Who is Karti Chidambaram?

Karti Chidambaram, son of Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, is quite open about his political ambitions. He describes himself as an active Congress worker who hopes to serve the country in public office. He was recently selected by the United States Agency for International Development and the American Council of Young Political Leaders to observe the US elections. Along with 70 young leaders from 23 countries, he spent 11 days with local political candidates in the states of West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Chidambaram is no stranger to the US. He spent his formative years there. Still, he went to observe the US elections with more than a few questions in his mind. Are two of the world's largest electorates similar or disparate? Can the two largest democracies learn from each other? Do Indian politicians understand the US electorate? He came back with most of the answers. Here is his account.

Middle America has embraced the Republicans. It’s time India did the same

After spending 11 days observing the US elections up close, my initial observation was this: more than the differences we think we have with Americans, the similarities are far greater... be it politics, economics, society or be it the aspirations of the average person.

Look at the politics itself. In the US, it is equally partisan, divisive, nasty and equally polarised as it is here. And the tactics they employ are very similar to ours. In fact, they have far greater negative campaigns and character assassination. Moreover, people are definitely voting a lot more emotionally than intellectually, as we do here in India. I don't think that we should feel that India alone is some sort of an emotional democracy where people vote with their heart. People are tremendously emotional there too. It is not necessarily only an intellectual decision they make. Emotional quotient (EQ) is far more important than intellectual quotient.

The Unknown Middle America
There is a Middle America that most of us do not understand. And the Middle America and India are very, very similar. We may have a different faith and a different race. But I would say that in our aspirations, we are very similar.

Today, the Republican Party is really the soul of America. I think that the Republican Party represents Middle America far more than the Democratic Party. But as a country, we are mistaken in thinking that the Democratic Party is friendlier to India. Right from the days of Kennedy to Clinton, there is this big glamour only for the Democratic Party. It is a mistake. We (the political establishment) are all rooting for the Democratic Party because we don't understand the Republican Party at all. (But from a business perspective, that too from the outsourcing perspective, the Republicans are a lot more hands off than the Democrats.) Otherwise, I think the Republican Party can be equally friendly. That must change. We must engage the Republicans. We must try to understand them. How can you be so disconnected with Middle America and expect to influence policy there?

The Cross And The Ballot
The church played a significant role in the US elections. It is influencing policy. And it overwhelmingly backed the Republican nominees.

The majority religion of Americans is Christianity, and therefore, their thought process is also Christian. That is bound to happen. Influence will be there. I am not saying the Church should have no role. It also has a democratic right to influence politics. But I preach and practise a secular brand of politics and I would not like to see religious bodies exert overwhelming influence on government.

In America, no politician claims he is ungodly. Everybody says God bless America. It is very difficult - the way politics is structured in the US - for a man who saying that he is an atheist to survive. More than anything else, America likes people of faith. I am not saying they like people only with Christian faith. In America, you have to be a man of some faith.

Is there a Christian bent of thought in American policy? Yes, certainly. Just because it is there, would I justify a Hindu bent of thought in Indian policy? No, I would not. I don't think that's the way we should follow.

Yes, there is a Christian thought in American policy, especially on abortion and gay marriages. But not in everything else. You cannot accuse America of bringing in Christian thought into every policy.

Separating Business And Politics
According to a new federal election law, US companies can no longer fund political parties directly. That has been the big difference between the last elections and this - no more corporate contributions. But companies can give up to $2,000 to individual candidates.

But there is a loophole in what is known as Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Act. You can contribute as much as you want to any other entity (non-political) that is not directly coordinating its activity with a political party. So there are '527 committees', as they are called. Some of them conduct the most negative and vile campaigns. But they do so out of their own accord. Companies can give unlimited money to them, as long as it is clear that they are not actively coordinating their programmes with a political party.

For example, George Soros ran a large 527 committee against Bush. He was not coordinating with Kerry. That is all he has to ensure and corporates could fund him as much as they wanted to. Another 527 committee called the Swift Board Action Truth committee was basically discrediting Kerry for his Vietnam action.
Surrogate advertising was so high that this whole purpose of restricting corporate contribution was defeated. But elections are expensive. Somebody has to fund them. The two parties spent about a billion dollars on campaign and publicity costs. They (the companies) spend as much money selling a movie or cola or used cars.

I mean it is not a bad idea to spend so much money to sell democracy. If you look at it per voter, the cost is about $10. What's the big deal?

In the US, political parties operate like corporations. They have permanent, well-trained staff, are well funded, and have huge budgets. They use technology very well. It is a very media-driven campaign and the Internet played a big part. All this requires money.

In India too, this whole thing about having limits on spending just can't be enforced. Candidates must be allowed to spend as much as they want as long as they disclose the source and show proper accounts.

In terms of businesses funding and influencing politics, it is much the same there as it is here. It is necessary. As individuals we have preferences. Similarly, businesses have preferences. But we must bring that business-political party interaction above board. We have to declare who is funding who, rather than saying you should not have any interaction. Business must influence government policy. They are stakeholders in the country and every stakeholder must influence policy.

Reaching Out To America
We must reach out to both the Democrats and the Republicans at a party-to-party level, not just at a government-to-government level. I was told that a delegation from Japan attended the conventions of both the parties. I don't think India sent anybody.

Next time around in 2008, I am going to suggest to the Congress party that we send delegations to both the presidential conventions. I am not saying that only the Congress party should do this. Even the BJP should do this. Every party must do it. The Communist party of India has ties with the Communist Party in China. If they can do it, the two large parties can also do it.

Similarly, when we have a large All India Congress Committee convention or when the BJP has their event, we must invite the parties at least from the UK and the US. Because of the exigencies of politics, we tend not to focus on these things. These are not going to get you votes. Nobody is paying attention to this. That has to change.
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Courtesy : Business World