MANY pundits, gleeful at the humiliation of the Congress, have praised the BJP’s moves. This is one more chance to show how inefficient the Congress is, they say. And perhaps that is true—the party does not seem to have the old instincts any more. At the same time, it is possible to point out that the BJP has not played by the rule book and more important, the independent parties have let down their supporters and voters.
Politics and morality don’t mix it is said, and we have all come to accept it as a given. Forget morality, even constitutional provisions can be bent and stretched to one’s advantage and all kinds of justifications are advanced to show the righteousness of one’s actions. And of course realpolitik, which is based on pragmatic rather than principled politics, is seen as admirable.
Thus, the BJP’s swift moves in Manipur and Goa to form the government even though it did not win the highest number of seats, has been interpreted by many of the commentators as a clever political move. Convention dictates that the Governor give the party with the most seats about 48 hours or so and then invite it to take the first shot but there have been exceptions in the past. The Governor does have the discretion to call others, if he or she feels that such an arrangement will be inherently unstable.
Yet, there is room for criticism of the action of the two Governors, both nominated by the BJP. The Congress, which was left fuming while the BJP picked up the support of the independents and smaller parties, says it tried to meet the Governor but couldn’t get a meeting.
Many pundits, gleeful at this humiliation of the Congress, have praised the BJP’s moves. This is one more chance to show how inefficient the Congress is, they say. And perhaps that is true—the party does not seem to have the old instincts any more. At the same time, it is possible to point out that the BJP has not played by the rule book and more important, the independent parties have let down their supporters and voters.
Vijay Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party, who won three seats, has turned out to be the most agile political player. A former Congressman, he had attacked the BJP continuously during his campaign. He had called Parrikar a ‘dictator’. Now he will work under him. His supporters have been taking to the social media to criticise him, calling his switch a betrayal, while the president of the GFP has resigned.
The BJP’s claim to form the government is primarily on two grounds. One, it has the support of more MLAs, which it can prove on the floor of the house. The second is that it won a bigger percentage of the votes. The second one is laughable — it makes a mockery of the whole idea of the Indian electoral system, where the number of seats won matter more than the number of votes. There are many number of instances where political parties have won very few seats despite getting substantial voter support.
Besides, if this example were applied in Manipur, then the BJP would take second place to the Congress, which won more votes and enough seats to just secure three extra supporters to form the government. And yet the Governor Najma Heptulla invited the BJP which won only 21 seats in a 30-member house!
As far as the first argument is concerned, it well may have the backing of the smaller parties, but this can be proved only after the party with the highest number of votes has been invited and has failed to form a government.
Of course there are a number of cases where Governors have ignored the claims of the party that came first, but those have been criticised—why would the BJP, a self-proclaimed party with a difference, do the same as the Congress?
Distinguished lawyer Fali Nariman has pointed out that there is enough judicial precedent to show that the Governors have got it wrong this time and the Supreme Court too has erred. The Court refused to intervene in the decision but ordered that the BJP show its strength on the floor within two days—having secured the support of the smaller parties, that shouldn’t be difficult. All small parties tend to veer towards the party at the Centre because that is their only chance of tasting power.
The Congress has been left licking its wounds and hopes to play a strong opposition. Moreover, in the smaller states, where one or two defections can turn a government into a minority one, anything can happen. But the Congress shouldn’t hold its breath—the BJP is now on the ascendant and will do everything to get and then retain power. The smaller parties and independents will be kept in line—the BJP does not brook opposition or defiance from its allies, as many at the Centre have realised. In its bid to get as many state governments as possible, the BJP has now added four more and will continue to increase its tally. The other parties can only stand and stare.
The author is a Founding Editor of The Wire.
He is a journalist and writer based in Mumbai
