Election time- Passing the Baton, not the Blame!

A few days back, I was reading a rather elaborate and long interview of Madeleine Albright, Former US Secretary of State on foreign policy (courtesy- R) that a thought struck me- how each successive government of any country creates a picture of its country to the World outside. What Clinton or Bush government did is perceived by the world as what America did and not just their individual governments. What happened in India in 1991; the debacle and the subsequent reforms is what India did in the eyes of the world; not just Narshimha Rao’s government. The world sees a country as a unit; not fragmented terms of its individual governments. Shouldn't then, the election time be rightfully treated as passing the baton than passing the blame?

I see the whole process through the relay race. The athletes run and pass the baton at regular intervals to other athletes with one goal- winning the race. Unless there is perfect co-ordination and an intention of not only putting one’s best but bettering the other runners’ inadequacies, the team can’t win. Similarly, unless successive governments take ahead the work done by the previous government with utmost honesty, the goal of Nation building can’t be achieved! What politicians, Indians in particular do is to blame each other for the inadequacies and there in goes the goal of nation building for a toss! What if the baton slipped, what if the runner tripped; pick up, back them up and run forward.

Is there a point in blaming for mistakes in the middle of the field and hurling abuses at each other? Can’t they just shake off the dirt and run as best as they can? Is it too much to ask for the sake of the country?