Looking at the current scenario, many people, especially the leaders of political parties and the intellectuals, are worried about the situation which the country would have to face if, no single party would get majority in coming lok sabha elections. Once when India’s past Prime Minister A.B.Bajpai, was asked about such a situation, he said that such a crisis could be faced by amending the Constitution.
When asked further what kind of amendment he had in mind, he said that, in Iceland, the country’s President does not allow any party to form a government unless he is satisfied that it would be stable and we also can vest our President with similar powers by suitably amending our Constitution. These and such other suggestions may have some merit but the basic question that remains is: “Why do we need to amend our Constitution to have an altogether new one? The answer that is generally given is: “Our founding fathers did not anticipate such a situation or certain kinds of situations” and that “an immense change has taken place in our political scenario since we adopted this national document”. However, this explanation is not satisfying, for it does not throw any light on why such a situation has developed within a period of less than 50-60 years.
A further probe into the cause leads one to the truth that the quality and the standard of politics in our country has degenerated so quickly that most politicians stand discredited. People also notice that many disgruntled politicians wreck the unity of their own party and there is constant wrangling and war of attrition going on even within the party. Hence, amendment to the Constitution or replacement of the document of governance may provide only a temporary remedy to an emergent situation but it is not an adequate alternative to the sterling qualities of character and probity.
A political leader must rise above narrower considerations of the self, his community or region and must serve the people with humility and hard work. As Former British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli said in his day, “The world is weary of statesmen whom Democracy has degraded into politicians” who can descend to any depth to capture power. The real remedy, therefore lies in making politics clean and basing it on values and sound principles. This can happen only when politics has a spiritual orientation.
