New York, March 18 -- At the very outset, we will lay down two acronyms for this post. We will call the political party in power as PnP and the opposing parties as OP. It should not go unnoticed that I do not use the words ruling party at all. As far as I am concerned, the so-called rulers left India more than seven decades ago. So today we are going to discuss politicians, ideology, perceptions, hope and power.

Ideally speaking, in a true democracy, the real purpose of politicians should not be to rule but to provide a service. A service of laying down policy in accordance with the wishes of a 'somehow arrived at' majority. Thereafter enshrining the same in the form of laws and ensuring their compliance through various instruments of th...