Several similar incidents can be pointed out readily, which is a nauseating condition.
by N.S.Venkataraman
The ongoing election process in five states in India clearly indicates that people’s views are not priority for various political parties and they think that people’s views can be taken for granted.
The manner in which the political parties are negotiating with each other for seat sharing and negotiating with several parties at the same time and jumping from one front to another, with least regard for policies, programmes and political principles, clearly highlight the fact that the elections in India have become a mockery.
While the situation is almost similar in all the five states going to polls shortly, let us take the case of three states to analyse the disgusting scenario.
Tamil Nadu scenario :
In Tamil Nadu, Congress party has been talking with DMK and wanted more than forty seats allotted to it in the front led by DMK.
DMK originally was unwilling to give more than 18 seats. Later on, Congress party complained that it has been treated with scant regard by DMK during discussions and it is reported that the state chief of the Congress party even shed tears while addressing the party workers. Then, a newly formed party led by Kamala Hassan, a cinema actor, was reported to have offered to provide more seats to the Congress party. Then, it is reported that DMK increased the number of seats to prevent the Congress party walking away and “sanctioned” 25 seats to the party.
Now, what is common between DMK, Congress and Kamala Hassan’s party ? In the discussions, policies and programmes were not discussed but only the negotiating skills mattered and the so called “winnability” of the parties , which otherwise meant that their capability to hoodwink the electorates. Perhaps, one thing common between these parties is that they have huge hatred for Prime Minister Modi. Is that enough to fight the elections together?
On another side, BJP was negotiating for more than 40 seats with AIADMK and finally settled for 20 seats, for whatever reasons.
Another party, known as PMK wanted some reservation for a particular caste and the AIADMK government obliged and the party joined the AIADMK front.
The above alignments are chaotic and there is no other way to describe it.
Puducherry scenario :
In the case of Puducherry, just before the announcement of the election date, many congressmen and some DMK men withdrew their support for Congress party leading to the fall of Congress government. They were all with the ruling front in Puducherry for a long time and left for no justifiable reasons. Obviously, they saw the “writing on the wall” and took pre emptive steps to protect their political interests.
West Bengal scenario :
In West Bengal, several TMC ministers and MLAs left TMC and joined BJP , even though they were all with the TMC for a long time. They seem to have suddenly”discovered” that TMC was misruling West Bengal, though they were part of the TMC government. Probably, they saw an advantage for their political interest by joining BJP.
Scant regard for public opinion :
All these above despicable conditions clearly show that the politicians, whichever the party or faction that they belong to , do not care as to what people would think about their jumping from one ship to another just to get personal advantages. Perhaps, these people do not have any commitment to any political philosophy and seem to think that politics is a matter of convenience.
Mockery of democracy :
Several similar incidents can be pointed out readily, which is a nauseating condition.
The way that the political parties are negotiating with one another to get maximum seats for themselves has created a condition, where the electorate are often left high and dry and with no choice other than voting for one front or another, inspite of the fact that some parties in the front may not be to their liking.
Though periodical election is the hallmark of democracy where people have the option to accept or reject one party or the other based on their performance and track record, the mixing of the political parties in various fronts before the election and dissolving the front after the election , make people feel frustrated and helpless.
Media’s role:
Unfortunately, the media in the country have failed to condemn such principle less coalitions in strongest terms but seem to be getting excited in speculating which party will be in which front and in the process, media get a lot of opportunities to publicise the “breaking news” and retain the “interest” of the people.
Need for corrective law :
While there is no doubt that political parties have made a mockery of the electoral process , now it has reached an absurd level, that would jeopardise the entire electoral democratic process in the country. The net result would be a “masala government” that would not be the representative government reflecting the people’s choice and will.
People cannot be accused for such conditions, as they are left with no choice due to the manipulative “strategies” of the political parties. In such conditions , we are seeing that NOTA votes are steadily increasing all over India.
Ultimately, the ground reality is that the country’s fate has gone into the hands of politicians , who have no principles or commitment to any particular cause but are only targeting to win polls and getting into the government by hook or crook.
It is high time that the Election Commission should look into this problem with seriousness that it deserves and should examine with great care as to whether the coalition of parties to fight elections should be banned once for all.
Perhaps, a strong people’s movement demanding such law is necessary. The question is who will bell the cat ?
Post a Comment