Towards Political Redemption
The root cause of all the ills of the
nation today is the non accountability of the ruling class. Frontline politics
is abounding with shamelessly corrupt, criminal, dynastic, communal/ caste
based, greedy individuals and leaders, subverting the very idea of democratic
and welfare governance. Political power is wielded by a few thugs and
extortionists. People are forced to elect only among the contesting, mostly dishonest, self centered, self
aggrandizers, while the money bags, business
tycoons and their henchmen go about nominating their yes men, stooges and ‘zee
boom baas’ to every legislative and administrative position and continue
looting all public resources, accumulating them as their personal wealth and
investment for future political harvest.
Nominated
by political party leaders – who themselves are not democratically elected –
based only on the capacity to help furthering their own agenda, these
candidates do not represent the interests of the people, but only those of the
party leaders and the money bags behind them.
The situation calls for an emergency
surgery. Applying some balm here and spraying some pain killer there, will not
do. The body polity in a nation is akin to the blood in a human body. It has
got rotten. Complete transfusion of blood alone can save the person – nation –
now.
Invariably in discussions on the subject,
activists start advocating electoral/ judicial/ police reforms, lok pal/ lok
ayuktha regime, right to recall, referendum etc. Scores of recommendations on
these are taking a never ending nap in the cupboards of the Government. How can
we expect the representatives of political leaders to implement reforms which are
designed to work against their own interests? Until and unless we have people’s
representatives in governing bodies, no significant reform is possible. In fact
with true representatives of the people filling governing bodies, many
proposals for reforms may even become redundant.
Well
meaning activists and groups have been trying to nominate honest candidates.
But the people look the other way. They tried joining hands and nominating
common candidates. Still people did not take cognizance. The activists groups
and small but honest parties have little clout with the people. The candidates
are not selected by any significant number of electorates. Even the small
groups deciding on the candidates’ names, belong to different constituencies. The
voters are not prepared to own these candidates. Thus the very idea of our getting
honest candidates elected remains stillborn. Instead of telling people to vote
for our candidates, if alone we ask them to select their own candidates, we can
ensure their owning of the candidates and hence their victory.
To
ensure that the elected representatives represent us – the people – and not the
party bosses and business tycoons, the people have to come together to select
among them themselves, honest, non greedy persons, nominate and elect them for
all the governing bodies. This will result in a representative yet
participatory democracy. This will elevate democracy to the next level and
radically change the way we are governed. Right to recall and referendum will
become a part of such a process, with power literally flowing in to the hands
of the people.
This
process of ‘empowering the people’ can be facilitated by forming ‘street committees’
and elect representatives to the next level, say colony committees and in turn
area, ward, assembly constituency, parliament constituency committees and
select people’s candidates to the various governing bodies by up and down
consultation. It should be ensured that the candidates selected thus, do not
belong to any entrenched political party, are not corrupt, have an inclination
to work for the social welfare and are not drunkards. Caste, community, race or
wealth, should not come in to consideration. People in every nook and cranny
have to be sensitized of the need for this method of ‘search, select, nominate
and elect’ to appoint their own representatives as against those imposed by the
political parties and money bags.
There
are many individuals and groups working to change the ground conditions on some
problem or other. If the above change to usher in basic, direct, participative
democracy – actually a going back to the original idea of democracy – is
achieved, solutions to every other problem will fall in place automatically.
The people’s committees will be there to guide and check the rulers as a watch
dog forever.
To
carry this message far and wide, it is absolutely essential that the various
actors in the social sector – individual social activists/ groups, NGOs – come
together and hold hands. As the groups are apprehensive and reluctant to come
under a single banner, it is sufficient to hold hands to take on the mighty
polity to start with. Mergers will take place in due course and ultimately all groups
will merge in to one entity called the ‘people’s committee’ and that will rule
the roost.
With my limited experience in
trying to take this message to the people, I can say with certainty that they
are willing to grab the idea with both hands. Well, there are hurdles. People
ask ‘after taking money, how can we say no to them’. We have to educate them
that ‘taking money for vote is not just illegal, it is a SIN. If you receive
money, due to need or fear of party henchmen, then there is absolutely nothing
wrong in denying them the vote. In fact you should not vote for such candidates
even if you like them otherwise’. Further they confront us saying ‘they take
promise on our children’s head – how can we go against our promise’. Well the
answer is, ‘What you think at heart is the real promise and not what your lips say.
Say in your mind ‘I will definitely not vote for you, as you are cheating’ and
then say aloud that you will vote only for him. You have to stick to the
promise you took at heart and not what your lips said. If you still fear going
back, avoid voting altogether or cast a NOTA rather than voting for the culprits’.
If the politicos come to know of this campaign, they will realize that it is
the end of the road for them.
Gandhiji
realized that the British were very powerful and it is not possible to defeat
them, in their own territory, with their kind of weapons. Hence he devised the unassailable ‘Satyagraha’. Today’s politicos too
are very powerful indeed. We cannot confront them in their territory and slay
them, wielding bows and arrows, while they wield guns and missiles. We need a
different weapon altogether like ‘Satyagraha’. The weapon is ‘search, select,
nominate, elect’ mode of ‘empowerment’.
Acting as facilitators for the people to select
their own candidate will be the real role of small parties and sociopolitical
activists groups, as after all we have not come in, to play politics our selves,
but only to reform, revitalize, reinvent and redeem politics.
Political awareness among the people has
been growing. People’s wrath on liquor shops, nuclear plants etc., effort to
clean up water bodies themselves, rescue and rehabilitation efforts during
floods and storm, in Tamil Nadu as also elsewhere, point to the fact that they have
lost faith on these self centered, greedy politicians. This has resulted in the
formation of hundreds of new political outfits and many individuals also will
enter the fray when elections confront them. But the support base for such
candidates – of activists or new political outfits – in any constituency is not
going to be significant to help them win. The competition and internal feuds
will scatter the votes further and the position of the Goliaths of political
parties will remain unassailable as always. If we ask the people ‘to vote for
me’ or ‘vote for our candidate’ thus try to thrust the choice of a small group
on the people, they are not going to respond favorably. They will continue with
the dictum ‘known devil is better than un known angel’. We should sensitize the
people and make them select among themselves a suitable candidate of their own,
to truly represent them. There should be only one such candidate per
constituency. Such candidates can floor any ‘Goliath’. The social activists and
small timers in politics can play a major role in this – that of facilitators.
Anyway, properly guided, people will only select some socially active persons.
If we are the ones, let us accept it as the call of duty. Otherwise too, let us
get on with our selfless work as ever! This will be the winning formula.
Lot of effort has gone in, to promote
this idea among the people, with the impending elections to local bodies in TN
in focus to start with, hoping to cover the whole country for the assembly and
lok sabha elections in due course. Seeds have been sown in many areas in
Chennai, its surroundings and faraway as well and the activists are working
enthusiastically and tirelessly. The message needs only to be spread to the
nooks and crannies of the country. But synergy is needed to deliver death knell
to the wayward polity.
This is not a utopian dream anymore. In Gadchiroli district
of Maharashtra adjoining Chattisgarh, activists have ensured electing people’s
own candidates for local bodies already. If it is possible in a naxal affected
area, why not elsewhere? It has happened in many other pockets of the country as
well. We have to only make it a rule and not let it remain an exception.
Let us wrest our rights from the
wayward polity.
By K. Raja Rajan
[A technologist by qualification, farmer by option and
Gandhian by conviction]
Gandhian Initiative for
Social Transformation,
Cell: 94441 60839, E mail: letsbelldcat@gmail.com,
Blog: prithvi-mithra.blogspot.in, Face book: Raja Rajan. K
