From fission to fusion
The election process in India should ensure that the divisive approach in politics be replaced by one that promotes national integrity and unity among people
The 62nd Independence Day that we celebrated recently, was an occasion to reflect on the state of affairs in our country. All that we can celebrate about it is that we have maintained a vigorous, boisterous and open democracy, which is a miracle. Unfortunately, apart from this one single point of pride, we have many aspects to our democracy which make us feel ashamed. A case in point is the all-pervasive corruption, money power and muscle power, so brazenly displayed in the trust vote of the UPA government on July 22, which was a matter of national shame.
Added to this, we have become a nation most vulnerable to the jehadi and other types of terrorism. Gone is the proud claim of President Bush, when he introduced our PM to his wife Laura, that India was a nation of 150 million Muslims and no Al Qaida.
The root cause of all the problems is political fission. In a cynical quest for votes, our political leaders have become masters in nurturing vote banks. We no longer think of India as one country. We identify ourselves as belonging to a linguistic group, region, caste or religion. The basic reason for this continuous splitting or fission of our people is the first past the post system adopted in our elections from the British system. In an insightful talk recently in Chennai, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Mr N Gopalaswamy pointed out how, except in West Bengal and Kerala, a vast majority of the elected MPs did not get more than 50 per cent of the votes polled. Many were successful even with 20 per cent or 25 per cent votes. If democracy is the rule by representatives elected by the people, do such people elected with less than 50 per cent votes polled, deserve to be called representatives in the real sense? No wonder, our system has encouraged political fissionmaking, with our politicians appealing to lesser and lesser niches of people. Hence, the growth and clout of regional parties, the decline of national parties and the emergence of the coalition dharma with focus on common minimum programmes. Seeking power by hook or by crook, by ever more cynical compromises, is the order of the day.
Is it possible to reverse the process? The CEC himself gave a suggestion which needs to be pursued and implemented. Instead of the present system of first past the post, a candidate in an election must be declared successful only if he gets at least 50 per cent-plus-one of the votes polled. What are the objections? The cost of the elections will go up. After the first polling, if no candidate emerges with 50 per cent-plus-one votes, there will have to be a run-off poll restricted to the top two candidates in terms of votes polled. With the use of electronic voting machines, this may not take much time. Of course, the elaborate security arrangements in sensitive voting stations will be costly.
Nevertheless, think of the healthy impact this change will bring. Every candidate will have to appeal to a larger section of the electorate. The present process of continuous political fission in terms of caste, religion, region etc will have to be given up. The dramatic strategy adopted by Mayawati in UP, when she reached beyond her dalit base to the manuvadis, is an example of this approach in action.
Our political leaders and those who benefit from the present dispensation will never commit hara-kiri by changing the system. The Election Commission must amend the rules under their powers. After all, the Constitution has conferred the power of conducting free and fair elections on the Election Commission.
This one step may arrest the process of political fission and turn politics towards fusion providing national integrity and unity among the people.
In the last decade, N Vittal, the former CVC, emerged as the voice of our collective conscience. This is his weekly take on public life in India
An electoral candidate must be declared successful only if he gets at least 50 per cent-plus-one of the votes polled