On the eve of these elections, I observe that there is a mood in the public that nothing good is going to happen. Cynicism and indifference, as they say, are slow suicide. Yet, the worst and the most criminal politician is still better than the indifferent and smart Indian. This kind of Indian – middle class and at least a graduate – doesn’t really want anything, except maybe to go back to his or her pub or club.

They come in two kinds: one is always critical and not ready to do anything about it. He watches TV and laments, “Why can’t we be Singapore?” Or he is the non-resident Indian who says, “Why can’t you people get your roads right? Is someone from Mars going to do it for you?” The truth is that we are both the problem and the solution. A politician is you in the mirror and the political culture is our collective creation.

The second kind is the guy who is not concerned about anything: neither cynical nor critical. He is wallowing in his own smug and complacent cocoon either as a young techie or a small shop owner who is happy with his family, clubs and pubs and is not even concerned, and that is the worst.

There is also a huge resentment among our rural young and some urban youth who are educated but still can’t land up a job. They feel that we live in an unjust society and any amount of personal honesty is not going to change it. History provides the concept of the revolutionary, who addresses an unjust society by joining Naxalite or Maoist groups, because he sees violence as the only recourse.

Karnataka also has the Naxal problem now in two districts. There are thousands of youngsters who come to Bangalore looking for a job with a basic degree and yet don’t get it. At some point, they feel insulted or ill-treated beyond their threshold and join a violent group.

The only way to prevent society from falling further into such disarray is to exit your own complacency and cynicism to make things better. No more can you just sit back and keep criticising the state of the nation because that has no future. You cannot also say that someone else should do it because that’s just mortgaging your future. You have to do something to see to it that there is a future for you. This is the reason Anna Hazare appealed to young people, he got them to do something they had never done: attend a political rally.

Have you ever seen an ordinary, educated and middle-class professional attending a Rahul Gandhi, BS Yediyurappa or Sharad Pawar rally voluntarily? No. The crowd at such rallies are all party workers who are brought there in tractors and buses and paid Rs 500 each for it. The parties construct a huge kitchen at the venue. The crowd just wants to enjoy a free outing to the nearby city.

At Anna Hazare’s Jantar Mantar protest in Delhi, people from IBM, Toyota, etc had come with their wives and kids. Many of them felt that it was a great moment in Indian history. This is Anna Hazare’s greates contribution. He offered aspiration and hope, and Arvind Kejriwal converted that hope into political action.

People always ask me if Anna should have contested in these elections. My answer is that we need people like Anna Hazare or Mahatma Gandhi as our conscience keepers. With Mr Hazare’s health taking a toll on him, it’s good that he didn’t contest the elections. When a government comes to power, you need someone like Mr Hazare to keep a check on them. Even if AAP becomes corrupt, we will require Anna Hazare.