IT IS TIME TO RECLAIM OUR DEMOCRACY

With two rounds of polls remaining, it is almost certain that we are headed for a hung Parliament. Whichever be the constituents of the new coalition, it is also certain that we will not have to suffer another arrogant, reckless, and capricious Government, which bulldozed all democratic norms and subverted all the institutions.

It is mind-boggling how the PM’s larger-than-life image, albeit publicity-driven, has been so severely dented in just 2-3 years that he is being lampooned publicly. This should be a chastening lesson, not just for the BJP, but to all political parties that people cannot be fooled by false promises, communal polarization, diversionary jingoistic rhetoric or deceitful media manipulation.  

Regardless of which coalition comes to power, the new Government will inherit staggering problems. Massive unemployment, agrarian distress, a slowing economy with low gross capital formation and loss of faith in democratic institutions are just a few of them, which will need to be addressed on top priority.

In this post, however, I am not seeking to address specific problems or discuss various options. That will have to wait till the final elections results are in, and a new Government is installed. This post is intended to highlight some generic, vital issues that the new dispensation will have to tackle up front.

·      White Paper on State of the Economy. That the economy is not in a sound shape is quite well known. However, what is the actual state of health of various sectors of the economy is not clear, primarily because the BJP government has been obfuscating and concealing those details. The NSSO, which used to publish data periodically had been rendered ineffective and hence there are no reliable statistics available on various economic parameters. This has even hurt the credibility of our data in multilateral institutions, which used to rely on such primary data. Even the RBI, which ought to function autonomously, has often been arm-twisted by the FM to be less forthcoming, especially post-demonetization.

·     Restoring Credibility of Institutions. The credibility of various Constitutional and other important institutions has taken quite a beating under the current dispensation. This will need to be reversed on an urgent basis to restore the people’s faith in them and in the Rule of Law.

·   Transparent Investigation of all Deals and Wrong-doings. A large number of alleged scams, arbitrarily awarded sweetheart deals, shoddy investigation and suppression of serious crimes etc have taken place, which the Government ham-handedly abetted or concealed. All these must be probed and the guilty brought to book. This must be done in a totally transparent manner, without it appearing to be out of political vendetta. This is vital to restore the people’s faith and to send the message that no one is above the law, regardless of financial or political clout.  

·   Appointments to Constitutional Positions. Despite the Founding fathers clearly laying down norms for appointments to critical Constitutional positions to ensure separation of powers, most Governments have tried to fill them with cronies. This must stop, as many such appointees have been brazenly partisan towards the ruling dispensation. Parliament must enact a law to prohibit the appointment of SC and HC judges and senior bureaucrats to such positions within three years of their retirement to prevent their currying favours with the Government while in service when discharging their duties.

·     Rectifying the Ideological Tilt. A large number of appointees were placed in various official and quasi-official institutions, educational bodies, and even government offices who had an ideological background, which militated against the secular ethos enshrined in our Constitution. This is dangerous for the unity, integrity and communal harmony of the country and such elements need to be weeded out.

·     The Politicisation of the Armed Forces. This extremely dangerous trend has been seen recently. It will leave a devastating impact not just on the fighting potential, camaraderie and morale of the Armed Forces, but on the security of the Nation itself. This has to be ruthlessly curbed and reversed. Political and bureaucratic interference in the appointment to senior ranks too must end.  

·  Norms for Media. Never before in the Nation’s history, has our Media been so outrageously partisan as in the recent past. It is a crying shame for an institution, which is supposed to be a vital pillar of our democracy. This is a critical challenge since a balance has to be struck between genuine freedom of the press and some form of regulation. Ideally, it should be self-regulation and media should be judged for its independence in the court of public opinion. That, regrettably, is not happening. The government must evolve a consensus to have some sort of legislative or normative curbs on media ownership so that Media is not manipulated by convergent corporate and political interests. The public too must very emphatically call out and lampoon Media channels and anchors that try to fool the people with their partisan coverage.

Regrettably, in the past few years, our democracy has come close to being characterized as a banana republic, primarily due to the egregious trampling of all democratic norms by the current dispensation. It will be a challenge for the next Government that it does not succumb to the same temptation of unbridled abuse of power for electoral gains or personal profit. It will be an even greater challenge for we the people not to get carried away by politicians’ promises. We have to remain ever vigilant and must boldly question the wrong-doings of the high and mighty, whether in the Government or outside it.  

IT IS TIME TO RECLAIM OUR DEMOCRACY.