More to democracy than just numbers

More to democracy than just numbers

A healthy democracy requires healthy democratic practices. Inducements, chartered planes, resorts, money and muscle power should have no place in politics.

FPJ EditorialUpdated: Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 01:38 AM IST
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Shiv Sena rebel MLA Eknath Shinde meeting BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis. | File Image

Imagine a situation in which 50 MPs of the BJP are held captive in an Opposition-ruled state, pushing the Narendra Modi government at the Centre into the minority. Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi remain aloof? Will Home Minister Amit Shah not make any intervention? Will the Bharatiya Janata Party spokespersons speak the same language that they spoke during similar crises in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and now in Maharashtra? Obviously not. This example should help the RSS-BJP ecosystem, media and political observers understand the depth of the problem with objectivity. Those who didn’t see the farce in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand as a threat to democracy were given more opportunities in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh to wake up and take note of the lurking peril. Those who failed to see the larger threat to democracy that mass defections created include the judiciary, the Supreme Court as well, in addition to the legislature that wasn’t willing to see the political evil. Not only do mass defections, engineered by situational political logic, money power, coercive techniques or personal ambitions, pose a serious challenge to the party system in India, such incidents will ultimately destroy democracy. The sanctity of the people’s mandate, violated and mutilated so brazenly as witnessed in some states in recent times, will mean nothing if conspiracies hatched by MLAs, MPs or those who control the levers of power aren’t tackled with a robust legal framework.

Shocking defections took place in the past as well, with Uttar Pradesh witnessing several such incidents, but the new model of hijacking the people’s mandate is an entirely new phenomenon. An almost non-existent BJP installed its own government in Arunachal Pradesh because the Congress MLAs defected lock, stock and barrel. In Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the BJP grabbed power after being rejected in the elections. There was a need for the Supreme Court to examine the larger issues involved. It could have been easily done by curing some infirmities in the Anti-Defection Law but neither the judiciary nor the political leadership felt it was necessary to make amends. While the BJP wasn’t interested in addressing the concern, being the prime beneficiary of this perverse practice, even the opposition never took up the matter seriously. Why can’t a simple step – like debarring the defector or splitter from holding any public office for a much longer period, say for five years – be taken? Are we inviting MLAs to form a group and blackmail the chief minister and the party by making reasonable or grossly unreasonable demands? Should a group of MLAs be allowed to change the people’s verdict? Whether these MLAs are genuine converts fighting for a just cause, or opportunists who changed their heart because of personal aggrandisements, the sanctity of the people’s mandate cannot be subjugated to their whims.

There is no denying the fact that this problem will have to be addressed sooner rather than later. The prime minister himself should have taken the initiative to cure this disease afflicting the Indian polity. Numerical strength is critical but there is more to democracy than numbers. There is a soul of democracy that has to be protected. The stakeholders – political parties, judiciary, media and civil society – cannot remain mute spectators. Former BJP Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee sacrificed his government for want of a single vote. Vajpayee, one of the most respected leaders of the BJP, said at that stage, “If power comes my way by breaking parties, I will consider it sinful to touch such power.” The political class today should learn from this and build legal and political structures that prevent such deformities in Indian democracy. The Congress had posed a serious threat to democracy by misusing article 356 – dismissing opposition governments to impose President’s rule – and sufficient legal safeguards were introduced to address this menace. Now it is up to the BJP, the dominant party today, to reform the system that is threatened by the defection culture. After all, the country is bigger than parties and power games. India is too big a democracy to allow subversion by personal indiscretions, political conspiracies and money power. We should have collectively risen to the occasion much earlier, when Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh witnessed the ugly drama. What happened in Maharashtra should jolt us out of our self-induced slumber. A healthy democracy requires healthy democratic practices. Inducements, chartered planes, resorts, money and muscle power should have no place in politics. There is no need to wait for another political drama in some other state.

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