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MY
VIEW POINT
Whither Indian Democracy ?
By N
RAJASEKHARAN NAIR
IN THE recently held
by-election to the Thane Lok Sabha seat, the polling was as low as 26
per cent. Anand Paranjpe, the Shiv Sena candidate won the seat
getting a little over half the number of votes cast. When we speak of
a government of the people, for the people and by the people, the
underlying concept is that of the maximum participation of the people
in the electoral process. The right to exercise one’s franchise is
one of the most important rights of the citizen enshrined in the
constitution. The indifference towards elections would undermine the
democratic system. Thane is not an exception. It is an example of
the emerging trend in elections all over the country.
Let us take a look at
the candidates who become members of the State Assemblies and the
Parliament which are law making bodies. We do not expect every one
of them to be an expert on constitutional law. Nor is every one
expected to possess debating skills. The least we expect of them is a
clean public image and some awareness of the nation’s problems. The
picture that emerges belies all our expectations.
 A
PTI report says that in the newly formed BJP government in Karnataka,
there are seven ministers who face criminal charges. They themselves
had mentioned this in the nomination papers filed before the Election
Commission. Malur MLA S N Krishanaih Shetty faces the highest number
of criminal charges. He is a prominent member of the Cabinet. The
cases pending against him include criminal breach of trust, corruption
and bribery, dishonestly inducing delivery of property etc. Mining
baron and BJP’s money bag B.Sriramulu faces grave charges like attempt
to murder and dacoity. In at least two police station limits in
Bellary, he is categorized as class “A” history sheeter. No wonder,
he is eying the Home Ministry, says the report. The others have
relatively minor charges against them.
What is relevant to
the MLAs is equally applicable to the MPs. Shibu Soren’s case is well
known. The Central Minister was arrested and jailed on criminal
charges. However, he was acquitted by a higher court and he returned
to adorn the old seat which he had left. Lalu Prasad Yadav, the
Railway Minister and the internationally acclaimed management guru had
to apply to the court to get his passport released when he was to go
on a lecture tour abroad. Recently, the CBI has charge-sheeted former
Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala in connection with a scam
relating to the appointment of 3000 junior teachers in the State
during 1999- 2000. Nearer home, an elected representative, Arun Gawli,
has been booked under the stringent MOCCA Act and is now in jail.
Assam Education Minister Ripun Borah was sacked from the Ministry and
has been remanded to judicial custody by a Delhi court for allegedly
offering a bribe of Rs. 10 lakh to a CBI officer. Uttar Pradesh
Minister for fisheries, Jamuna Nishad was sacked by Chief Minister
Mayawati hours after he was charged with murder of a police
constable. It is another matter that the Chief Minister herself is
facing charges in the Taj Corridor case. The list of such members in
our august
legislative bodies and government is endless. The sad
fact is that our political parties, instead of denying tickets to such
elements, are vying with one another to woo them.
 Let
us also take a look at the manner in which the elected representatives
contribute to the
functioning of the legislative bodies. The sessions are generally
marked by poor attendance. And some of those who attend have the
record of never having opened their mouths during entire terms.
Obviously, bills, even important ones, get passed without a debate.
The mayhem created by some of the MPs in Parliament is still fresh in
our memory. The shouting brigade wouldn’t allow the speaker top
conduct the proceedings. The paid no heed to his repeated orders.
The Speaker, then, threatened to resign. It too did not have any
impact. Unable to control the unruly MPs, he switched off the lights
in the house. The MPs didn’t mind and continued with their freedom of
speech The TV screens had gone blank. They
knew that their great performance wouldn’t be watched by the people.
That didn’t deter them. Eventually, the Speaker Somnath Chatterji
served notice of privilege on 32 of the most vocal MPs and ordered
them out of the House. Later, the Congress and the BJP leaders pleaded
with the Speaker to relent and he obliged.
The founding fathers
of the Constitution would never have imagined that the universal
franchise enshrined in it would be hijacked by money and muscle
power. They had envisaged a government of the majority party with a
responsible opposition. However, the opposition parties are here to
oppose anything that the ruling party does or says. Seldom have they
offered constructive criticism or useful suggestions to solve
problems. The two-party system has given way to multi-party
coalitions. As such the general election is not a duel between two
Prime Ministers – in waiting. The example of Deve Gowda shows that
even the leader of a small party can become the Prime Minister of
India.
The world’s greatest
democracy is, no doubt, a functioning democracy with all its attendant
shortcomings. It is also true that in spite of political parties, the
nation has made immense progress in several fields –industries, the
I.T, health care and scientific and nuclear research etc. It should
not be forgotten that there has been a steady erosion of values in
public life. It has to be halted. This is a task that lies ahead for
all political parties without exception.
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