`Option (of returning to politics) is there, let’s see what happens till Nov’

I am aware of what is filtering through in the media and it seems that some issues are talked about but mostly there are allegations flung at one another followed by comments on these allegations and so on. Parties are not talking about their commitment to citizens for the future. They may have their agendas in their manifestoes but it’s not enough. Campaigns are part of political education and the opposite of that is ignorance.

See, allegations in some form or other are always there and they form a legitimate part of election campaign. But what is disturbing is that nature and extent of the allegations now made. They are personalised. If wild allegations are made, the media is bound to pick them up and highlight them; issues get marginalised. In an hour’s campaign speech, if a leadermakes such allegations even for a few minutes and talks about issues for the rest of his time, the issues don’t receive attention. I know this from experience when party people wanted me to only talk about Bofors when I wanted to talk about drought during a Gujarat tour. Only when I stuck to drought was it reported and debated.

I disagree. It’s still very much an issue with people but it doesn’t seem to matter in other circles. The CBI hasn’t been able to prosecute anyone in so many scams. You might see a clerk-level person in jail but you won’t find people beyond a certain income group and of a political group in prison for corruption. There seems to be a “jail rekha” for corruption. If we go by court judgements and people jailed, we can conclude that there is crime, murder, theft, rape in this country but not corruption. Citizens become cynical about theissue but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. There will be people’s action on this some day.

The Third Front may be fragmented today but it’s too early to write it off because the ground-level conditions for it have not vanished. The idea is alive. National parties have to talk in terms of coalitions and fronts today. The last few governments we have had are coalitions or fronts of some sort. But there’s an inherent contradiction in these fronts because the regional parties cannot give up their state base while the national partner wants to carve and extend its base in that state. At some stage, the tensions will give way and at that juncture the Third Front formation dynamics can start.

This may be valid some three-four years later. Or even a year from now. The contradictions will begin in the power-sharing itself. Already AIADMK is making noises, others will follow. The Congress-Laloo pact may not stay.

Yes because of state dynamics. Many regional parties and social justice forces have got absorbed into the BJP or Congress. Survival is a dominant factor and it determines the behaviour of individuals and parties. You apply this to any Third Front constituent and it explains their behaviour. TDP is saying what option did we have but to be with BJP, Karunanidhi is saying it; Sharad Yadav, Ram Vilas Paswan, Mulayam Singh are functioning on the same logic. I believe there’s a large section of people who want an alternative to Congress and BJP. So long as it’s there, the potential for a Third Front is there too. I will not write off the Third Front now, I will wait.

It played a historical role and did a grand job in breaking the hegemony of the Congress, brought regional parties into national management, transformed the grammar of Indian politicsthrough Mandal. Now any party that gets a fraction of the JD is happy — Fernandes, Yadav, Hegde, Laloo. Now the JD exists in various forms. It’s as if the chicks were hatched and each one has now made its own nest. So, I should feel happy too (laughs).

There’s lot of talk this way and that but neither the Congress nor the BJP is saying how they will provide resources for defence. It’s their duty to tell the nation but nobody is spelling this out. And, there’s no doubt that we need to think seriously of defence budgets. No one is talking of country’s finances, mismanagement of finances, budgets and allocations because these are difficult issues. It’s better to talk of emotive issues and make allegations. There’s an absence of debate; they are only making faces at each other.

The option will be there but I haven’t decided yet. It’s still two months away.I am happy doing art. I have not suborndinated art to politics. It exists on its own beyond logic and logistics as in politics. Let’s see what happens till November.