Respecting the verdict and its lesson

By K.N. Pandita

Recent Lok Sabha elections have sprung a surprise to observers who did not expect a landslide victory for the Congress party. The bitter experience of past two parliamentary elections had made people pessimistic about single majority party government in the country in years to come. Somehow we were getting reconciled to coalition governments as a long staying phenomenon not only at the centre but also in the states in assembly elections.

In the history of our parliamentary democracy, past two or more decades was a period of experiments in running the state through coalition governments. It was argued that coalitions were necessitated by the rising aspirations of hitherto underprivileged sections of society. Indian constitution has been alive to this harsh reality and incumbent governments of whatever ideology they might be could not turn a blind eye to this pressing social requirement. The rise of BSP in Uttar Pradesh was a phenomenon that indicated smooth transfer of authority to the deprived classes. Resilience of Indian Constitution provided space and attributes to this socio-political transformation without prejudice.  

However, if this social-political movement were left to proceed along its natural course, we might have witnessed healthier evolution of our democracy. When the focus of political class shifted from social and economic issues to crudities of vote bank syndrome and parochialism, regionalism, sub-regionalism, caste-ism etc. it damaged the social movement aimed at uplifting the deprived and the downtrodden classes and denigrated their aspirations. Coalition phenomenon flourished on this dangerous and disastrous trend.

Hindsight shows that coalition system has not succeeded to forge camaraderie among the so-called like-minded groups coming together to provide good governance. Conditions of running coalition governments demand extraordinary sense of sacrifice for the national cause, far greater tolerance and vision. Two instances can be cited in this context that left behind a bad impression on the mind of politically conscious segment of civil society. The most irresponsible manner in which the Left withdrew support to the UPA government on an issue of immense national importance, and again the callous way in which PDP ditched the Congress-led government in Jammu and Kashmir after having received its support for three-year term are examples of sordid reminiscences that have reverberated in voting strategy of the electorate in current Lok Sabha elections.

Landslide victory of Congress is not only the victory of Congress but also the defeat of coalition government phenomenon which has done immense harm to the country. As such, now foremost of all other priorities, the victorious Congress in the seat of power has to play a role that satisfies the deprived, disempowered and marginalised segments of society. In other words it has to play the dual role of a national party and a regional complimentary party that governs and advises.

BJP and the Left, who have been made to eat the humble pie, will have to do good deal of introspection. In the case of Indian Left, the six-decade long era of king-making sans accountability has come to an ignominious end. Nandigram episode unmasked its ugly side and with that volunteered for hari-kari. It is one thing for the Communists to sit in opposition while BJP was in power and another thing to sit in opposition when Congress is in driver’s seat. Internal dissension among Kerala Communists and power-intoxication of West Bengal comrades catalysed their disaster. The structure that will rise from this debris, and of course not immediately but with the passage of time, will feel the dire necessity of looking homeward for inspiration rather than eastward.

BJP’s performance has shown how the party has become the prisoner of its own fallacies. On no issue of national importance has the party been able to formulate a clear cut policy that would appear viable and implemental. Its election campaign was insipid, and soulless. Moreover for quite some time, BJP was gradually losing its democratic and intellectual élan and drifted towards personality cult and a culture of clannish allegiance to the tribal chief. It always shied away from vital issues and unfortunately got mired in a game of rivalry overshadowing national issues. Arbitrary expulsion of dissenters from the party rather than engaging them in a meaningful intellectual debate on crucial policy matters had made it clear to keen observers that the party was on a downslide. Its leader has to resign because he had built an image larger than his size and comically on sandy foundation. It is not the slogan of Hindutava or alleged communal proclivities that contributed to its disastrous stagnation with the electorate: its lack of mass appeal on economic and social issues of the nation resulted in the disillusion of voters. Above all, the abysmally un-statesman like role which BJP played in the Indo-US nuclear hiatus convinced countrymen that the party claiming national stature was hardly sensitive to long-range national interests. It had a rare opportunity of stealing the march over Congress if it had overcome the weakness of petty political rivalry and shown to the nation that national interests were closer to its heart than party interests. BJP’s revival now depends on how fast and how without acrimony its command is transferred to the younger generation for whom nation supersedes party, faith or ideology.

Regional parties have been relegated to irrelevance in a sense. It shows that people do not like holding the mainstream political parties something like a hostage to regional aspirations. Partial rejection of regional parties in national parliament shows the maturing of Indian electorate and those who were ready to crack their whip in a prospect of hung parliament have been humbled. If they are wise enough, they should take this lesson home and re-think their political roadmap keeping in mind that what the people of India want is unity in diversity. State assemblies may be a house reflecting diversity of aspirations; of course not to anybody’s disadvantage, but on national level they want unity. This I think is a big lesson we get from the result of just concluded Lok Sabha elections. Not only the result but the lesson from the result of election is also to be respected.
(The writer is the former Director of the Centre of Central Asian Studies, Kashmir University).