By Kartik Lokhande
Is India growing into an
impatient democracy? If one goes by the recent some happenings, one has reason
to believe so.
For, in less than one year
of a majority Government coming to the power at the Centre, many people have
started asking it to deliver things that could not be delivered in past several
years. For, in less than a week of a fledgling party getting re-elected to
power in Delhi, many people have started asking it to deliver on the promises
of perceived freebies. For, many people who voted these parties to power at the
Centre and in Delhi, are suffering from ‘shaken faith’ syndrome because the
other political parties that were in power so far have started planting
questions against new Governments instead of providing answers for their own
failure in delivering what they had promised previously.
For instance, people have
started asking the Central Government under Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi to
bring back black money stashed abroad for years together in less than one year
of coming to power. The political opponents are adding fuel to fire by raising
questions like – Where is the amount of Rs 15 lakh that Modi Government had
promised to deposit in the bank accounts of each of the citizens? This has
triggered a debate and people are getting increasingly impatient about delivery
of these and many other goods promised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before Lok
Sabha elections last year.
Now, let us take another
case, that of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In less than a week of AAP leader Mr Arvind
Kejriwal getting sworn-in as Chief Minister of Delhi for second time, after a
stunning performance of winning 67 out of 70 seats, people have started
questioning it about delivering on the promise of ‘free’ water, cheaper power, ‘free’
Wi-Fi etc.
In both the cases, questions
are being raised by political opponents of these individuals or parties. Obviously,
when the political opponents are in action, their acts or statements are aimed
at achieving a certain political goal. However, in the process, the citizenry
in India that showed maturity by electing to power majority Governments at the
Centre as well as in Delhi both, has started getting carried away and becoming impatient.
But, is it the phenomenon of a day? No. It has been there, but is rising in
recent times.
Insistence on instant
delivery of goods promised (or envisioned) is making us an increasingly impatient
democracy. As a democracy, India needs to give time to Mr Modi or Mr Kejriwal
to perform, and not talk about results in terms of number of days only. It will
land the nation in serious trouble. And, if we become restless in a short span
of time, we may develop a tendency to vote to power the ‘impatient’ and ‘we-promise-you-more-speed’
brand of polity in years to come. And, this runs the risk of forcing not only
the present-day dispensation but any future Government to take decisions with
emphasis only on speed and not on long-term vision. As a result, there may be
more ‘appeasement’ of people in the form of freebies. Or, there may be
enactment of contrast laws serving contrast interest groups. This may very well
dilute the much-desired focus on policy issues.
Gradually, the matured
democracy may well be reduced to dumbing down of opinion and Governmental
thinking. And, such a situation may affect stability. Political divisions may
become sharper, and people’s vision clouded, resulting in depletion of united
response to internal and external situations in a state or nation. Impatience
arising out of aspirations of a growing nation has seeds of making Indian
democracy tread a path of polity of promises, economy of deficits (for,
taxpayers money will be spent competitively on freebies like in some southern
states), and work culture of policy delays. Such a situation provides
opportunity of growth and credibility to divisive anti-national elements, as
has been witnessed by India in various phases since Independence from the British.
Making parties accountable for
what they have promised is good, but we must also give them time to perform.
Many of the promised changes are to be applied to a state or the country as a
whole. In a multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-state country like India, any
Government has to take into account several diverse factors and still find a
common ground that will benefit most of the people. To find a common ground, and
develop a policy response with a long-term vision, time is needed.
If this time is not given,
the growing impatience among people will result in erosion of confidence in
majority Governments. In such a situation, a confident democracy like India faces
risk of discontent against stable Government. In future, once again, country
may be forced to go back into the unstable era of coalition politics.
Hence, we, as a nation, have
to be aware of impatience, and give reasonable time to let Mr Modi or Mr Kejriwal work.
(Filed on February 16, 2015)
Comments
Post a Comment