As India heads for General Elections, with all the briefing being given to voters on the necessity of exercising their franchise, they also need to be told about the responsibilities of the Members of Parliament. This would ensure that they have a clear understanding of what they should expect from the MPs.
It is often seen that, on being questioned about their local MP’s performance, they complain about roads, drains, bridges, etc., not having been constructed in their areas. In fact, it is just because of this consistent plaint that the MPs’ discretionary funds began to be allocated, so that urgent issues could be immediately addressed. However, it must be understood that local development is the task of the administration and elected local panchayat or municipal representatives. It is true that the MP and even MLA has a role to play in the general development policies and culture, particularly if they belong to the ruling party, but they have, otherwise, a limited direct impact.
The MP is fundamentally the ‘representative’ of the people in Parliament. Theoretically, and ideally, it is as if the voter is personally present in the Lok Sabha and expressing his or her views on important subjects having to do with not just local constituency issues, but nationally and globally. It is the unique nature of parliamentary style democracies that the elected representatives constitute, both, the legislative and executive wings of the power structure. So, while all are expected to make laws, shape policies, some amongst them are in charge of ministries that may not even be directly linked to their individual constituencies. So, an MP from the hills of Uttarakhand may be answerable for India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. As such, the voters have to also factor in that role while assessing performance.
It is important, therefore, to focus more on how much in sync the person seeking one’s vote is with one’s political philosophy. This may be gauged by taking into consideration the party’s ideology, knowledge of the candidate’s personal skills and qualities, etc. It is only when the representative is given direct responsibility for governance that development on the ground should also be considered. When Nitin Gadkari, for instance, makes highways for the entire nation, it does not just benefit his constituency alone. If an MP takes energetic part in parliamentary debates and helps shape laws, it is not for a single constituency alone. Essentially, how well the MP would represent the voter is what should be taken into account while choosing one candidate over the other. Ideally, it should be like you are there yourself!
