Whose Democracy Is It Anyway?

IRONY NEVER SEEMS to die in India. In many ways, both India and the Indian psyche are emblematic of juxtapositions. Amusing as it may be, the truth is that the most vigorous debate about India being a democracy is happening while India is going through a seven-phase election process. I mean how daft could those people, including some veteran political failures, be when during an election (in which some of them are contesting from more than one seat) they begin questioning if India has slid from being a democracy to becoming an autocracy?

Why would a two-term prime minister, who at age 73, is addressing multiple rallies, even bother doing so if he had decided that the Republic of India is no longer a democracy but has become a dictatorship? And who decides that? Who can ever come to the conclusion on the structure and DNA of India: only those masquerading as informed liberals, which in itself is a gigantic misnomer?

The problem lies elsewhere: when you can’t beat someone in equal measure, you shift the battleground, but sadly politics is not chess and is not about an opening gambit, no matter how good you think yourself to be

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The truth is because India is a democracy, a lot of people are hurting. The truth is because India is a democracy it is the hustings and not some stupid social media outpouring or agenda-laden op-ed pieces that will decide who will rule India for the next five years. Because India is a democracy every candidate is going that extra mile, many a time, in excruciating weather, to garner the affection (and then the votes) of the electorate. So, why on earth do we even play into the hands of those who wish to wipe the soul of democracy that India has and replace it with a veneer of it being an autocratic state? Whose agenda is being supported here? And why?

Let me fathom some reasons:

-Many in politics feel that BJP and, more importantly, Narendra Modi have created a situation where most other pan-national parties have been reduced to irrelevance: they believe that Modi has used agencies to scare people of other political parties into both submission and sacrifice; they also believe that institutions in India, be it the press or the judiciary, have been compromised to the extent that they are stooges of the government. If that were the case, how do organisations like The Wire and Newslaundry exist? How does Dhruv Rathee continue to do what he does without the government even blocking it? How does BBC change its corporate structure to form another company solely for its own content usage in order to conform to Indian laws? How come the judiciary raps the government really hard on the knuckles qua the electoral bonds? How come the same EVMs register a win for Congress in Karnataka; for TMC in Bengal; for BJD in Odisha; for DMK in Tamil Nadu; and, the communists in Kerala? Would that be because Modi is inept at rigging the whole thing or because we are still a democracy? Anyone with even a pea-brain would say it’s the latter.

-What is the essence of a democracy? Simply put, it is people power, and that power is exerted and manifested through the process of voting, which is exactly what is happening. So, why would you be both dishonest and cynical and decry the very democracy that keeps India vibrant and relevant?

-No, one CANNOT guarantee a single-party majority or even numbers that are staggeringly dangerous. When Rajiv Gandhi won the Lok Sabha polls, he had a massive majority in Parliament: at that time, I do not recall any of the worthies, either in politics or the media, questioning the democratic status or form of India. So, why do it now?

The problem lies elsewhere: when you can’t beat someone in equal measure, you shift the battleground, but sadly politics is not chess and is not about an opening gambit, no matter how good you think yourself to be. It’s also about the end game and that is measured by who wins the vote and not who wins the debate of liberal noise.

My advice to some of these misconceived johnnies would be to focus on winning the election and not winning the popular vote on a foreign university campus or amongst communists and liberals who have gone rogue. Celebrate this dance of democracy and do the tango or the waltz rather than self-cripple because you are either too weak or too misdirected to take part.

About The Author

Suhel Seth

Suhel Seth is Managing Partner of Counselage India and can be reached at suhel@counselage.com

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