New Delhi | Economist Parakala Prabhakar on Thursday said political discourse has changed since the independence as the parties have now been reduced to being "election fighting machines." Speaking at the launch of his book, 'The Crooked Timber of New India: Essays on a Republic in Crisis,' Prabhakar, who is also the husband of Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, said there were people even before the freedom movement who believed India is only for Hindus, but they could not rise even at "the most fertile" time of the Partition because the society "consistently opposed and isolated them." "They made sure that India is not mirror image of Pakistan. It was an ideological battle and they were aware of the need to fight. But over the course of time we have become complacent that India has settled between slightly right of centre and slightly left of centre," Prabhakar said.
"All parties have become election fighting machines. They only focus on jumping from election to election. They have no ideological battles at all," he said.
He claimed that the BJP has over a long period created a large army of people with an ability and willingness to put in hard work.
"...work which doesn't earn the name, fame and position. And today that has brought India to this. At the same time other political forces have dozed off completely," Prabhakar said.
He also criticised media and higher education institutions like IITs and IIMs for having struck a "faustian bargain." "You see it in TV studios, I'm not sure whether they really believe in Hindu rashtra. It's good to be on the winning side. They fought very small dreams in terms of power, career progression. They were not the ones who fought for it, they are today the ones who are in favour, who are battling for this politics, economics, this division," the 64-year-old said.
