Transforming Indian Politics: ‘Personality Cult’ vrs. Systemic Reform

Interview of Sri Rahul Gandhi to a TV channel has become a major talking point in conventional as well as social media. No one should forget that Congress has been in power for the last ten years and if Shri Rahul Gandhi had wanted he would be Prime Minister today. I am not sure if anyone else would have given up the opportunity to be India’s PM. Why PM, we would not wink an eyelid to settle for much less?

 

By all reckoning Shri Gandhi had a tumultuous childhood. He saw power from very close quarters when his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv Gandhi were Prime Ministers. Equally, he remembers how Mrs. Gandhi was jailed and finally assassinated and Rajivji was called names and killed. I am not surprised that he has not got the thirst for office characteristic of the Indian political class and he is not desperate like many. He has seen it all. Both his grandmother and his father were great patriots, served the nation with utmost sincerity and yet they were consumed by the vicissitudes of unkind Indian Politics. After all that he has experienced in life why should he be scared of anything or anybody? As he rightly said one has to look deeper into his life’s circumstances.

The young leader is deeply conscious of the basic unfairness in Indian society and believes that unless there is fundamental reform in the structures and processes of Indian politics, people will not be empowered and public policy will be lopsided. Currently, the doors of political office are not open to talented youth unless they come from political families. Once someone becomes MP or MLA he or she dominates the constituency for a long long time, at times for as much as half a century. A vacancy occurs when a leader is no more, only to be filled by the late leader’s kith and kin. Even at the state or central levels a few individuals decide who will contest for political office. An aspiring MP or MLA needs money to nurture a constituency, build a cadre base and organize political activities and then there is a huge additional cost in contesting elections. Most young men and women stand no chance. Also, the MPs and MLAs by tradition have to do the work of local self government rather than be judged for the purpose for which they are elected, i.e. law making. Major political parties and their leadership lack the courage or the conviction to make basic political reform the focus of public discourse. They want to market a few dreams and somehow occupy office even if for a few months, often they appeal for an opportunity to be in office at least for a few months. What Shri Gandhi is saying is that India has seen many Governments, but the political system remains innately unfair and closed and unless we can change the system there is no escape from unfairness, nepotism and corruption. He continues to be driven not by any chair, but by the desire to expand and deepen democracy. I thought his argument was matured and sophisticated and should be understood with an open and progressive mind. If he is not waving a magic wand, it is out of basic honesty and depth of understanding.

Congress Party has decided to hold primaries for selection of candidates in 15 Parliamentary Constituencies for 2014 elections as a proof of concept. So, not the High Command, not the PCC, not the Pradesh Election Committee, not through lobby, but by direct voting people of these Constituencies will choose their own candidate. This is the biggest experiment in political reform since independence that is being attempted. True, a baby step, but extremely significant. I find it strange that the media is hardly keen on such substantive issues. Because the political structures in countries like the Unites States of America are open that a Black academic from Harvard, Barack Obama is today the President of the most powerful country in the world. He was nominated not by a few Washington insiders, but by the cadre of the Democratic Party, though he does not belong to any political family. A time will come when party tickets for any constituency will be decided not by Delhi or Bhubaneswar, but by the party supporters of that constituency.

Such radical and fundamental reform will in no way be easy to implement. Firstly, those dominating politics will not easily relinquish their position and influence to make way for talented youngsters. Secondly, all political parties have to start a similar process of reform to open their doors because ‘winability’ may work more in favour of established players. Thirdly, instead of voting on merit local considerations of caste and community can derail the process of creating a meritocracy. What Shri Gandhi is expecting is that there will be debate among potential candidates and the best will be chosen by majority vote like in the United States. But, leaders who are established would also have nurtured the cadre and end up becoming candidates even in the new selection process. Moreover, there has to be a redefinition of the power and responsibility of MPs and MLAs. Today they are encroaching upon the powers of local self-governments. They have to yield to functionaries in the Panchyat Raj Institutions and Municipal bodies and focus on law making; effective control over the executive, particularly through the legislative committees. But, India will have to bring about radical reform in the political process if we are to expand and deepen democracy and build a system based on fairness and justice. The way Indian democracy is functioning is not exactly the way it was conceived or anticipated. Many distortions have crept in that need a course correction to avoid the twin threats of autocracy and anarchy.

In the American System the President, no matter how talented or popular, can have only two terms, which comes to a maximum of eight years in office. In India, like in many other developing countries, once elected, PMs and CMs build a huge personality cult. A bunch of self-serving sycophants surround these leaders and sing paeans to create illusions. Those who were three years old when Naveen Patnaik came to power in Odisha have now become voters. Those who were taking their matriculation examination may by now be 30 years old. Since childhood, they have remembered the name of Naveen Patnaik as part of general knowledge. So, the name Naveen Patnaik dominates in their conscious self and reinforced consistently by huge billboards, cutouts, advertisements, media coverage and populist freebies; all telling them that Naveen Babu is pro-people, has developed Odisha and will soon make the state prosperous. Once there is such a huge personality cult hardly is there any scope for debate on public policy because many have already made up their minds. So, I am not surprised when these young men ask if there is any comparable alternative leader. The whole situation is convoluted and bizarre.

Just to avoid emergence of a ‘personality cult’ our constitution makers had after long deliberation selected a Parliamentary form of Government, despite the fact that India is a federal country like the United States and a Presidential System looked a more attractive proposition. Unfortunately, the principal opposition party in the country BJP has decided to go for a Presidential style election campaign. In my opinion it is the duty of every citizen to respect the Constitution and it would have been wrong on the part of the Congress Party to announce a PM candidate disrespecting laid down constitutional process. If Shri Gandhi  was desperate to become PM, he would already be PM, why announce his name. But he has his eyes on larger issues of democracy and public policy making. Leaders can always avoid substantive questions of democracy and resort to rhetoric using Bollywood-Style dialogues of 56 inch chests converting political discourse to a populist soap opera. After a while people will realize that they were cheated by clever marketing, but crucial opportunities to initiate substantive reform would have been lost once again. The focus on personality and the focus on reforming the system are two divergent ideological positions.

The Congress and the BJP represent two distinct ideologies and not two individuals or personalities. Shri Gandhi  believes that unless we are able to reform the system, governments will come and go, but the basic unfairness in the system cannot be eradicated. Leaders will promise many things to the people, but after a while the basic unfairness will catch up, system will be unable to deliver and ultimately in frustration people will reject one set of leaders in favour of another, but not before feeling disillusioned and cheated once again.