I wake up to the clarion call of the party leader,
I become the sloganeer,
I carry the flag and mast,
I erect buntings and hoardings to make leaders star cast,
I am at the forefront of the panoply to bring them fame,
I lead strikes in their name,
I organise the people during the husting,
I am made to offer money and kinds to people as lusting,
I carry leaders’ posters to sing their glory,
I pour my blood, sweat and tears to bring them victory,
I organise rallies to commemorate it and burst crackers,
As the leaders stay put being slackers.
With changing times, I am now tech savvy, laptop wielding party worker,
I am their voice in social media,
To make them omnipresent in people’s encyclopedia,
I am assigned all the jobs that are dirty,
For which I am incentivised with debauchery,
I am privy to back door caste dynamics, political killings and gerrymandering,
Mockery and treachery are rules of the game,
To tarnish and put one another in shame,
As leaders rise up the ladder to the corridors of power,
I dreamt that the common man would be empowered,
But in reality, the common man is treated as a mere powder,
They call this set up a democracy,
But I say there is ‘no’ inner party democracy,
I am their voice outside,
But I am voiceless inside,
Leaders are all good preachers,
But are hardly practitioners,
So what can we do to change this situation,
Well, it’s the leaders who should give an explanation,
But will they be willing,
Oh, ye, let’s stop kidding!
Rijesh Ramachandran is an engineer by education, central banker by profession, traveller and blogger by passion. His experience are his words.
Featured image: Andre Hunter / Unsplash