing on the lobbyists and the bloggers and the talking heads on radio and the professional activists who profit from conflict and focus on what the majority of Americans sent us here to dordquo That is precisely what Narendra Modi was talking about in Chennai or Rahul Gandhi in his famed outburst in the press conference Delhi seems to be sequestered from reality We saw it during the Delhi gang rape incident when the whole country was outraged but the government simply didnrsquot get it till quite late We saw it again during the slugfest over the controversial ordinance on convicted MPs and MLAs where all sides of the political spectrum were involved No winners there Take the case of the BJP leadership battle The Delhi based leadership was acting like an ostrich to the demand of its own cadres It took so long for them to smell the coffee What is it about Delhi and Washington that makes people live in bubbles of their own Probably the rarified air of elitism Or maybe the puffiness that comes with power Can any prime minister of India or president of America remain an outsider despite becoming part of the system Obama would like to believe or at least give the impression that he abhors the way things happen in Washington DC but he has taken to it like a duck to water He still has the immigration reform and a farm bill to push through and he is going for it whole hog working the system negotiating with rivals and doing back room politicking These are the legacy years and he wants to leave his impact in this town One saw Dr Manmohan Singh do that with the IndiaUS nuclear deal in the first term AB Vajpayee did it with the nuclear tests in Pokhran However the two faltered in the later part of their years in Delhi Both thought they could make longterm peace with Pakistan as their legacy Somewhat like what many American presidents thought they could do with the Middle East Their leverage was minimal despite their power With Pakistan too Indiarsquos position is merely as a bystander It is Pakistan that drives the IndiaPakistan process because it uses jehadi terror as an instrument of state policy Manmohan Singh Atal Behari Vajpayee and IK Gujral and dare I say even Jawaharlal Nehru were mistaken to believe that mere intentions are good enough in international relations especially with regards to Pakistan or for that matter China Delhirsquos disconnect with the rest of the country is quite apparent While all surveys show that people want Delhi to get the economy on track and dramatically increase employment the speeches and debates that Delhicentric politicians indulge in are bereft of that The frustration that people have with governments that are not responsive seems global The only difference is that in some cases leaders who have to go back to the electorate make course corrections because doors will be slammed on them if they donrsquot He may be no Obama but even Rahul Gandhi figured it out when he said it was time to tear the bill Smita Prakash is Editor News at Asian News International You can follow her on Twitter smitaprakashu00a0