This happened around 9 years back. I was in college then and in the recently held general elections Sachin Pilot had won his first election from Dausa, Rajasthan at the age of 26 to become youngest parliamentarian. All excited, I felt he is young, grounded, and would probably understand a youngster's zeal to be in politics and hence would give me some opportunity or direct me to work with the party as an intern or something similar (there were many youngsters of my age who would routinely get such opportunities because someone in their family knew some prominent leader). I called up his office, took appointment, and went to meet him at his residence one early winter morning.
There were many other people from his constituency waiting to meet him to discuss their woes. Close to 9 am, all visitors were lined up side by side in 3 rows (face forward) and were told MP Sahab would appear in some time. We were told to keep our talk very concise (within a minute) as MP sahab has to attend important meetings and cannot spend much time with us.
Soon Sachin appeared all dressed up and chic in white designer kurta. Suddenly I saw a group of elderly men falling on his feet to seek his blessings. They were lying flat on the ground and their face were on Sachin's feet. He asked them to get up and addressed them but I was struck by his feudalistic demeanor. Soon he came over to me, spent less than 10 seconds looking at my face and moved on to talk to the next guy beside me. I could barely complete my sentence before I realized that he is talking to someone else. I felt very humiliated but found solace in the fact that everyone had somewhat similar fate; there was nothing personal about it. After visitors were told to disband I followed up with his secretary; he gave me his card saying "email me whatever you have to convey and we would revert to you." Needless to say that reply never came.
Though I understand Sachin is bright and he may have his own social and political compulsions but his regal conduct and despotic behaviour of his staff towards commoners was very demeaning and discouraging. On a side note, I was personally very happy when he lost the recent Lok Sabha elections of 2014.
Sachin no doubt is much better than the rest but I do really think that in public life the more educated you are, the more callous and ignorant for commoners you end up becoming. Albeit some exceptions. It is not about a party or an ideology.
Also, it is not about a particular individual and the bigger point here is that many political leaders don't really value common people and it clearly reflects in their body language and demeanor. Anyone who may have wandered in political circles may better know that for many politicians priority lies in finer aspects of life than in calmly listening to a commoner keen to talk to them.
Ironically some years later I was working on a technological project for MIT's OLPC initiative and was directed by my office to work with Sachin Pilot's office who was then a Minister of State for Information Technology. Though I never met Sachin and coordinated with his Officer on Special Duty (OSD), his OSD ensured that I was always welcome in "honorable minister's" office and had a complete uninhibited access, even if it meant dropping by to have a leisurely cup of tea with his OSD. And every single time I visited Electronics Niketan (IT Ministry) it reminded me of that cold winter morning at Sachin's house and that disparate treatment meted to commoners.
Some experiences get stuck in one's thought process and leave a lasting impression. As much as I hate right wing imperialistic politics, I also sincerely hope that the political journey and patronage of Badals, Thackerays, Pilots, Gandhis, Abdullahs, and Yadavs of the world comes to end very soon.
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A point was raised by one of the readers that does a MP really have to prioritize meeting with people especially when his/her focus could be to meet industrialists, Ministers etc.
This may answer that question: "MPs must try to meet their constituency commitments by regular meetings with constituents in their electorates. If these interests are not attended to, no amount of party commitment can guarantee a return to parliament at the next election."
"Whatever the system of election is, access to one’s MP is a form of contact that is significant, important and greatly valued by voters. Without that contact, the basis for a democratic legislature could come under serious question. "
Link: http://www.parliamentarystrengthening.org/commonwealthmodule/pdf/Commonwealth%20Unit%208.pdf
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A point was raised by one of the readers that does a MP really have to prioritize meeting with people especially when his/her focus could be to meet industrialists, Ministers etc.
This may answer that question: "MPs must try to meet their constituency commitments by regular meetings with constituents in their electorates. If these interests are not attended to, no amount of party commitment can guarantee a return to parliament at the next election."
"Whatever the system of election is, access to one’s MP is a form of contact that is significant, important and greatly valued by voters. Without that contact, the basis for a democratic legislature could come under serious question. "
Link: http://www.parliamentarystrengthening.org/commonwealthmodule/pdf/Commonwealth%20Unit%208.pdf
