When India gained Independence, what should be the form of governance was neither a dilemma nor a choice, for the British by then, had imposed the Westminster type of democracy in India, elections were held in British India as early as 1920, under the The Government of India Act, 1919., besides India had it ancient forays with democracy. There are evidence inscribed in stone that The Election System was established by Royal Order under the Chola King, Parantaka Deva Parkesari Varman who ruled between 907 and 955 CE.
Therefore democracy was but a natural choice at the Independence and of course those days Democracy was considered the finest form of government, in which every individual participates consciously and people remain the sovereign power. In democracy the people are the ultimate source of power. The Constituent Assembly consisted of indirectly elected representatives and was set up for the purpose of drafting a constitution for India. It remained in being for almost three years, acting as the first parliament of India after independence in 1947. The Constituent Assembly was not elected on the basis of universal adult suffrage, Muslims and Sikhs were given special representation as minorities.. Whatever may have been the vision of India’s founding fathers Indian democracy has not lived up to their expectations. As a matter of fact, it has done far worse. A society and a system can be called democratic only when the political and socio-economic aspirations of people can be fulfilled.
The system of election of people’s representative is governed and regulated by the People’s representation Act and other legislations. Despite all these there are certain paradoxes of the Indian democracy which in fact has more or less resulted almost in the annihilation of true democracy in India.
The first of it being the qualification of elected representatives. Though section 8 of the People’s representation Act spells out some disqualification, in reality, it is a well know fact that majority of the elected representatives in India are wholly incompetent and many are out right criminals, including black marketers, and even professional goondas and extortionists. Most of them get elected because of the political party in which they belong or because of money or caste clout and rarely because of their inherent abilities or human qualities. This deteriorating quality of the elected leaders has been on the rise in the last decade and many consider having criminal records as an additional qualification for being selected and elected. The various reports on the conduct of MPs and MLA’s in their public as well as private life in the recent past is a clear evidence of this trend. In the end people have no choice but to vote for such persons who have been instrumental in the downfall of the Indian democracy? Unlike the selection systems in many employment and professions, the voting system have produced more and more incompetent and corrupt persons to govern the country. Thanks to our political parties whose consideration for selecting a candidate is only winnability. Unless the Political parties take a conscious decision to select and field candidates with character and competence this trend, as witnessed in the present times is only going to worsen, damaging the very essence of democracy, It is very, very rare where persons with competence and goodwill decides to come forward to represent the people.
Secondly the process itself is inherently faulty and exclusive, to call it a truly representative system. The adult franchise system has kept nearly 35% of the total population out of the electoral process .( Those in the age group of 0-17) Thus whatever might the tall claims of an elected leader no one truly represent this 35% of the population. This means of the 1.34 billion ,46 million are unrepresented. The electorate now consist of only 88 million, of these in any election the general average of people voting is not more than 70% , Approximately only 61 million cast their votes . Of these usually the winning candidate usually secures about 40% of the votes , that is the votes of about 24 million people. Of those elected only about 60% would belong to the ruling combination. That is about 14 million.. It could thus be safely concluded that any ruling combination be it in the Lok saba or in the assembly, truly represent only 10 % of the population.
Thus all the discourse and claims about majority rule is a euphemism. The idea of majority rule is thus the greatest fallacy of a democracy .
The ruling party/coalition representing just 10% of the population brings, in certain sense of insecurity, which manifests not only in their discourses but also in their actions. The overwhelming sense of insufficiency and insecurity prompts them to appease this small minority that their laws and actions becomes lopsided often resulting in sycophancy and totalitarianisms . Some famous economics coined their actions as “desperate despotism.”
The media has further contributed to this falsity making the Indian democracy one of the greatest paradox of the times.
To keep us this false image, the political leaders makes tall claims and the media hype to further up their image , the end result is an administration which cheats the people by its policies and actions. The sole aim of the ruling elite is in fact aimed at appeasing this 10% of the population, whose support they cannot afford to loose and all the political narrative regarding development, people’s welfare, are all merely an eye wash . It is for this reason all political discourse is aimed either at praising themselves or condemning the opposition and is far removed from the ground realities.
Everything is done for their personal/party’s benefit but are projected as if it is for the people, That is why none of the political parties are ever able to fulfill their election manifestos except for the tokenisms.
There is only one way out from this terrible mess before democracy in India turns to demono-cracy or despotism of the worst sort. Politicians as well as the media should learn to tell the TRUTH and TRUTH ALONE. Now a day’s people cannot believe what the politician says nor the media version of what the politician does, truth has become the greatest causality of our times.
Unless truth is resurrected and those in public life speak only truth and certainly not half truth or full lies, democracy in India will be a sham. Real democracy will come into being only when the masses are awakened and take part in the economic and political life of the country by knowing and understanding the truths of the country. India today is a rich man’s democracy, a democracy of the rich, for the rich and by the rich.
(The writer is a Professor of Law and former Dean, faculty of Law, Goa University)
