And the winner is...

So BJP's electoral candidate Varun Gandhi went on a verbal rampage against the Muslims...

And the clapping audience aka the voters thinks this is par for the course...

And Bal Thackerey finds this episode and this Gandhi was worth applauding...

And the Congress has nothing to respond except in terms of electoral point-scoring...

Yes, there is nothing new about the whole affair - politicians rile up audiences, and audiences vote these very politicians in, a vicious symbiotic cycle that repeats itself every election year.

And as usual, the only one looking good after the whole fracas is the Election Commission. Thank God at least one official institution in India still has the balls and the decorum to fault the powerful, even if it doesn't have the power to punish them.

***

But I wonder how long this will last.

Not long back, we had another institution worthy of pride; we had a President whose office had only nominal power but whose being was a credit to democracy and fair play. Even if all he could do were things as passive as sending back a bill, or listening to grievances by citizens ranging from the riot vistims to disabled groups - Abdul Kalam's simple acts spawned a coverage in the media space and discussion in the masses by virtue of the position he held.

Unfortunately, precisely because he was potent, he has been replaced with a puppet.

Will the Election Commissin be next?