Our ‘failed’ Democracy

We the Indians are made to believe that ours is the greatest Democracy in the world. Of course, going by the number of persons in the country ( i.e. our population ), number of voters, the expenditure involved in the process of election, etc. we can surely call ours as the big Democracy. However, to wish that ours becomes the real great one, in view of the Writer of these lines, we need to ponder upon as to why in the just concluded General Elections for the Parliament and three states the percentage of votes polled are very low. In some constituencies and states polling percentage has been even less than 50%. This is in spite of extensive appeals made through the media and various private agencies, The NGOs and election commission.


The reasons for low percentage of voting are generally being considered as apathy on the part of voters. The fact is that other reasons such as personal,/ compulsive / engagements of the voters can be about 10% of the total voters. The remaining percentage of absentees can be due to many factors, such as the quality of the contestants, where many bad characters / criminals / murderers, etc. are in the fray whom generally the public would wish not to be in this world it self or at least see such persons in jails and facing severe punishment. Then what to talk of the education which is mostly lacking, rather many of the contestants are not reasonably literate even. The question is then whom and why to vote?

The age of the prime ministerial candidates projected by the two biggest / national parties is fairly high. Age wise they are in the eighties and considered as not suitable to take the burden of this country on their old/ weak shoulders. Most other contenders too are above 70 years of age. Then there are other aspirants, whose total contribution to the nation is only to spread division in the society, encourage regionalism / communalism and casteism, etc. who can not in any way be considered suitable for the present and future development / upliftment and cohesion of the society/country. The quality of canvassing has gone down so low that problems of the country are never discussed. Rather appeals are made on community/ caste/region/etc. basis and/or the efforts are made and whole energy is wasted on blaming the rivals even to the extent of name calling (some times even giving bad taste to the mouth and injury to the ears) and projecting own selves as prophets (the “maseehas”) whereas the public sees and knows all. The public is confused also because of numberless political parties making appeal for the particular class / sections of the society and whose contribution to the society / the state / the country is considered as not positive, in any way. The right to vote having been given to those also who are illiterate and those who are below 25 years of age whose sense of discrimination between right or wrong is generally not developed for the purpose. Under these circumstances the very purpose of those who wish to elect positive, persons of positive character and deserving candidates for the job gets defeated and so only refrain from going to polling booths.

To improve upon the situation and for the upliftment every where ,the present constitution which surely have been written on the basis of experiences and constitutions of other countries, need be replaced by fresh one keeping in view our own experiences and requirements after running this Independent Bharat for over six decades. Then, directives need be focused on DUTIES only and over emphasis on rights as is being done now need be put a stop to.. The age of MPs/MLs/MLCs need be fixed this way so that after attaining age of 70 years ,they have to retire, from all the elective posts/.There need not be more than two political parties in the country including the same ones in the states as well as at lower levels. The elections can be held only for the parties and not the individual candidates. The parties on the basis of percentage of votes polled may nominate the persons for the legislative assemblies/parliament, as well as the other elective bodies on the basis of percentage of votes polled for each one of them. This will also help elections through out the country in one single go. This process if followed may also obviate the need for upper houses in the states and at the centre . This way. need for MID TERM POLLS SHALL ALSO BE GONE. This process. if adopted, will also eliminate need of the individual candidates to spend for elections. This money spent by the individuals candidates can be a big cause of corruption. This is so, since after spending in lacks on individuals’ election losing or winning, such persons would use all means at their command to cover up for the expenses made.

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Now that the election process has been completed and on the basis of results declared for the Parliament, UPA and even the congress party individually have emerged as the holders of maximum number of seats. Still the congress party as well as UPA fall short of the magic figure of 272, the minimum number required for simple majority in the house. The congress party itself has been able to bag only 206 seats in the house of 543. The remaining figures which make them reach up to 261 is by adding at least 8 more outfits. That such outfits will permit the major partner in the government to function properly is just not possible. This conclusion is based on this nation’s past experiences in the matter. Then, going by experience of the past lot of time and energy of head of the govt. shall be wasted in keeping the flock together. Besides, still at least 12 more MPs will be needed to reach the simple majority by the combine, wishing to form the govt. That these 12 too are not going to come without a price and at the cost of clean governance and interest of the country ,these persons shall always keep the Head of the Government and majority party on tender hooks. The small players as we have seen till now also some times twist the PM to the extent of permitting happening of all good things as impossible and making the majority party and its head bend to their feet as well. An insult to the system/ the position holders and prove as very big road blocks in progress of this Nation.

The other group i.e. NDA too has been able to win only 159 seats. This group also consists of one big party, i.e. BJP with 116 seats plus 43 seats of 6 regional outfits.

Now the suggestion is that instead of depending on too many small outfits, it shall be in the interest of both the major political parties and the nation that both these parties, shunning “RAG and DWESHA” and following the tenets of “MANAV DHARMA”, “RAJ DHARMA” and “RASHTRA DHARMA” controlling their respective egos behaving as statesmen coming out of the cocoons of personal INTERESTS move towards each other and form a joint govt. of Congress-BJP who together shall command a clear majority of 322 (206+116) MPs and shall be able to function properly without any leg pulling. The ministries may be shared by these partners in proportion to the number of seats with each party and which one has to go to either of the two may be decided by drawing of lots or mutual discussions. In case for a particular ministry a suitable person is not available with the winner of the lot, it can be exchanged with the other partner. The next elections can be contested by these parties on the basis of the performance shown by each ministry under their control including the performance of state govts. headed by respective parties. Request is that this formula be tried with all sincerity. In the mean time peaceful functioning of the house of Parliament with out any hindrance from any side must be ensured. Those disturbing its functioning must be shown the door by law / rules. The presence of MPs in the house must be made mandatory with at least 75% presence. Those not following in line without proper reasons may be treated as disqualified.

With all this, those not in the govt. too must be given full opportunity to express their views, but only on the issues of national interest..

This is an appeal to the intellectuals / the main two political parties of the country to please consider these points for implementation so that the country develops and for the future generations a healthy legacy is passed on.



R.D. Agarwal

A-86, Indira Nagar, Lucknow-226016 dated:-21.5.09 -blog-www.rdagarwal.blogspot.com fb/twitter rdagarwal