Col J P Singh, Retd
Elections are a game changer in many ways in a democracy, be they for Panchayat, Zila Parshid, Assembly or the Parliament. In Indian democracy, regime change is not a big deal. Regimes have changed after every Assembly and Parliamentary elections and they have been changing smoothly unlike many neighbouring countries and third world nations. Some have been dramatic like the recent Delhi State Sheila Dixit led regime change whereas others normal. This time 81 crore voters will go to the polls in Election 2014 after 5 year’s of impatient wait to elect a new govt. Change is the mood of the nation particularly of the younger generation. Hence the change in the present regime is a foregone conclusion. Which alternative will form the new Govt is still shrouded in mystery. The difference this time is that the change perceived is not to be a change per se but a metamorphosis.
Election 2014 is not entirely about the regime change but it is turning out to be an occasion for a metamorphic change in the Indian political discourse. The very first visible change is a transformation taking place in the two main political parties, the Congress and BJP. The political power centres in these national parties is shifting paradoxically. In the Congress, one family / one man predominant leadership role is fizzling out as the projected top leader is finding it difficult to cope up with the new political challenges of growing India whereas the BJP is veering towards one man dominance which has not been its culture so far. It is the need of the hour which is bringing about this political transformation. Other change, more obvious, is that more and more people are taking more and more enthusiastic part in the electoral process of the country today. More than a crore people enrolled themselves as voters in one day alone when Election Commission organized a booth level enrolment drive after the announcement of polls and over 15 crore are the young voters waiting to vote in this election for the first time. They have different expectations. They showed yearning for change during Anna Hazare led anti corruption / Jan Lokpal andolan. They will impact the change their way. Next indicator of change is in the unprecedented way the change took place in Delhi and the way AAP got public support to change Sheila Dixit regime. This change has baffled political pundits and has redefined Indian democracy. Indian Democracy may now be rechristened as ‘Delhi Democracy or AAP Democracy or even Jharoo Democracy’ which would mean that voters understanding of ‘govt of the people, by the people, for the people. The govts henceforth will be under tremendous public scrutiny. They perform or perish. Rename it or not but the way the change occurred in Delhi has definitely redefined democracy. All these stories tell us that the nation is yearning for a metamorphosis. Henceforth it will either be a real democracy or mobocracy. Hence the 2014 election will go down as watershed event in the Indian democracy in many ways rather than a mere regime change.
Election 2014 is also reminiscent of 1977 election in many ways. After 1971 war Congress got two third majority and absolute power in the Parliament which corrupted the Congress absolutely. Corruption and anarchy shadowed governance and weakened democratic institutions. This led to anti Congress undercurrent, agitations and lawlessness in Hindi heartland. Election 1977 was also by far the most dramatic election that India faced after independence. It was this election in which Congress was wiped out from North India. It was the election in which Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi, mother and son, both lost in their pocket burrows and the nation got Janta Party regime led by Morarji Desai. The change happened due to public anger against Indira Gandhi led Congress govt for having suppressed human rights by imposing emergency. Similar anger was evident before Delhi poll last year. Similar is the mood against present regime. Congress led UPA II has angered the nation during the last two to three years on many accounts. Hence the nation is yearning for change which is turning into positive sentiment towards Narendra Modi in major part of the country. It is this yearning for change which is making Modi different from BJP and putting a Modi tag on the election. Modi label to the election is being given by none other than us. Talk to people, majority of them utter Modi – Modi and tell that they are voting for him. Even the opposition is parroting Modi- Modi. Modi is overshadowing the party, is but natural. There are other fault lines too. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has also helped Modi immensely in his image make over. His failure to lead his team and Rahul Gandhi’s inability to restore credibility in the corrupt and discredited coalition has also catapulted Modi in the leadership vacuum.
Modi has accepted the responsibility of reshaping the destiny of the nation knowing fully well that the rot is very deep. He is promising moon despite knowing that the economy is on the downslide. He is showing guts and confidence unlike the incumbent PM despite all the guns trained at him. He is seeking 60 months against 60 years of the Congress (mis) rule. The agony of nation flows out from his utterances. He has shown zeal to do something for the younger generation. He has the legacy of Gujarat development to his credit. Should he be trusted and entrusted with the challenges that the Congress leadership has failed to cope up with has more or less been decided by the electorate, to be known on May 16.
Strength of democracy is that it treats every one equally and empowers every segment of the society. But that is not the case. It is unfortunate that corrupt and criminals carry more votes and clout than ordinary leaders. And it is equally unfortunate when the political parties give tickets to criminals because they have a vote bank. There are other such drawbacks in our political system which the country is facing at various levels. Over all situation in the country is in front of us which is not very inspiring. To counter criminalisation of politics we have to have or create a vote bank of good people and a pool of good leaders. After conclusion of this election, churning in political parties is expected to separate the chaff from the grains. At the national level people look for a strong, charismatic and decisive leader. At the regional level they look for a slogger who can attend to their routine problems. Hence the voting trends in state and general election are different. Expectation therefore is for a decisive verdict.
The agenda for the new govt is daunting as the public aspirations are high. High hopes can be moderated so long as the common man is assured of better future and respite from corruption &delivery from non performing institutions. Hence the new Govt will have to adopt more inclusive approach towards reforms in almost every sphere of governance. Modi has given the slogan of ‘minimising Government and maximising governance’. He is credited with ruthless pursuit of policies which may bring about metamorphosis in addition to regime change if he comes to power. Till then we live in a dilemma of now or never.
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