There are opposition leaders who are looking forward to India’s democracy going the way of Bangladesh. They are working hard to create conditions under which a people’s coup would take place against the NDA Government. Some have predicted that PM Modi will no longer be in his post after a couple of weeks. Plans are afoot to initiate an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner in Parliament. They have even gone so far as to disrupt a special discussion on Group Captain Subhanshu Shukla’s space mission in the Lok Sabha. The allegations regarding ‘vote chori’ have been refuted point by point by the Election Commission, but this fact is not being acknowledged or accepted.
Can these tactics be accepted as constitutional or democratic? Every institution that is representative of the nation’s sovereignty is being challenged with little regard to the consequences. It may be noted that the people who have handed over electoral mandates to the union and state governments in the country, which include those of the opposition parties, are confident that these reflect their choices. Of course, there are some discrepancies in the voters’ lists, but the situation – every objective person will agree – has greatly improved over the years. As long as these improvements continue, there is satisfaction with the ECI’s performance. So, anything like a Bangladesh type movement is out of the question.
Does the opposition believe that its present strategy of questioning the credibility of the system will help it win elections, particularly in Bihar? Is it the plan that, if it is defeated in that state, it will blame the alleged bias of the Election Commission? And, if it wins, will it be the claim that its agitation ensured a fair contest? All these antics may, instead, increase the support for the ‘one nation, one election’ proposal. It will ensure that the people do not have to endure the tantrums, day in and day out, of those who believe they are entitled to the people’s mandate because it is an inherited privilege.
Has this situation developed because, like Atal Behari Vajpayee during his stint in power, the present PM is being too ‘soft’ in his approach to an opposition that is increasingly abusing the privileges provided by the democratic system? Even challenges that emerge to the nation’s security and integrity from leaders of West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are being tolerated, when an impartial approach would require imposition of President’s Rule. This fact must also be considered.
