DailyPost 2101
INDIAN DEMOCRACY’S NEW NORMAL
There are any number of indicators of the health of Indian democracy and every single time we find a sharp decline qualitatively, in each of these indicators. It can start from the quality of debates in our legislatures, mere attendance being a big thing, time taken for passage of bills, violence happening in its precincts, the language being used in the public domain inclusive of the electronic media, wash out of legislative sessions, the list can be endless. On the other hand, we find political violence, defections, horse trading, some governments in no way based on the mandate, resort politics, a variety of ways of doling favors, commitments and promises which never come into the public domain. If all this is known to the world, the safe presumption is that the real operational democracy is being played from behind the scenes.
The effort is to give a hunky dory impression of democracy, as it serves every stakeholders’ interest. You will barely find any of these talking about what ails our democratic system. They are fully satisfied. Everyone who conveniently gets into the power structure, exploits it to its fullest, without having any expertise, inclination to deliver governance and without having to make any effort, has no reasons to crib. The people of this country have become accustomed to this model of democracy; that they have to live within the limitations created by the politicians, the political class and a robust self-serving political ecosystem. Parties may come and go but this remains permanent, improving upon the return on investment every time. With every human being represented in this country, there would be a large part of the population, which wouldn’t have met an elected representative ever in their life.
Even after accepting this dismal performance, they don’t fail to surprise. The recent one is Maharashtra’s ongoing tussle with democracy. While the model is the same, the depths to which it has gone is just unimaginable. Democracy has been brought down to a level of a fracas. There are no sane views in the public domain criticizing it. Everyone seems to be involved as if Indian democracy is an illegal T20 match to be won for a huge prize money. Personal convenience / inconvenience runs supreme, the super inflated egos have to be massaged indefinitely. An electoral victory can take your life from the real to the surreal. The value of an MLA in Indian democracy has catapulted immensely in the last two decades or so. He has become the shining star of Indian democracy. Even better days ahead for him, it seems.
It is Maharashtra’s tryst with its elected representatives. It has already gone through a midnight government formation and its fall too. All those who have played havoc with the state, talk of Maharashtra’s pride. Now we have the most cadre based party going helter-skelter. They are on the verge of a street war. It’s like an ongoing hostage crisis. It is also being reported in that manner. A hijack which changes its location. Operations run from different locations. An unbroken supply chain. Maharashtra is hijacked. The voters are a forgotten lot by now, they have to fend for themselves, while chartered aircrafts fly at their representatives’ whims and fancies. Nobody knows the legal locus standi of the Deputy Speaker. The disqualification saga reaches the Supreme Court. The country’s top legal eagles fight it out for them. They are heard, there is no judicial delay. Justice to the people from those who have proven being unjust to their electors; morality and credibility ripped apart, is never going to happen. They have learned the art of navigating through the Indian constitutional battlefield with ease. The search for the real Shiv Sena is turning out to be a mirage. Money is a non-issue in these battles. This is turning out to be Indian democracy’s New Normal.
CAN WE EVER RETURN TO THE LETTER AND SPIRIT OF THE CONSTITUTION?
Sanjay Sahay