Evolution in politics – Part II
In 2010, when the Shashi Tharoor – IPL controversy was at its peak, I wrote a small note wondering about the future of politicians like Shashi Tharoor – well qualified, polished, with international exposure – in the Indian political environment. Here is a link to that note. I worried then that the environment is too hostile for this new life form – let’s call it the T-gene - to survive. Half a decade has passed and there is good news as well as bad news. The good news is that he has survived the test of time so far. If anything, he is stronger today than he was then. The bad news is that I still don’t see many more like him coming into politics. So the T-gene survives but does not seem to prosper. It is not difficult to see why. The environment of selection remains as hostile as what it used to be. If the T-gene has survived, it has survived on its own tenacity and not by benevolence of selection. Media still prefers Lalit Modi or Lalu Yadav brand of politics. Let us consider a...