OUR  STRANGE  DEMOCRACY

Jai Prakash Sharma

              The fact that India is one of the few countries which having become independent after the Second World War has successfully practiced democracy is often mentioned as a great achievement. That with all our problems we have succeeded in governing ourselves through the Westminster model of democracy for some sixty years is no doubt worthy of appreciation. But the unmistakable ugly trends which have emerged in the past few years are forcing most concerned citizens to ask whether democracy based on universal adult suffrage is suitable for India or whether some modification of the system is called for particularly because the present system has been found incapable of meeting the challenges posed by the unscrupulous operators of the system.

ELECTORS AND  LEADERS

                    One of the major factors constituting an almost insurmountable obstacle for democracy to be properly practiced in India is the great diversity in the attitude of the people towards elections. A substantial portion of the electorate consists of those who are either totally illiterate or even if they have some sort of education are entirely incapable of comprehending the issues which are important for the well being of the nation. For many of the poverty stricken people whose sole concern is how to make both ends meet, small benefits are a fair price of their votes. Many others are forced by the local lords to vote in favour of the designated candidate or to refrain from voting. Some are physically prevented from reaching the polling stations at all. For many others loyalty to caste, sub-caste or religion or some other grouping to which they may happen to belong takes precedence over all other loyalties. The non-existence of any party having popular acceptability all over the country has ushered in an era of alliances/opportunistic groupings of a large number of parties wielding power at the center as well as in some states. In this scenario even very small parties with only a few legislators who can tilt the balance in favour of one or the other of two contending groupings can  and often do get a share in the government far larger than would be merited by the numerical strength of their legislators making a travesty of  the concept of "Popular Mandate" 

                     Those manipulating this vast segment of the electorate form a hierarchy reaching up to the election managers of the contesting political parties. These masters of electioneering strategy have succeeded in dividing the country's electorate into vote banks which can be swayed by appealing to their narrow sectarian instincts and promises of redressal of real or imaginary grievances.or simply rewards for voting in favour of the specified party.

                   Yet another difficulty faced by our country lies in the inability of our political parties to produce good leaders. While there is no dearth of men possessing the necessary talent and integrity yet they generally fail to rise to the top. The best example of this deadly affliction is the oldest and the best known party-- the Indian National Congress which seems to be unable to survive except when led by a member of the Nehru dynasty. Whether the leader has any merit is of no consequence; mere belonging to the family is enough.

                  Winning elections by whatever means fair or foul has become the standard norm. A direct consequence of this is the large number of notorious criminals fielded by all political parties and who after winning the elections proceed to extract the maximum profit from their acquired political power. The powerful seem to have risen above the reach of the law.

Last update : 04-02-2009 06:29

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