Politics ideally is a set of activities associated with the power of decision making representing people’s interests where such decisions apply to a group of people, and the goal is to achieve the best interests of all. It is about making decisions so that people in groups can live together without any friction. The science of politics is known as political science and is mostly studied by students in India and across the world.
The political game in India started with the concept of doing good for the people and making decisions representing the interests of all. But now the politics have become a game of power where the power-hungry politicians use it to fulfil their selfish interests and somehow in feeding their hunger for power has blurred the vision. The politics in India has now turned into a dirty game where most of the times the only goal of the politicians is to gain as many votes as they can by all means to increase the power, and the main idea of serving the greater good of the masses is lost somewhere in the power struggle.
While we watch the Indian politics or even world politics for that matter go down the southside, there are some remarkable figures in the history and even in such dark present time who restore the faith of people in the institution of politics. The main idea behind joining the political arena is supposed to do good for the people, for these are the people who give you the liberty to represent them, and it is their rights and interests the politicians are duty-bound to put forward. However, as the whole world has gone through significant changes with changing times and realities, it has become all the more crucial to find such faces which shine bright even in the darkest of times. The people who have the will to put the interests of people above their selfish interests are, in the true sense, the politicians that any country needs and deserves.
There have been many stalwarts who put the more uncommon good first and achieved such great heights in their careers as politicians that their names are engraved in history as the golden and snow hearted politicians.
India has seen a long line of politicians who governed the country, and they brought their different ideologies and visions to change the future of the country and to serve the people. But we must take into account while deciding that the people at large do not mostly welcome not all the policies.
This article chalks down 10 politicians who are known to have devoted their lives to the true meaning of politics. However, the list is not exhaustive, and there are many more whose actions and good deeds are much less celebrated, but that does not make their contribution any less. We discuss a few of the names from the early days of the nation and few from this era.
Motilal Nehru
If we talk about politics in India and leave Nehru out of it, then the true discussion did not take place as the contributions made by Nehru to the political structure of Indian subcontinent can not be left untold. Nehru is one of those many politicians who devoted their lives to free India from the shackles of British colonisers. After the freedom struggle, they dedicated all their policies and efforts for the development of the nation as an independent nation in terms of economic structure and have a place in international politics. The discussions about Nehru’s contributions could go endlessly, and summing them up would not do justice to such contributions, however, to make it easier, few of his policies included developing five-year plans for the stronger financial foundation and making significant ties with nations for support in the world community.
Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar
Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar or known by us all as Baba Saheb Ambedkar earned the name of “father of the Constitution” as he was the Chairman of the drafting committee of the constitution of India. His many contributions to Indian history are not hidden, as he made way for the upliftment of downtrodden and people belonging to the lower castes in India. He bestowed upon himself the responsibility to help the Dalits and to educate them. He was a true believer in equality and also fought for equal rights of women as a real feminist.
Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Our beloved Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad does not need any introduction, and his contribution for strengthening the defence mechanism for the Indian nation is significant even today as he is known as “the missile man”. During his times as the President of the Indian subcontinent, he set an example that every politician not only in our country but across the world should follow. He was the epitome of the politicians who do not get their hands dirty with corruption and use their position of power to strengthen the political system. He spread his knowledge and opened his doors for those who sought true knowledge and held the vision to empower the youth in the nation.
Now, this was a dose to remind you that above discussed were ideal politicians and the true epitome of kind-hearted and devoted to good public politicians and even though the modern politics in India is driven towards hunger for power and monetary benefits, some golden-hearted models could teach us a thing or two.
Below mentioned are some good examples of politicians who learned a great deal from history and enshrined the good values and virtues and dedicated their lives for greater good even in the era of modern politics.
Sushma Swaraj
Dr Sushma Swaraj played many roles in changing the face of Indian politics and even though she left us pretty suddenly and early her contributions to the Indian society will be remembered by us till the end of the time. She was a kind-hearted politician whose heart ached for those in need, and if she were approached, she would walk miles to help. Her work as External Affairs Minister is what brought her great fame and love from thousands of people, not only in India but also from people across the globe. She took upon herself the task to provide the help directly and gave true meaning to the phrase one call or text away. In the era of internet, it is highly unlikely to gain access to the office of such high dignitaries. Still, some politicians use the technology and internet to reach out to the masses, and she used twitter as a medium to interact with her people.
Arun Jaitley
Dr Arun Jaitley as a very successful politician of the Indian subcontinent. He started his career as a lawyer and joined the path of politics to put the interests of people above his own. He served many roles and widely known as Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Minister of Defence. As it is clear from various roles that he played, that he was a great visionary. Under his aegis as Finance minister, the disinvestment plan of government of India took flight and achieved great heights. He also brought various developments through his different policies as a finance minister.
We have indeed all lost our faith in the Indian political system, and we all feel the need of reforms or some sort of revival of the system. As we recall some names from the past to reminisce about the olden golden times of Indian politics, we should not forget that there have been many visionaries even in this era and there are many more who still put our best interests above their selfish motives and moral values and virtues play vital in decision making for them.
Some of many other kind-hearted politicians include Our current Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, Dr Manmohan Singh, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Mr Arvind Kejriwal and Shri Mamta Benerjee etc.
