DEMOCRACY UNDER ATTACK?

Indian National Congress is on a roll. Congress registered thumping victories in Maharashtra (with ally NCP), Arunachal Pradesh & though it fell short of a majority in Haryana but still managed enough to retain power. But unlike any normal election victory which is bundled with euphoria & celebrations, these latest election results have delivered an appaling message…The vibrant democracy is now getting reduced to an unhealthy boring democracy for reasons more than one.

The Rise of One Party Rule- It began with the Lok Sabha election results in May this year, when the Congress led UPA won a 2nd consecutive term with enhanced political mandate. This was the first time in 30 years that any alliance got a 2nd term on completion of its 5 year term. But more then UPA’s astouding victory the highlight of this election was the depleted ‘Opposition’. The principal opposition BJP lost even more seats in the parliament, while the Left parties fell to the 5th postion with an abysmal 20 seats. The new parliament is turning out to be an open playground for the UPA with the opposition seated clueless with no idea on how to counter the policies of the current government. With the Congress coming back to power in all the 3 states, it is now holds power in 15 states (in some states with allies). The writing is on the wall- NEED A POTENT, UNITED OPPOSITION TO BALANCE THE DEMOCRATIC ACT.

Bad governnace rewarded- The state of Maharashtra epitomises this issue in the best fashion. The Congress- NCP combine is back in power for the 3rd consecutive time. Congress- NCP government’s performance has proabably been one of the worst that any state would have witnessed in the last 10 years. Farmer suicide is going up, power shortage is at its peak, infrastructure development is slowest in the whole country, water shortage is increasing, and the security situation is detoriating coninuously. In the last ten years Mumbai alone witnessed 6 terror attacks.Since 2005, every year during monsoons, Mumbai gets flooded leaving the city reeling under water .Raj Thakarey’s MNS workers have openly attacked north Indians while the government stood silently instead of taking any swift action taken against him ( For obvious political reasons). With this kind of a performance if a party/ alliance still manages to win a 3rd term, then there has to be something miserably wrong with the opposition (BJP-Shiv Sena) , that the people of the state are dreading to give them a second chance.

Urban voting percentage emaciating- During the recent Assembly elections the turn out in Mumbai was an abysmal 46%, while Gurgaon registered 54% in the Haryana assembly elections.The voting percentages of the major metros of India in the Lok Sabha elections in May do not look encouraging at all with an exception of Chennai- Mumbai: 44%, Delhi : 53%, Bangalore : 46%, Chennai : 60%, Hyderabad : 54%...For the assembly elections the Election Commission in an unprecedented move made sure that offices, colleges, malls, theatres were all shut but yet the response was so poor. The problem is that urban India, the middle class, youth & professionals do not feel inspired by the political fraternity to come out & vote. With migration of rural population to urban areas going up, this trend could hamper the overall voting percentage even more in the years to come.

Rise of Naxalism- With the naxal menace getting worse by the day the Indian security situation has become even more volatile. The reprehensible violent methods adopted by naxals are a serious cause of concern. But an even more serious cause of concern is the growing support for these naxals in the rural & tribal areas. Poverty is the main reason behind this growing support which again successive governments have failed to counter. This rise in support underlines another chilling reality - The Indian poor drifting away from Indian democracy. The poor have started loosing faith in the political system to solve their basic issues. In turn they are embracing the even more poisonouse radicals who in the long run could spell devestation for the whole country including them.

After 62 years of independence India is again fighting a battle for democracy. Probably this time it’s not a mass revolution like it was against the british rule, but a more subtle & sustained battle been fought in different corners through different ways by different groups in this country. Its time for the establishement & the civil society to wake up & smell the coffee before the dragon within gets out of control.