Vote count for 16th Parliamentary election has come to grand finale. Bharatiya Janata Party has won landslide victory ousting UPA from the seat of Government. On its own, the party has won as many seats as are needed to form the Government, and along with allies, the party has captured 336 seats in the Parliament. The party can form Government by itself though of course it will carry the aligning parties with it.
Looking in retrospect, political pundits have been asserting that the days of single party Government are gone and the future is of Coalition Governments. The results of current elections have belied them. The fact is that the electorate in the country had long before shown that it considers national election and state election on two different planes. It means that the results that we have seen in these Parliamentary elections could not be the same when elections for State Assemblies are held. However, not underestimating the relevance of regional parties and state politics, the fact is that Indian voter understands that even in case of regional meaning state level elections vital national issues cannot be brushed aside and that the regional parties shall have to dovetail their perception to fundamental national interests.
The words like victory and defeat should not be taken in their traditional meaning when applied to election results in a country like India, nor is it sensible to think that the victors are permanent victors and losers are permanent losers. Democracy is essentially a process of carrying forward a nation on the path of development to a better and higher life style. It is for the nation to explore ways how this objective can be achieved. It will be using the methodology of trial and error. Objectives are same for the winners and the losers but it is the methodology that matters. In technical terms it is called governance and good governance is the key to successful, balanced and inclusive development. From the results that have come in, the electorate has, in its wisdom, decided to bring about the change of guard only to provide space to good governance. What has been so vociferously called change precisely means the search for good governance. We think that the majority of the electorate voted for the good governance, transparency and enforcement of law and order and above all eradication of corruption and retrieving the good image of the nation.
We have a plethora of problems in our country. Some of these are directly hitting ordinary people. These have to be addressed. But then no sensible person will expect overnight change in the system or overnight reduction in the price hike and other matters of common interest. People had lost trust in the UPA Government because it failed to track down and punish cases of blatant corruption, scams and depositing huge black money in foreign banks. Obviously this was being done at the cost of ordinary tax payer. Who actually is behind this anti-national activity? An ordinary voter remained deeply concerned with this question.
Looking at the task ahead the question is whether the new Government will be able to fulfil all the promises it has made either in its public rallies or in its official manifesto. It will be charged with great responsibility to the people and the country. It has no time to waste or to go on deriding the outgoing Government and its policies. Tasks that are to be performed are far more important, more pressing and more urgent than idle or boastful talks. It is a sombre occasion of girding up the loins and to begin the huge and crucial task of repairing what stands damaged. People will judge the new Government by its performance and delivery, by its initiatives and courageous policies, by rejuvenating economy and reinstating clean and swift administration.
To our great despair today we are rated high among corrupt countries in the world. The new Government has the responsibility to cleanse the image that stands tarnished and make all efforts to restore India to her traditional status and respectability. It is the governance that has been thrown to winds. Governance deficit comes in when those who are to govern become victims of corruption and maladministration. And when there is no accountability, bad governance gets entrenched.
A golden principle of democracy is that the opposition and the dissidents have to be carried along through gentle persuasion. Differences in opinion have to be discussed and ironed out. In the UK, the leader of opposition has a status almost equal to that of the Prime Minister. Remember Gladstone and Disraeli changed horses five times during their long tenure in British politics. State is run by statecraft and not by anger or vengeance or subterfuge. Ruling parties and personalities have to rise above human weaknesses.
We would have very much liked that the elections while throwing up a majority party should have also brought about a sizeable opposition. After all we need healthy and robust opposition in the Parliament to balance majoritarianism. Generally, this is what happens in national elections. But the case is not what we would have wished and the Congress has to remain content with the lowest number of seats it ever has had in the history of Indian parliamentary democracy. Evidently, Congress will have to do some self-introspection. Instead of getting drowned in the ocean of despair caused by massive debacle, it must come out of Delhi Durbar syndrome and do self assessment. It must democratize itself. It has to realize that its rigorous anti-Modi campaign on communal basis boomeranged because people were not ready to swallow it once the court of law had rubbished such allegations. Secondly and most importantly it has to learn the lesson that the period of approaching Indian nation with communal, regional, ethnic or linguistic card is gone for all times to come. Political parties have to forget that they will divide the Indian society and manage to rule over them. This mentality hitherto borrowed from the colonial rule should be dumped if Congress wants to rise from the ashes at any time in future.
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