The condition of the Aam Admi

The “aam admi” (the common man) has becomes a subject of ridicule ever since the Congress party used the expression to pretend that it is a people-friendly government. You can stuff the plus 9% GDP up your…if the common man or woman cannot buy even decent food without burning a big hole in his or her pocket. Everything from gas to power to vegetables are expensive. For some commodities the increase has been more than 200%.

Shivam Vij on his National Highway blog in a post titled The Hand That Slipped says:

Meet the Congress party’s aam aadmi, exalted to VIP status just three years ago and used as a potent weapon against the India Shining delusions of the ruling National Democratic Alliance. India Shining became India’s most berated slogan, seemingly discrediting economic reforms along the way, and one thought the aam aadmi was back in the centrestage. But three years on, even the Congress seems jittery about not having kept its promise. For an electorate that does not understand the consequences of the rise and fall of the gdp, the only tool of measurement is the price of onions.

Right said. But saying that “even the Congress seems jittery” means giving too much undue credit to the party. I think they do everything purposely. Let the common man toil for even smaller things in life and this never gives him a breathing space to think about bigger issues. When even arranging for the next meal becomes an ordeal how do you get time to think about other things? Given the kind of defeatist attitude we have, and the fact that there is no ready alternative, somewhere the Congress knows it may continue in power for at least the next 10 years. So it routinely sheds the crocodile tears for the common man and then goes on doing its own dirty business of drilling holes into the existence of the country.

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