Politics, they say, is our national religion. The most important liturgy of this event, national elections, are about to be notified. The purpose of liturgy is simultaneously communion and elevation. It is the form through which our identity as a people is expressed; it is the moment where we, at least for a moment, are elevated with a sense of our own power. These effects are real and not to be underestimated. And this election is, in crudely political terms, as exciting as it gets. The outcome is very open, subject to so many small contingencies: an alliance here, an alliance there; right candidate selection, intelligent seat adjustments. Six weeks is a long time in Indian politics, and it is also an election that could be transformed by another external shock, or attempts to foment polarisation domestically. We often wonder what the issues in the election are going to be; what are the wishes that lie behind this liturgy. But this is a somewhat misleading way of putting the matter. A slowing economy may be an issue, as might be our security anxieties. But it is not clear which party benefits from these being issues. Elections are about relative merits of candidates and parties, not issues in a straightforward sense. For all our complicated analysis, the honest truth is, a range of outcomes is possible.

But as with most liturgies, we wonder whether this sense of empowerment will last beyond the ritual itself. There is already a sense in which the menu seems very limited: there are few good causes in the fray and possibly even fewer good men. The biggest challenge all parties have is simply that they too project the sense that this is really all about the ritual; their sincerity and seriousness are difficult to project. Arun Shourie may valiantly try to do a clinically clear dissection of the UPA’s economic non-performance. But his party has never given any indication that it cared much about those issues during the last five years. The Congress will trumpet the aam aadmi. Yet the most consequential legislation for Indian farmers, the Rehabilitation Bill, was passed without virtually any discussion and barely a quorum. Both parties will make a lot of hay on national security issues. Yet the degree of their seriousness is reflected in the fact that all we got after Mumbai was token legislation, an insipid speech from the prime minister, and a leader of opposition whose schedule was so complicated that they could not work out a joint appearance with the prime minister to reassure the nation that security is above politics. The secularists will easily give tickets to those who, till yesterday, were religious bigots; the anti-secularists think God is a tap you can turn on and off. The point is that in this election the guiding question will not be causes or people. It will be: are you serious?

... contd.