Decimation of BJP and wiping off of Congress in the Delhi state Assembly elections bring to memory the wiping off of Congress in the 1977 parliamentary elections in all the states across the Hindi heartland. In both cases, it was widely speculated that the ruling party would lose. But nobody had even wildly imagined the landslide that happened. Link, a fortnightly magazine published from New Delhi had meaningfully remarked, “People voted against the Congress and expected it to win” It was such a numbing experience.

In the general elections in 1977 the debacle of the grand alliance of opposition parties by the congress and the spectacular victory of BJP under the leadership of Modi in the last parliamentary elections were also similar surprising verdict. All of these verdicts were ascribed to waves such as Indira wave, Janata wave, Modi wave and AAP wave respectively.

The evolution of polity in post-independent India is interesting and instructive. The initial phase under the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru was politically stable but not stagnant. There were societal churnings. New forces were released. Old order began to be challenged. Politics manifested itself as forming almost a symbiotic relationship with corruption and crime in this phase itself. They are all driven by the same impulse — the acquisition of money and power. Politics needs money to buy influence. Corruption and crime need the protection of politics to run their enterprises. Electoral politics began to be more of a profession instead of a mission. . Nehru’s demise was followed with cracks in political stability. Each decade was witness to succession of significant events that was reflected in altered perceptions of the people. Youth’s idealism began to be disillusioned with the system. Careerism, which was a dirty word with many of the bright youth, was now their only option. Opportunities beckoned them to corporate world and to foreign lands. They attained success and prosperity.

Meanwhile corruption and criminalization had a field day. The system was being put on strain. Anti corruption movements became intrinsic feature of the system. Dialectical relationship between the two became evident. As a result of this conflict a number of educated and successful persons joined the political mainstream. A new political formation came into existence with new idioms. It is an exciting development in the social and political arena. We have to wait to see whether it is an ephemeral phenomenon