In The Singular: Hum Ek, Hamare Shoonya

Positive arguments valorising that status are fairly common. When Yogi Adityanath took office recently, there was no dearth of soul-­sea­rching on what it connoted in political terms, but his single status was extolled as a virtue. Yogi, of course, is not a chance bachelor. The mahant of Gorakhnath temple, he is by choice outside the field of matrimony바카라�like members of a monastic order. 바카라�He is single and unencumbered. He can work with more commitment and focus. Most of all, he has no family for whom he might be tempted to amass wealth through corrupt means바카라�바카라�this was the refrain of BJP leaders who sought to explain the curious choice.

Political corruption, with family enrichment the most conspicuous symbol of it, has framed the context in which singlehood comes to be held up as an ideal. Coming after the scam-tain­ted UPA, Prime Minister Modi too has found it useful to flaunt his solo status, painting it in the colours of ascetic renunciation, offering it as a marker of his capacity to work with single-min­ded devotion. Addressing a public rally in Himachal Pradesh in April, he said, 바카라�Mere liye na koi aage hai, na peechhe. Kiske liye bhrashtach­aar karoonga? (I have no family. Who will I be corrupt for?). This mind and body is totally devoted to the nation.바카라�

There바카라�s indeed a monastic undertone to his story. As a young man, Modi is said to have been sufficiently in thrall of the figure of Swami Vivekananda to aspire to a monk바카라�s life at Belur Math. His renunciation of his teen-marriage for an itinerant life is often read in those terms. When the controversy over his marital status broke out in the run-up to the 2014 elections, Modi바카라�s elder brother Som­­ Bhai called his enforced singlehood the 바카라�response to an inner call to work for the nation, inspired by Vivekananda.바카라�

Connections between the monastic life and power have been frequently noted. From the 18th century Fakir-Sanyasi reb­ellion to the Vatican바카라�s long history of entanglement in the ebb and flow of temporal power, it바카라�s clear that a life governed by self-given rules of renunciation hardly makes for an automatic distance from the rough and tumble of politics바카라�whether in righteous or base ways. Nor does the mon­astic specimen in any way exhaust the field of singles: celibacy is not a logical corollary of being unmarried.

However one characterises it, India has had an impressive array of 바카라�singles바카라� in  politics바카라�though it바카라�s not always possible to mark that feature out as an inherent good. It바카라�s as heterogeneous a field as could be. Modi바카라�s NDA predecessor A.B. Vajpayee was a bachelor, though he has an adopted family. Late A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the first single occupant of Rashtrapati Bhavan. And there are now half-a-dozen CMs who have never been married. Besides Yogi, there바카라�s Trivendra Singh Rawat of Uttarakhand, Sarbana­NDA Sonowal of Assam, Manohar Lal Khattar of Haryana, Orissa바카라�s Naveen Patnaik and Mamata Banerjee.

It may be difficult to demonstrate the efficacy of being single in governance terms, but the politicians themselves unfailin­gly allude to it in self-flattering ways as a desirable element in their resume. The firebrand chief minister of West Bengal claims in public meetings that she has no time for herself as she has dedicated herself to the people of the state. Patnaik too likes to tell his voters, in a lighter vein, that they will never have to worry about Congress-like family rule.  Two other chief ministers바카라�Mehbooba Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir and Rajasthan바카라�s Vasundhara Raje바카라�are divorced, while Goa바카라�s Manohar Parrikar and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar are both widowers. Former UP chief minister and Dalit icon Mayawati also takes pride in her single status. She has often proclaimed in her election rallies바카라�바카라�I am of low caste, I am unmarried, and I am yours.바카라� The late J. Jayalalitha of Tamil Nadu was another formidable leader who never took the matrimonial plunge.

On the Opposition benches, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is the most prominent bachelor. Although, his relatio­nship status comes close to being 바카라�somewhat complicated바카라�. At 47, he has preferred to remain single despite intermittent speculation about his marriage. After opening up about his Venezuela-based Spanish girlfriend in the run-up to the 2004 Lok Sabha elections, in 2013 Rahul suggested he may shun marriage for the sake of politics. 바카라�If I get married and have children, I will be status-quoist and will like my children to take my place,바카라� he is reported to have told his party members바카라�a none-too-surprising tone of awareness from one who gets portrayed as the arch exemplar of dynastic politics.

Insiders say Congress president Sonia Gandhi had reservations about her son  getting married to his Spanish girlfriend. 바카라�She often gave him her own example바카라�about how her Italian origin was held against her for a long time. She did not want Rahul to suffer on that count,바카라� reveals a Congressman close to the family. No one is quite sure why Rahul has preferred to stay single, or whether he intends to get married in the future.

Many of these articulated strands go back in a sense to Mahatma Gandhi, who felt fathering and supporting children robbed him of precious energy when he wanted to devote himself more completely to public service. The Mahatma, of course, took the idea to another level as he began his experiments with celibacy. 바카라�Those who want to perform national service, or to have a gleam of the real religious life, must lead a celibate life, whether married or unmarried,바카라� Gandhi wrote. 바카라�(A) life of perfect continence in thought, speech and action is necessary for reaching spiritual perfection. And a nation that does not possess such men is poorer for the want.바카라�

The practice of celibacy, in modern public life, leads further back to Vivekananda, who ascribed his mental powers to a lifelong observance of 바카라�brahmacharya바카라�바카라�voicing the philosophy of the fourth yama (code) of yoga. 바카라�By the establishment of continence, energy is gained. The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. Without chastity, there can be no spiritual strength바카라�. The Yogi must be continent,바카라� the Swami said.

Outlook spoke to politicians, sociologists, psychiatrists and religious leaders for their views on singlehood, celibacy and public life in India, and whether family does indeed provoke complacency and corruption. The qualified answers revealed a degree of scepticism. Social scientist Shiv Visvanathan, for one, dismisses the notion that in politics single implies ascetic. 바카라�It바카라�s true that family is related with corruption. There are cases of conspicuous corruption like Laloo Prasad Yadav. So the singles can pretend to be simple and ascetic since there is no paraphernalia (of family) attached,바카라� says Visvanathan.

However, he believes the 바카라�singles바카라� are corrupted by power. 바카라�Power and politics바카라�that바카라�s the aphrodisiac for them. Can you imagine these single politicians without power? They will be broken. Like there바카라�s corruption of money, there바카라�s corruption of power. That바카라�s much more lethal,바카라� Visvanathan adds. He says organisations like the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are 바카라�suckers for power바카라� even as they advocate an ascetic style.

It바카라�s not surprising that Modi and half of our present never-­married CMs come from the RSS stable, where marriage is proscribed for pracharaks, the full-timers who dedicate themselves to organisational work. According to a pracharak, the tradition that only unmarried volunteers could become pracharaks did not start with the founder-sarsanghchalak K.B. Hedgewar. 바카라�Though he wasn바카라�t married, he never made it a rule. The practice was institutionalised under Guruji Golwalkar. The logic had nothing to do with celibacy or Hinduism or spirituality. 바카라�Pracharak바카라� implies only an (internal-administrative) arra­ngement, not a sanyasi order,바카라� explains the full-timer.

BJP general secretary Muralidhar Rao, who was attached to Sangh affiliate Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, says org­anisational work requires total dedication. 바카라�A pracharak needs full mobility as he can be sent to any part of the country for long periods as work demands...and the work can be intensive. It may not be feasible for a married person to leave his family behind. A pracharak has to be free from societal obligations,바카라� says Rao.

RSS spokesperson Manmohan Vaidya says things are now  more flexible in the RSS and points to Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki. After he retired as a lecturer, Solanki became prant pracharak for Madhya Bharat despite being a married man. Now, Vaidya says, singlehood is not a hard and fast rule for pracharaks, who anyway comprise only handful. 바카라�Of some 3 lakh cadre, only 3,000 are pracharaks,바카라� he adds. He also sees no correlation between singlehood and commitment to the nation. 바카라�I will only call it a coincidence that we have 6-7 unmarried chief ministers. It바카라�s not marital status but values that make a good leader. Manohar Parrikar has a family and is totally honest. Lal Bahadur Shastri was a Congressman and married, and believed in value-based politics. Power can corrupt everybody, married or unmarried,바카라� he emphasises.

The Catholic Church is another domain where singlehood and celibacy are prerequisites. Activist John Dayal says things are changing there too and points to a huge debate within the community on whether priests should be allowed to marry. 바카라�At the philosophical level, when marriage ties are called holy matrimony, how can it make you unfit to be a priest,바카라� he asks. Even with politicians, Dayal does not believe 바카라�singles바카라� are more committed. 바카라�How does it matter as long as spouses give each other space to work in? In fact, a companion gives you solidity and can stabilise a tempestuous wandering mind,바카라� he says.

Psychiatrist Sanjay Chugh concurs, saying family tempers an individual바카라�s psyche. 바카라�Marriage or a relationship with the opposite sex has a personality-modulating influe­nce. I believe singles in positions of power lack empathy and sensitivity. Family is not a distraction. In the absence of family as a parallel focus, you become obsessive. That바카라�s not desirable,바카라� he says. Chugh says the jury is still out on whether 바카라�continence바카라� helps conserve energy. 바카라�There바카라�s a raging debate before every football World Cup whether 바카라�WAGs바카라� should be allowed to stay with players. There바카라�s research that says having sex the night before a match adversely affects the player바카라�s performance, but then there바카라�s research that says the contrary too. It바카라�s still not proven that abstinence improves performance,바카라� he says.

All said and done, Indian voters don바카라�t seem to fret over much about the issue. If they elect a Modi or a Mamata, they바카라�re also not averse to a Karunanidhi, who has never hidden the fact that he has three wives. The family is key to the art of image-­construction in US politics but Indians seem more liberal and more forgiving on the personal front.