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Mar072009
The Story of Indian Elections - part 3
This is the third post in the series.
The general elections are held to elect the members of the Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha by convention is the lower house of India’s parliament.(Why is it called lower house when in fact it is much more powerful than the Rajya Sabha ?) which elects the union government.
So the elections are not just about the next national government , but also about the new Lok Sabha (a point which often overlooked in our media discussions).
For the record the coming elections are for electing the 15th Lok Sabha. Now that all that the media can think about is that, who is going to win the next elections and form the government, let us spare a thought for the most respected of India’s democratic institutions, Lok Sabha. Lok Sabha plays a crucial role in the Parliamentary democracy. Besides electing or bringing down the government (motion of confidence and no confidence) it has many important functions to perform.
The executive(the govt.) is responsible to the Parliament and the Parliament is supposed to keep a watch on the working of the govt. But if we see the 14th Lok Sabha ,the role of Lok Sabha has diminished . In a dubious record the Lok Sabha passed 8 bills in 17 minutes in Dec 2008 . The debates and number of sittings of the Lok Sabha have witnessed a sharp decline . The attendance of members in Lok Sabha has declined. The maximum attendance is reached when there is a vote of confidence or no confidence. MP’s think that their job description includes only electing or removing the union council of ministers. It has become increasingly rare to listen to a good speech in Parliament or great Parliamentary debates.
So who is to blame for such a mess of things (other than the MP’s themselves.) The Lok Sabha members are elected directly by people. So should the voters take the blame. For it is they who decide the MP’s . But the fact is that they are not worried about the day to day working of Lok Sabha, or the attendance registers of the Lok Sabha. Even though now the proceedings of the house are telecast live the public interest in it remains low. The people vote to elect a govt. and they do it pretty well(unless they elect a hung parliament).
The onus lies on the political parties to ensure the proper working of the Lok Sabha (and the Rajya Sabha). And as voters we have ask this question our leaders, for they are responsible in the decay of the standards of this esteemed body. The political party leaders are expected to set an example for other members. If the political parties can issue whips to its members for important votes in Parliament, they can also disclipine their members to ensure they do their job properly. All the main parties have fared miserably in their conduct in the Lok Sabha . Political parties take lead in staging walk outs and disrupting the proceedings of the parliament for their own agendas. It seems that neither the ruling disposition nor the opposition parties are interested in the proper conduct of business in the Parliament. May be we need to pass some laws on the lines of anti defection law to ensure the working of the Parliament.
Hope that the 15th Lok Sabha does better.
The views expressed in this post are those of the writer and are not necessarily endorsed by Mutiny.in
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Esther
001
10:54 pm
The good news is that Sajjad Lone, the Kashmiri Separatist leader is intending to contest the forthcoming lok sabha elections. During the last state elections he was calling for boycott of elections, that was completely ignored..
It is biggest blow to separatist and its Pakistani backers. Its a victory for Indian democratic process.
Amit
002
11:06 pm
Here’s an example if any was required of how caste and religious analysis is used to win elections.
http://www.congress4india.com/story/2009/3/6/04654/30232
Ram
003
4:54 am
Your analysis is accurate.
I can give you two examples from TN.
1) Actor Ramarajan was an MP, enough said.
2) Radhika Selvi who is now an honorable minister of state for Home affairs; her qualifications - a class 10 education and being the wife of a guy from a certain caste, who was wanted in 20 cases, and was killed by the Police during the previous state government (Jaya). This is not to say that commoners with less education should be barred from being elected and holding ministries. I’m sure there are much more qualified individuals her party could’ve fielded, but that wouldn’t have guaranteed a victory. (http://www.rxpgnews.com/politics/DMKs-Radhika-Selvi-from-gangsters-widow-to-minister_28185.shtml)
I’m sure other states have plenty of examples like these. I don’t think these people participate in any parliamentary debate whatsoever. Just vote along the party lines and be done with it.
Piyush
004
5:57 pm
@Ram: You say that commoners who are low on educational qualifications should not be considered any less capable of being the best representatives of their people. And absolutely agree with you. I feel this is exactly why the designers of our constitution came up with the system of two houses. The lower house or the Lok Sabha was never meant to be restricted for anyone (may be other than people with criminal histories). Because to represent a million or more people is no 9-5 job. It can only be done by sheer passion and love for the people. People who recognise with their problems. And thus these people do not need to be the most educated or qualified. But only have a will to serve.
This is also why Upper House or Rajya Sabha is so important. To temper down this raw passion and excitement. Even people with the best intentions sometimes need to be given a different perspective on the same thing. And besides as we have already established that education is not the most important qualification for being a member of lower house. So someone with academic orientation, cultural figures, sports person, international diplomats are also needed to guide the representatives of the people working for the people.