It is more than probable that Narendra Modi of the BJP will become Prime Minister of India after the results of the current election are known on 16 May 2014. He campaigned on a platform which placed the national interest of India at the very top. He was not interested in working out an alliance with the Congress Party by the notorious system of “coz coze”, which is so prevalent in our ‘plaisir’country. Modi attacked Congress for the many scandals which have plagued the Government, the nepotism associated with dynastic politics and with an economic programme which would be in India’s interest and not in that of those close to those in power.

Modi is a man of principle who, as a child, was a “chaiwala’’ i.e a tea seller on trains. He did not grow up in luxurious surroundings and he understands that there is value in having values. He is not a man who will twirl, twist and turn simply to elicit a smile from the Indian Prime Minister or Sonia Gandhi. His message was that any one has a right to be the Prime Minister of India and that the post is not reserved only for the dynasties. He railed against the system which goes back to the age of the monarch. What a contrast with what we are witnessing in this country. Our politicians must learn from the leaders of India.

In fact the whole demeanour and “agissements” of the Leader of the Opposition, Hon Berenger, are sickening and far from honourable. He announced last week that the MMM party that he leads will be ‘sage’ vis-à-vis the Government. What he does not realize is that he is paid out of public funds and enjoys all the privileges attached to the constitutional post to work in the interest of the country and not to please the Government. This attitude demeans not only him personally but also the post that he is in.

No one has given any mandate either to him or to the Prime Minister to discuss the content and the contours of a 2nd republic. If at all such a discussion has to happen, it must be in the open and not behind closed doors. If the rumour mill is right, it seems that the talks have foundered on account of the intention of the Prime Minister to be President for 7 years and, for the performance of his Presidential international obligations, to make the country purchase a jet for Presidential use.

When the Opposition wants an alliance with the government, the system of democracy fails and Parliament becomes a farce. In a country which does not have a Freedom of Information Act, the only way to hold government to a degree of transparency is by asking probing Parliamentary questions. It is true that government does not usually provide clear answers and relies on this pleasurable formula: As far as I know I do not know. But at least the question would have been asked. Berenger is betraying democracy by being infatuated with the Prime Minister. Time for a change!