Wake up and shout...

This year the 15th Lok Sabha elections will take place in India. Elections would be held in 5 different phases with the results expected in mid-May. The Election Commission of India estimates 714 million legitimate voters this year. All the voters work towards selecting a Prime Minister to govern the country in its best possible interests. This is what is meant by democracy, something we are so proud of despite the diversity in India. But does this really happen?? We vote for parties which in turn align and re-align themselves multiple times and select candidates which they feel comfortable with. Is that really what citizens of this country bargain for when voter cards are issued to them? Certainly not..
Take the 2009 elections into perspective. The extraordinary turn of events and power of democracy enables almost every leader of a political party, big or small, to dream for the coveted Prime Minister position. I have shortlisted the names of a few who seem to me the most probable and powerful contenders to lead the country:

1. Manmohan Singh from INC (Indian National Congress)
2. L. K. Advani from BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party)
3. Kumari Mayawati from BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party)
4. Sharad Pawar from NCP (Nationalist Congress Party)
5. Ram Vilas Paswan from LJP (Lok Janashakti Party)
6. J. Jayalalithaa from AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam)

It’s amazing to see so many contenders for the PM position and shows that any politician can dream of something big if he plays down his cards well. Ideally in country like U.S. and U.K., votes of the citizens get transformed into the selection of the right premier, as they vote directly for the candidate. But in India the voters don’t have any control on the coalitions and vote of confidence of the MPs they select. Never do the MPs ask the people about the use of their vote of confidence. Basically we can attribute this to the two tier politics. People elect the lower strata i.e. MPs and the MPs in turn select the leader of the country, the higher strata. In the early days of democracy we used to have clear majorities of a single political party, in the days that Congress ruled the entire country, and so the leader was more or less selected by the people. But lately the scenario has changed to a great extent and no single party is capable enough to form the majority in Lok Sabha. Hence it leads to coalition of multiple parties and thereby the party with the highest bargaining power pulls the strings. This is not fair for the voters as was the case in 1990 and 1996:

1. 1990 – Chandra Shekhar was selected as the PM with the help of outside support of the Congress although his group held a meager 60 seats.
2. 1996 – H. D. Deve Gowda is sworn in as the 14th PM of India just coz he was elected as the leader of a group of small regional parties, called as Third Front, who collectively had the majority in the lower house.

In the above cases it is clear that the country never voted for both of them to be the PM, but the events post-elections helped them to get the post. Also it was noted in both the cases that the government was highly unstable and collapsed soon after due to internal differences. In recent times, we have seen the government back out of several of its pre-election agenda in fear that the parties in coalition can withdraw their support as they don’t support the same cause. This has led to neglecting of several key issues and it’s ultimately the people who suffer.

So is it time we took a deep and hard look at our election process? Should we move into presidential form of government where the people directly elect the President of the country? US has over the years successfully implemented this form. Other alternatives may include asking voters to vote for MPs as well as the PM of their choice. This may seem complicated and would be something entirely new. The constitution when written by our fore-fathers was made according to the situations at hand. Since then the situation has changed a lot and hence alterations are needed to our constitution.

Mind you no party will take the onus of going for the change we recommend. Coz this would lead to a considerable disadvantage for them and hence the mantle of this lies entirely on the citizens of India. I would like to urge all the citizens to review our policies and voice in strongly so as it is heard by one and all. Maybe the majority strength in us would lead to these self-obsessed political leaders to listen to us and take actions… for a change for the country. After all,

“We are creatures of circumstance for the most part.” -- Malcolm Gladwell