When India gained independence in 1947(or to be precise were 'gifted' independence in 1947), the huge population had little or no say in the election [again to be precise 'selection'] of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru as India's first Prime Minister. All that the word 'democracy' signified was that when it came to our political ideology, we were with the western side of the two power blocs existent at that point of time in world history. Whether we accept it or not, Nehru was clever enough to 'strike a balance' by going democratic and socialist both. He wanted the US, but was too afraid to lose the Russians or the Chinese for the matter of fact. The idea was to take the best, and leave the rest. But one gets a feeling that this was done to accommodate the policy and outlook of Non-Alignment that Nehru always endorsed. He wanted India to benefit from everyone, not a bad idea at all.
Over the years, the Indian democracy plunged into the dark and dead phase of a single party system. If you ask me, this was no different from what was going on in China. The Indian National Congress, riding high on the pre-independence exploits of Nehru and Gandhi, managed to win the confidence of the Indian voters over and over again. But there was no contest actually; no other party was a big gun enough to pose a challenge to the strong and widely respected INC. See during those days, the INC was not a political party for the people of India. The image was that these are Gandhi's men who fought hard for our independence and hence deserve to govern us. In the deification of Gandhi, we gifted ourselves with a long lasting Congress hegemony. In the 1970s, the Janta Party did manage to upset the INC momentum, and in the 1990s the party [INC] went through a lot of ups and downs, but if you see it in the long run, INC continues to dominate the Indian political scene - and that too by quite a margin.
What actually propelled the growth and success of INC? As mentioned above, it was the general belief that INC is NOT a political party but simply 'Bapu's group'. Also, both direct and indirect illiteracy ensured that the INC people enjoyed their dominance for a long time. Direct illiteracy obviously means people who were not educated. But what about indirect illiteracy? See even the educated masses were 'educated' and 'trained' to respect and spread INC ideals. The course books included scores of paragraphs describing the work of INC and glorifying INC leaders. INC popularized itself in the course books and created a section of educated people in the society which helped in spreading the message of INC. Indirectly illiterate, these people had no idea that were not 'educated' but 'trained'. It is quite an irony that Gandhi himself wanted the INC to dissolve as he believed that it had served its purpose. But with Nehru and a few other opportunists in waiting, INC was transformed into a full time political party. This meant bidding farewell to the Gandhian concepts of complete selflessness and social service.
The 90s showed us so how 'unstable' a democracy can get. Also, how desperate the leaders can be. When the NDA finally showed up as a strong opponent to the INC led UPA, we entered the age of coalition parties. Yes indeed the Janta party was a coalition, but a coalition as fragile and uncoordinated as the Janta Party cannot really be included in our history books as a 'proper coalition' or as a coalition which forced the INC to seek friends.
Over the years, elections in India have been fought over petty, unreasonable, ridiculous and useless issues. Right from religion to caste, the blame game continued and the voters were misguided or uninterested in elections altogether. But now we see a different breed of voters. This is a time when a democracy is tested. This is a time when political parties must revamp their strength and modernise their methods. Any party that fails to concur - is lost forever. The political parties of our time must realize the importance of restructuring their framework as well as their ideology. We all know how badly the BJP struggles to reach to a conclusion when it comes to deciding the party's basic ideology. The members are nibbling away at each other's faults and the whole alliance [NDA] is shapeless and in despair.
The INC meanwhile, is surrounded by allegations of corruption and poor governance and has become the 'virtual punch bag' for most of us. Need an outlet to drain all your anger and disgust? Start a discussion about UPA and you will be relieved and leave the room as a relaxed and satisfied soul. I don't know what actually invited this avalanche of hatred, but the UPA surely needs a BUZZ!!
After Rajnikant and CID jokes, the UPA jokes entertain audiences all around the world.
We now shift our focus to State elections. If we look at the past one decade, we will see that the verdict of voters in two states, prove that India has entered into the age of the reasonable voter. Gone are the days when a party could rule without offering any form of development to it's voters. When the Laloo Prasad government was given a shocker by Nitish Kumar and company, almost every political analyst blamed the dismal condition of Bihar for the fall of Laloo Prasad Yadav. But what we fail to realize is that along with the pathetic condition of Bihar, it was also the realization of the 'good' by the people of the state that led to the election of Nitish Kumar's team. The people were able to reason out that the current party is not capable enough to take care of Bihar anymore and it is time that someone else was presented with the opportunity to provide and protect the State of Bihar. If we closely observe the activities of Nitish Kumar in the recent past, we can easily deduce that the man has realized that it is only through effective development that his party will be able to continue in Bihar.
Mayawati's elephant succumbing to a team of experienced 'cyclists', namely the 'Baap-Beta' combination of Mulayam and Akhilesh, is another example of how poor performance can lead to an absolute shocker. Mayawati was busy constructing parks and statues while the people of UP were struggling to make ends meet. Along with this, extreme levels of corruption and widespread discontent among the 'Dalits', forced them to withdraw support from their own party. Meanwhile, Akhilesh has promised to deliver. Yes that does not sound like anything new but going by the trends, the duo will know that without development, they cannot expect to stretch their welcome in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The Yadavs are infamous for crimes of all sorts. They need to get rid of this tag and make a move towards developing Uttar Pradesh in a manner that will dazzle not only the people of the state but also the people of the country as is in the case of Nitish Kumar.
So with the voters drawing up a list of pros n cons for every political party that appears before them begging for their vote and support, it becomes very important for each party to enter the 'House Of The Voters' with a report card in hand, clearly indicating how useful they have actually been. I'm so happy that the 'Report Card Age' has finally arrived in India. Just waiting for it to spread its wings and reach every corner of the country, so that the country and the states can actually experience the good that comes from living in a democracy. Buckle up, the journey begins!
No comments:
Post a Comment