DailyPost 2779
POLITICAL POCKET BOROUGH
The democratic realpolitik can have emanated its own string of terminologies, which reflect the practice of democracy in India. It is a different world from the copybook classic constitution and law mandated democracy and governance which we have learned and then perfected the art of paying lip service to. The political terminology primarily revolves around how to manage elections because that is what democracy is all about in this country. It has been brought down to a level that even thinking or talking about governance, leaving aside responsive governance is like bringing the stars down to the earth for us.
These terms have immense practical meaning and have multifarious manifestations, which might take decades to fathom out, if you are able to, by any chance. The first and the most critical is the vote bank, it is created in a variety of ways. Most big leaders boast of it. The second is what we are termed as a safe seat. The presumption is whatever come may, the person concerned will win that seat, even if he shifts parties. The third and a major hit in the current scenario is freebies. The cash and kind transfer to what is called a beneficiary; a human being subjugated to subhuman existence, being provided measly government doles. Thus, beneficiary becomes fourth such terminology.
What becomes extremely important and what the politician can boast of is the safe and sound springboard for political launch and consolidation over and over for him. Slowly it extends to his family. Mostly, business of politics is akin to family run businesses, but differently professional. For the purposes of easy understanding, it can be termed as “Political Pocket Borough.” The concerned politician /and finally holds complete sway over a jurisdictional area, may be constituency, taluks, district or a region, where he and his family holds complete sway to an extend that they become the destiny of the area.
Whatever comes from the government for that area, is branded in the name of that politician / family, ranging from providing an educational institution to even small amounts of money supposedly paid out of his pocket for someone’s funeral expenses. He is mini-Santa Claus and a local muscleman integrated in one professional product. The owner of the Political Pocket Borough decides everything for that area. He through his hangers on, so to say, runs a parallel governance mechanism, which can infiltrate in the official machinery at any level and for anything with impunity and more often than not, come out to be successful.
THE PRACTICE OF CREATING POLITICAL JAGIRDARS IS PRECISELY THE CONCEPT OF POLITICAL POCKET BOROUGHS.
Sanjay Sahay
Have a nice evening.