Beyond Elections

SO ANOTHER ROUND of state elections has come and gone and what is amazing and equally baffling is how people vote: but vote they do. I guess the biggest casualty of 2024 has been the pollsters who don’t seem to get anything right, or it could well be that the Indian voter is an inveterate liar when shedding their choices during an exit poll. Be that as it may, for all the naysayers, a point worth noting is that democracy in India is alive and kicking and no greater proof of that is needed when one looks at the election results of Jammu & Kashmir. When Article 370 was abolished, many thought it would be a cakewalk for BJP in J&K, but that too has been proven wrong. Also, the other thing worth remembering is that the Modi effect may be subdued but hasn’t entirely vanished.

Over the past few months, I have often been asked what I make of Rahul Gandhi’s ascendancy both as a politician and as someone who is setting the narrative, all of this from a brand perspective. I have, in this very magazine, written two articles on Brand Rahul, and one was in October 2022. Rahul Gandhi’s advisers would be well-advised to see Modi’s trajectory before exulting. India somehow doesn’t like people who are too successful or even too powerful and we have seen this time and again. Both from an individual perspective as well as from an electoral one. Take, for instance, the famed hatred that Mahatma Gandhi had for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose or, for that matter, more recently, the hatred that perhaps Modi and Rahul have for each other, and surely, the Indian electorate’s mood swings, be it their removal of Indira Gandhi and then her return. I don’t know why no one till now has written a book on the mind and machinations of the Indian voter. Let me give you an example: Haryana was run into the ground by BJP in the last five years for sure. A total governance failure, and yet, they won. Sometimes I feel the Indian voter needs to be punished by these political parties because our voting patterns are still around the clichés of caste and religion. Never around governance. But this is exactly what suffers. Jagan Reddy destroyed Andhra Pradesh, lost and, mark my words, will return one day. On the other hand, N Chandrababu Naidu, who was perhaps the finest in terms of governance, lost several times to now return.

Frankly, I don’t care about this passing-the-pillow electoral game: what worries me are the policy flip-flops that follow which are bad for investment and terrible for governance. And you will see this in Jammu & Kashmir and to blame the National Conference would be equally silly because they will believe they have been elected based on the promises they have made.

One hears a lot about how smart the Indian voter is: but the truth is the opposite. The Indian voter is unimaginably dumb and easily swayed by pecuniary benefits, and every political party has realised that. So the next time someone tells you about how bright the Indian voter is, then point out the lack of development in West Bengal; talk about erstwhile Andhra Pradesh and present-day Punjab and Haryana and then you will agree with my contention. We indulge in the dance of democracy but we pay only lip service to the pillars of that democracy: the foremost of which should be good governance.

Democracy can’t be defined only by equal franchise. There has to be a layering which makes it a responsible and accountable tool. Elections are not the end but the means of creating a more governable India and one that is run well without hindrance. To say that India is a democracy just because we have elections would be the most odious argument. Everyone in this country has seen pre and post-poll machinations: what happened in Maharashtra was equally a travesty but it is all brushed under this large carpet of democracy.

Today, that carpet of democracy is stained and sullied. If we don’t do something about this soon, we will continue to suffer and yet exult from that black mark on our index finger.

democracydevelopmentGeneral Electiongovernanceideology