567. Weapon With A Blunt Edge

"Chandraprakash is a senior leader of our party. He has been working for our party for many years, without expecting any position in the party or in the government, when we were in power. He was the right hand man of your father. Your father gave a lot of weightage to his opinions. Your father had openly said several times that the major credit for many of his political victories belonged to Chandraprakash. It was wrong on your part to have issued a statement condemning Chandraprakash!" Sharma, a senior leader of the Democratic People's Party told Raghav, the General Secretary of the party.

Raghav was elected the General Secretary of the party, after the demise of his father, who had held the post

Sharma commanded a special respect in the party, because of his advanced age and rich experience. He would address every one in the party, including the all powerful General Secretary of the party by their first name and talk to them openly, without any inhibition or restraint.

"He openly criticized me in public, by saying in the TV interview that I was not leading the party in the right way" retorted Raghav. 

"That was not what he said. When the interviewer asked him whether the leadership of the party was responsible for the defeat of the party in the bye-elections held recently, he replied that there were several reasons for the defeat. That reply was by way of defending you!"

"When I had been saying that the ruling party won the bye-elections by misusing official machinery, he should have cited the same reason. He should have refuted the interviewer's suggestion and said that the leadership of the party couldn't be blamed for the bye-election defeats. What did he mean by saying that there were several reasons for the defeat?" said Raghav, angrily.

"Raghav! We should win the next election. For that, we have to strengthen our party. Chandraprakash is an expert in devising election strategies. When your father was the General Secretary, Chandraprakash occupied a position next to him in the party hierarchy. After your father's demise, he took the stand that you should lead the party and mobilized support for you among the top leaders of our party. You definitely need his help and support. If you insult him by issuing statements questioning his contribution and loyalty to the party, he will choose to keep away from the party. It will be a big loss to the party."

"You want me to apologize to him!"

"No need to apologize. He is a magnanimous person. He won't expect such things. It is enough if you treat him with the respect and the dignity due to him as a senior leader of our party. I will tell him that you regretted issuing the statement condemning him" said Sharma.

"There is no need for you to do so. I will ensure that such things don't happen in future" said Raghav.

Even after that, there were several instances of Raghav insulting and demeaning senior leaders

The opinion polls predicted that the People's Democratic Party led by Raghav would win the election. 

Raghav engaged the services of an election strategist. Since parties that had used his services in the past had won the elections, it was expected that his strategy would help the People's Democratic Party win the elections in a big way.

But, contrary to the general expectation, People's Democratic Party lost the elections. The ruling party succeeded in snatching victory from the jaws of defeat and retained power.

"What reasons does your election strategist attribute to our party's defeat?" Sharma asked Raghav.

"He is not my strategist. He is a strategist for the party" hit back Raghav. "We engaged his services, only after getting the approval of the Executive Committee of our party. We lost by a margin of two percent. This is not a big defeat."

"In the horse race, it is enough if the winning horse puts its nose ahead of that of the one competing with it. The same principle is applicable in politics too. A defeat is a defeat. The size of the margin doesn't count. Two factors have contributed to our defeat in the elections."

"What are they?"

"The first factor is your making petty allegations against people who had been sincerely working for our party and expelling them from the party. The second factor is your sidelining senior leaders like Chandraprakash, by using harsh words against them. These two factors have blunted the edges of our weapons. If a king enters the war with weapons whose edges have been blunted, even a weak opponent will defeat him. This is what happened to our party" said Sharma.  

Thirukkural

Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 57

Refraining From Doing Terrifying Things

Verse 567 (in Tamil):

kadumozhiyum kai igandha dhandamum vEndhan
adu muraN thEykkum aram.

Meaning:

Harsh words and excessive punishments form the saw

that files away the king’s military might.

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'kUr mazhungiya Ayudham' by the same author.)

Verse 568 (Soon)
Verse 566