Earlier actor MP Hema Malini had been in the news for being in a road accident in which a child died. At the time she criticised the father of the child for not following traffic rules; implying that he was responsible for the death of his child. Now she is again in the line of fire for tweeting pictures of her film shoot while her constituency Mathura reels under violent clashes between groups that left 24 dead. These instances underline much of what is wrong with our netas and make yet another argument in favor of doing away with ‘celebrity netas’.
The Indian neta – the modern day Nero
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Sections of the press are calling the most recent Hema Malini fiasco as her ‘Nero Moment’ and with good reason. She is the current Member of Parliament elected to represent the people of Mathura. Yet she had no clue what was going on in her constituency as she was involved in the shooting of her current film in Mumbai and even proceeded to tweet pictures of this. She then had the crass insensitivity to offer this explanation: “How do I know this is going to happen? I went for a shoot” and to say this… “What do I have to do (with it)”…. It is the state government, “Akhilesh Yadav’s government that has to handle this”.
Now this is wrong at so many levels but a completely common occurrence in our polity. Firstly there is the fact that not only are netas frequently quite ignorant of their ground realities, they are also quite unconcerned about and disconnected with their constituents. In other words, they care little about the people who voted for them once the elections are done and dusted.
Secondly they are quick to pass the buck and shrug off all responsibility. As soon as there is a problem, the blame game starts and our politicians start to point fingers anywhere other than their own selves. The real issue is lost in whataboutery and political one-upmanship.
The fact that Malini rushed to Mathura following the uproar about this incident is just that much belated damage control. For herself. Will it change anything for the people of Mathura? Debatable.
The case against celebrity netas
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Consider our celebrity netas… actors or sports persons who have turned into politicians. Some of them did this because they were persuaded to do so. Others did it to boost their flagging careers and to remain relevant in some or other way. Some had a vague idea that they could use their celebrity to actually make a difference to the lives of others and may have resolved to work towards this.
Many, such as Hema Malini continue to work at their primary careers; she continues to work in movies when she is not making insensitive comments on Twitter. Many celebrity netas do not have the knowledge, the inclination or the ability to be good politicians. They are often absent from parliament because of other pressing commitments.
What real need is there for them? Hema Malini’s repeated blundering does make a strong case for doing away with celebrity politicians altogether.
Author – Reena Daruwalla
