Lok Sabha elections are likely to be held in April or May next year. Amongst the list of uncertainties like anti-incumbency, polarisation, caste equations, hypernationalism, one more level of uncertainty is going to be the mood of the young electorate, the 18-19-year-olds who often come to the polling booth with little political baggage but could become steadfast loyalists of a particular party. Whatever may be the case, millions exercise their voting power with a hope that new government will provide them an equal society, supported by institutions that limit extremes of wealth and poverty. They all wish for a leader who can focus on overall socio-economic development and identify himself/herself with large number of populations still living below poverty line and are generally deprived of basics needs of life.
On formation of the next government at the Centre, no one seems to be confident of predicting a single largest party with over two third majority like it happened in 2014. Most of the political pundits and analysts are generally on the following probable options: One current government at the Centre is likely to fall short of majority and may find it difficult to ally with others due to striking contrast in thinking and ideologies including Centralised form of leadership and the second option talks about the possibility of a third front formation with group of parties supporting even from outside. Almost all analysts with great degree of confidence say that the regional parties are going to perform much better this time and formation of third front is a great possibility.
In either of the scenario, I can sense a great degree of dissatisfaction and worry among citizens. They are quite right in their thinking as our recent political history is witness to several instances wherein there have been serious differences among allies giving birth to political instability, slow pace of investments and declining business confidence all over the country.
In case of pure coalition government, it has been generally experienced that the government tends to become less democratic as the balance of power is inescapably held by the group of parties who can barter their support for concessions from the main groups within the coalition. In such a situation, even a party having small support base can impose its policy decisions upon the major one by a process of political blackmail. Another issue that arises in a weak coalition is the issue of transparency. It happens because of the fact that manifestoes presented to the public during the election become irrelevant. Actual decisions about the programmes are made after the election, in a process of secretive backroom negotiation from which the public is excluded. This undermines accountability, as voters cannot expect individual parties in a coalition to deliver upon their particular manifesto promises, unlike the single-party governments. Accountability is also absent when a coalition government falls, either after an election or through the defection of some of its supporters. Another serious issue with a fragile coalition government is its inability to take a long-term view on socio-economic and political matters.
Since the coalition form of government is looking certain in either of the scenario, I personally feel that third front formation models require a serious re-thinking in deriving a binding force to combine all members at one common platform. Instead of choosing charismatic personalities within the group to act as a binding force, they should rather focus on identifying external resources to bring neutrality and fairness. Ideally, a Governing Council should be constituted inviting eminent citizens from the diverse fields to draft a common manifesto and provide guidance on a continuous basis to the elected leader to implement programmes and run the Government. Chairman of the council should be elected by all members of the third front and governing council members for a period of two years with a provision of maximum one term of re-election.
Similarly, all eligible members of the third front should elect their President on a rotation basis. For the success of the model, all members of the third front group should attach a high mark of respect to the Governing Council to seek advice and directions to better serve the system. In this approach, citizens will not have general fear of the government falling in an undesirable time frame and will have better sense of confidence including business houses and potential investors from India and overseas.
India is considered as one of the largest democracies in the world with a parliamentary form of the Government. India’s model of democracy and its style of functioning are cited all over the world by leading historians, politicians and other important people of our connected global society. Its uniqueness lies in the stability, operational philosophy amidst radical ethnic and religious diversity and robustness in an environment with deep-rooted inequalities, markedly those of caste and gender. Given our growing strengths and global commitments, I have a firm belief that either of the options would be acceptable to our dear citizens provided there is a sense of collective commitment and seamless integrity among leaders chosen for various roles.
