Righting the Wrongs of ‘Democracy’
Karan Kharb
Even
as the weather is getting cooler, the political atmosphere is getting hotter. Fuelled
by the rampant corruption and bad governance, the popular mood is anything but
cool. Undoubtedly, the public is yearning for far reaching changes in the
polity and governance of the country. Never before has ‘corruption’ been an
election issue as significant as it is this time. Never before, also, has any
Central Government sunk so deep in a marsh of scams and scandals as the present
UPA Government. Narendra Modi largely, hailed as a symbol of honesty, development
and nationalistic pride, has unleashed an all-out offensive against the
Congress. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress on
the other hand are grappling hard finding no better riposte than calling the
media opinion polls foul or reclaiming Sardar Patel to dispossess Modi and the
BJP of the iron Man who gave meaning to Freedom by integrating a fragmenting
India in 1947. Over-indulgence in
non-issues and petty nit picking during poll campaigns have often drowned the
major issues that need to be addressed more responsibly.
The current
political environment raises questions larger than those being traded in the election
speeches and media debates. Here are
some crucial issues that need a closer and deeper look by all those who are
concerned about India’s future.
Let’s have Democracy first!
The candidate
selection process followed by our political parties is fundamentally flawed and
undemocratic because people’s representatives are arbitrarily nominated and
imposed upon the electorate and the voters are advised, lured and blackmailed
to vote for these party nominees. World’s largest democracy thus denies its
people their right to choose and sponsor their preferred representatives to
contest in elections under the concerned Party’s banner. The practice in vogue tends
to promote sycophancy and stifles people’s voice because the undeserving manage
to secure party tickets through unfair means which are too obvious to remain
hidden any more.
Another
major flaw that stifles popular public opinion is the convention of issuing ‘whip’
for voting on crucial legislations in the Parliament. Members’ voting under
diktats of the whip is fundamentally flawed because it reduces the Party to
one-man show and deprives the individual MPs from giving free expression to the
aspirations of his electorate. If a single party vote were so vital and
decisive, why have all the members voting? The practice of whip has vitiated
the democratic voting regime and promoted despotic whims and fancies of the
Party lords.
People, media
and institutions like the Election Commission (EC) must address these issues
and facilitate a more genuine public representation in the legislatures at all
levels.
Fallacious Canard – Coalitions
& Winnability
Two features
of India’s contemporary political setting – the idea of ‘coalition’ and
‘winnability’ – have been unfairly presented to the people by the politicians
and political thinkers in the recent past. It is almost universally believed
that the era of single party governments is over and coalitions are now the
order of the day, as if elections were just another name for fashion parades
and beauty contests. Far from being a popular fashion, coalition governments are
a curse that has befallen because of the murky political environment that has
confused the voter making his choice difficult. The practice of coalition
governments has made politics a highly lucrative profession for the power hungry
opportunists and criminals. Recent elections have repeatedly shown bitter
enemies – who had vowed to wipe out each other, called names and hurled abuses and
accusations on each other – suddenly teaming together to form coalitions soon
after the election results were announced.
Rhetoric and
cunningly orchestrated campaigns apart, vote bank is where all parties
swoop and converge from all directions. In an environment where all promises,
assurances and manifestos are competitively luring and character no different, it
is for the swinging lot of gullible voters to vote and gloat for another time.
“What is wrong with coalitions? It is people’s will and fully constitutional,”
argue all legal eagles and political analysts. A counter argument is why has
the Manmohan Singh government earned sobriquets like ‘a government in ICU’,
‘policy paralysis’, not to mention a lot more humbling comments?
Winnability
- a novel word and factor manufactured by the innovative Indian political
brains – overrides all other qualities and factors like honesty, espousal of Cause,
ethics, character, education and experience when it comes to giving party
tickets for elections. The end result is
the influx of criminals into the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. There are
over 165 MPs in the present Lok Sabha who face criminal charges – all winnable,
nay, invincible at the elections. This being already a third of the Lok Sabha, the
number of outlaws is rising menacingly with every new election. The secret of
their invincibility lies in their ‘how-dare-you’ posturing. Muscle and
money are complementary in their role as forces and resources of the evil. Hence,
all else fades and dries up in the range of their spew. The next election might
well throw up a tally of an even bigger number of criminals in the Lok Sabha
clearing the way for a rapist, murderer or a terrorist to be India’s Prime
Minister heading the Government in the name of ‘Coalition Dharma’ –
constitutionally a perfect democratic amalgam mandated by the people! And yet,
we are led to believe in the innocuous inevitability and the democratic
validity of a process that has become far more sinister than many an autocracy.
Some Suggestions
In statutory
terms, it is for the EC to conduct ‘free and fair elections’. This in itself empowers the EC to initiate
measures to check not only entry of the ‘unfair’ in the fray but also impose
accountability on speeches, allegations and claims made by parties. More importantly, post-poll alliances among
the erstwhile rivals are grossly ‘unfair’ for being wholesale betrayal of
people’s mandate and, therefore, must be disallowed and disqualified. In the
case of pre-poll alliance too, parties coming together must declare their
common minimum programme and seek people’s mandate on their intended post-poll
role.
The spread of
communication technology in India is a precious modern asset that makes it
possible and affordable today for the poorest in the remotest areas to connect to
the relevant government desk – provided the Government really is ready to
connect and listen. A lot of
e-governance is already in place. Income tax returns are already an on-line function. Internet banking, e-ticketing, e-shopping and
so on are far more efficient and convenient activities in life today. If so,
there is a case for the EC to consider conducting elections through e-voting
especially when biometric IDs like Aadhaar cards are in place. If initiated,
this form of e-election will result in enormous savings because the
requirement for security forces will be drastically reduced. More importantly, the
‘voter turnout’ will rise significantly. Security cover will be required only for the
few ‘Nukkad Cyber Polling Booths’ which may have to be established for those
not yet able to vote online/on phone for whatever reasons.
Similarly,
rallies and processions could be replaced by ‘e-Chaupal/e-Rally’ where the EC
could help evolve a consensus among political parties and establish a network
of LED screens telecasting speeches of party leaders and the contestants.
Maybe, facilities like video-chat with voters could also be provided in time slots
worked out evenly for all contestants and parties. Imagine the relief such an
exercise will provide keeping roads and markets free from traffic jams besides
denying terrorists their lucrative targets!
The scenario
is that of great opportunities with plenty of talent and a vast reservoir of
young generation, which can position India in her cherished goal to lead the
world to more peaceful and prosperous times ahead. Our internal threats – corruption,
dysfunctional coalition governments, divisive politics, rising number of
criminals in politics and power – are simultaneously signalling ‘danger
ahead’. Will we make it to our goal? The
question stares India in the face.
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The writer
is a defence veteran, author and a social reformist who runs the NGO ‘Turning
Point India’.
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