Answer the Actual

No matter how many promises we make, no matter how much rhetoric we weave, and no matter how fluent we are in explaining our party and politics, finally what matters is what you do for people. Anywhere in the world, the actual benchmark for a political party is what it does for the people in terms of bringing stability to their lives, uplifting them economically, creating better services for them, giving a sense of safety and selfhood.

People may be driven by some old political prejudice, some emotional appeal, some crazy promises – but it doesn't last long. Finally, people have their way to assess a political party, and make up their mind at the time of elections. These days, as also in the previous decades, political parties have relied on cadre, on the capacity to run the campaign, and sometimes on the means that might be questionable if we apply strict ethical standards. But all this has a limited life, and also its returns diminish as we go further.

What matters in the long run is what you do for people. And people have not just one kind of need. In this age of limitless wealth, some people think that selling dreams and spending money is the only way that a party can ensure a win. But the study of any human society stands in the way of such an understanding. Human societies, as the aggregates of individuals with difference, have multiple and varied needs.

It has material needs and any political party worth its name cannot ignore that. It must have a concrete plan to enhance the material worth of households; bring the levels of poverty down, and increase the chances of upward financial mobility. Similarly, societies have  emotional needs. No political party can ignore those emotional needs for too long.

These needs are embedded in history and culture. Human societies also need a sense of secure future. If any society is destabilised on that count, it means politics is taking an ugly turn. Any wise political party cannot afford it, if it wants to have a place in that society. The political parties that are in fray this time in J&K, old and new, big and small, need to understand the dynamic that a human society finally is. A political party that answers the actual needs finally carries the day.