BJP vs Congress: Party politics has outlived its use

Tyranny of the unelected and the unelectable - that’s how the Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari described the conduct of Gandhian Anna Hazare and his team of anti-corruption crusaders a few weeks ago. As quotable quotes go, it’s a good one – a nice combination of words with the pretension of high intellect, a bit mystifying and fit enough to be repeated before anyone willing to listen. Team Anna’s quick rebuff—’tyranny of the elected’—was a good one too but it missed the sting. It lacked the originality quotient. In the hindsight, it was a statement that certainly deserved better treatment. Taken out of its original limited context and placed in the context of the broader political process in the country, it is an apt description of the conduct of our elected representatives. As our political parties plunge recklessly into the game of one-upmanship, force Parliament into a state of limbo and reduce parliamentary democracy to a farce through partisan politics, it’s time to spare a thought whether party-based politics has outlived its utility and started being counterproductive. [caption id=“attachment_58764” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“MPs protest in the Lok Sabha. PTI”]  [/caption] Take this hypothetical situation. The current stand-off in Parliament continues and it concludes without transacting any business. The members meet again for the next session and that one is unproductive too and the adjournment drama continues till the tenure of this government is over. This continues even when the next government comes to power – given the acrimonious nature of our politics it is not improbable. The scenario could be tad exaggerated, but it is scary enough. All important bills stay unattended, there’s no discussion on any burning topic and the people’s voice go completely unheard. Governments can survive through ordinances but up to a point. Beyond that it could be total breakdown of the law-making process and the dead end for people’s hopes. As all this happen, the common man remains a mute, confused spectator. He cannot do anything to change the way parties behave. He cannot do much if major parties gang up to pass anti-people policies. He cannot act if all parties decide to go slow on issues like corruption. And, finally, he has to shamelessly vote for one party or the other. Did someone say ’tyranny of the elected?’ What can the citizen do if his representatives decide to be irresponsible? Not much, under our circumstances. Voting out one party to replace it with another does not help either. Political parties—both in bi-party democracies such as the US and the United Kingdom and multi-party democracies like India and France—present themselves as fait accompli before people. To put it bluntly, if both the parties – in India, the multi-party system tends to veer towards a loose two-party system as smaller parties align either of the bigger ones, the BJP and the Congress – turn out unelectable, the electorate simply has no choice. The all-powerful common man is a big myth. It’s a joke devised by the clever guys to pamper his ego. All the powers in democracies are concentrated in the political parties. Why have things come to such a sorry pass? Death of ideology in politics could be one of the reasons. It served as the moral convergence point among disparate elements in a party and a mean to connect to people. It also ensured a sense of responsibility and dignity in parties. At least they had to be responsible to the lay followers who trusted the ideology the party stood for. With no ideology to be accountable to, politicians have lost sight of the sentiments of people too. If they don’t discuss issues in Parliament, they don’t have to explain to people ‘why’. It’s possible that the role of intellect has been pushed to the margins and parties have come to be dominated by demagogues, careerists and political adventurers. For these set of people the dignity of the House does not matter much, neither does the dissatisfaction of people. So long as they manage to keep public opinion confused and appeal to emotions they do not have to bother much. But the core problem is the inherent human tendency to be politically inclined this way or that way. At any given moment, there would be people backing the Congress or the BJP or some other party blindly. This is where the political parties get their confidence from. They can afford to take democracy for granted as long as they have a set of people rooting for and voting for them unquestioningly. They will stay electable and tyrannical too. Is their a way out? Clearly, the present system looks hopelessly dated and easily manipulable. Parties have come to assume an identity of their own which is not relatable to people and their needs any more. Worse, they have turned arrogant and careless. It’s time the country started debating an answer to the problem.