Weak Opposition Will Turbo-charge New India
The BJP/NDA, rather than the Congress/UPA, at this time, may be in for a long stint in
power.
This is already, and moreso as the time goes on, will result in a
happy elimination of the distortions caused by the overt use of “secularism”
and “socialism”. A usage designed to hold back, and ignore, the interests of a
majority of Indians.
It is this outrage after all, that has consolidated the
voters, and propelled the BJP into power. One, with an absolute majority in the
Lok Sabha, for the first time in 30 years.
We are also in the process of witnessing a cautious
rebooting of the political narrative, in the face of much cacophony from the Opposition,
to remove the obstacles to a level playing field for all citizens.
Of course, this happy day did not come upon us all of a
sudden, but has been working its salience ever since the era of coalitions
began in earnest in the 1990s.
But, even ruling at the head of a coalition did not convince
an imperial Congress to broad-base its electoral politics to accommodate and
include.
The NDA’s former stint in power, at the apex of an unwieldy
40 plus party coalition, helmed by statesman AB Vajpayee, saw the only
manifestation of a multi-party democracy in this country.
But that lasted only for a little over 5 years. That is,
unless you count the short-lived Janata Party Government, and others, that
ruled for mere months, valiantly trying to be even-handed, if not cohesive.
But, in hindsight, the era of coalitions also brought to the
fore the difficulties posed by opposition, backed by leverage.
Small coalition partners held the sword of Damocles over the
survival of the central government, and swayed its policies.
Later, even sizeable, largely single party opposition, as in
the decade of UPA rule between 2004-14, failed to usher in much constructive
cooperation.
Part of the reason is that, as parliamentary democracy has
evolved in India, the concept of a “constructive opposition” has been upstaged
by partisanship - an attitude also very visible in America, much longer at the
practice of democracy than ourselves.
Is this then the essential flaw in democratic practice, that electoral dominance can subdue, but never
eliminate?
The present Indian Opposition is finding that its concerns,
the highlights of its era in power, may truly have passed.
Its best initiatives have been taken over by the Government,
and all it is left with are its failures, contradictions, and legacies of
corruption.
At first, if Congress and its allies thought they could
bounce back in 2019, they probably do not think so any more - threats of a supple
enough mahagatbandhan notwithstanding.
The ruling combine, aware and not smug, clearly has its
finger on the pulse of the electorate and its aspirations.
The BJP is, under the charismatic leadership of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, and the electoral engineering of Party President Amit
Shah, mopping up everything from grassroots elected local governments, to state after state in assembly elections.
Coincidentally, the situation is turning grim in many of the
competing political parties including a clutch of regional ones.
They are facing existential crises, and lack of traction. As
they lose power around the country, except in some stubborn pockets, their
ability to influence the national narrative is reducing dramatically.
While this may be bad news for the dwindling Opposition, it
is good news for the progress of the country.
Session after parliamentary session has been washed out
because of disruption and obtuse partisanship, particularly in the upper house
where the present government does not yet have a majority.
This has not only stopped or delayed vital legislation, with
disgraceful demonstrations as opposed to reasoned debate, but wasted a great
deal of the taxpayer’s money as well.
After the recent victories in four assembly elections,
particularly the overwhelming victory in Uttar Pradesh, the NDA is within sight
of a simple majority in the Rajya Sabha as well.
In short order, this will help the NDA Government
considerably in the forthcoming elections for the new President and Vice President,
in order to appoint persons of its choice.
But, with more expected assembly election wins in late 2017
and 2018, the NDA will be well poised to not only control both houses, but also
clinch the general elections in 2019, probably with enhanced strength.
This, in turn will enable it to proceed with much greater
boldness on pending and enabling legislation.
It will occasion a smoother interaction with the judiciary
with the ability to overrule any continued obstructionism from it.
The Government will also be able to address long-standing
and emotive issues such as the Uniform Civil Code and the building of a Ram
temple at Ayodhya.
It will be empowered to effectively tackle the unrest in the
Kashmir Valley, and Article 370.
It will be able to push reforms to provide a great boost to
the economy and sharply reduce the travails of the poor.
Departing then, from the much bandied conventional wisdom
that a “strong opposition” is good, even essential, for democracy, the opposite
can be argued for quite convincingly.
In emerging economies like ours, rising up from a colonial
past, with newly minted and grafted political systems, and universal suffrage
imposed suddenly, democratic opposition often proves to be an irritant.
It is, in India, just about 70 years old, and more generally,
it is democracy itself that results in full-fledged obstruction.
How efficient would China be, one wonders, if it had the
luxury of political freedoms for its people?
Our long-winded but hybridised political system (Constitution),
was cobbled together mainly using the British and American systems as role
models. It was done by a painstaking constituent assembly led by a somewhat
misunderstood Dr.B. Ambedkar.
So much so, that the original work, dedicated to the nation
in 1950, has been twisted, confused, subverted, and modified multiple times. And
most notoriously, via the 42nd amendment, of 1975.
The 42nd Amendment, forced upon the nation during
the Emergency by Indira Gandhi, introduced 59 separate modifications. Some of these
were subsequently reversed by the Janata Government that followed.
But, it also sought to redirect its essential nature, and
did untold damage by inserting “secular” and “socialist” to the “sovereign republic”
descriptor in the preamble section.
This, curiously, was let to stand by the Janata Government.
There was probably little realised about its pernicious
effects on “vote bank” politics at first. And it began to dawn on the nation
only when the Congress Party stopped receiving majority verdicts in elections.
This first period nevertheless lasted some 60 years, since 1947
- from Nehru’s rule of a fledgling nation to the exit of Rajiv Gandhi,
delivering, effectively, a one party rule.
Though this was not so in a formal sense, it was,
nevertheless a de facto reality.
It also afforded great ability to renege on solemn promises.
It was once thought that treaties entered into by Britain, the suzerain power,
with the Princely States, could never be thrown over till the sun and moon
travelled the heavens. But the British simply left, and threw the princes to
the wolves.
Likewise, that the Privy Purses would never be revoked by an
independent India as they were the price of accession. And, alongside, that the
Stalinist act of nationalising all the private banks at one fell swoop was
quite unthinkable!
And yet, all this was accomplished by mere executive action!
Now that the BJP with
its “sabka saath, sabka vikaas” philosophy, is on the threshold of mirroring
those first unfettered 60 years with untrammelled “single party” powers – it too,
will, inevitably, dismantle some of the shibboleths of those years.
This, even as the country
forges ahead to meet its matured “tryst with destiny” - to become, not merely independent,
but a developed nation.
One capable of meeting the aspirations of its largely young
population, of over 1.25 billion people.
For: Nationalist eJournal
(1,314 words)
14th April 2017 (Ambedkar Jayanti)
Gautam Mukherjee
Well discussed.
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