Autocracy Or Democracy: Crazy Taste Of Indian Politics
Abstract
Recently held elections gave us a bloom of illegal activities which the current Government is oppressing because of its power and rule to conquer the seat of the people which denotes that instead of the competitive spirit inside the politicians to do for the best, it has turned into an ugly face. The malafide activities start from the degree of simple discrimination of rights or abusing the politicians as a criticism till the degree of mob lynching and rioting or even death of innocents, which is ought to be looked upon so as to maintain a peace and sanctity in the nation. Violence on the grounds of religion, ethnicity and region influenced by the political parties don’t hamper the big players and rather affect normal innocent people who have no role in it. Even if, the results and post execution scenario loses the momentum after such violence where people don’t even trust the new Government made from their votes as the doomed peace is one of the long lost necessities of a happy growing nation. Since India’s independence from 1950s, the competition was growing heavily between INC, BJP and the Communist Party, but along with time, the new parties like AITC, JDU, YSCRP, AIADMK were formed and the competition became tough. And when there were failure of good remedies and pathways to resolve conflicts, parties adopted the plan of Hook or by Crook which led to such unlawful and felonious activities. Especially there are certain megalomaniacs who can do anything for a seat initially and later lose their interest for the reason the seat is there for. Basically, the politicians forget the socio-economic reason for which they are placed for and ultimately, look for their own benefits. Graver this becomes when they get voted again and again without any sense of responsibility and judging ability of people who is the new and better one for them!
Introduction
Voters and their analysis done before voting has been a very important concern for the political parties as well as the great thinkers who have a role in predicting the success of earlier Government and the newly made Government after elections. But as comparison to last made and this newly made Government of 2019, the majority win of seats by BJP in 2014 as well as 2019 didn’t sound convincing and rather, it has become an autocratic streak[footnoteRef:0] of democracy and not absolutely a democratic rule as made and followed earlier. Style of Governance by the lastly elected politicians like CM Yogi Adityanath has proved the authoritarian rule although they may be hard working and liberal. But, the atrocities in the State of Uttar Pradesh and the rioting between two sets of people based on religion couldn’t be managed well by the CM. Just a stance and case study of Ayodhya Dispute which is yet going on right now couldn’t be properly resolved between two communal parties and hence, it has got back to a notion that it would be solved via mediation over the 2.77 acres of disputed land which belonged to Ram Mandir and Babri Masjid. The communal clashes held were indispensable but, it could have been pacified only when the Executive would have taken a step forward to resolve, which they didn’t. Double standards of India’s Politics by bringing up holy secularism in the picture is quite common which pauses the development of a nation and ruins the image of a place. Rather, instead of resolving it, being pro-Hinduistic and a fake nationalist, the CM, Yogi Adityanath, under his rule in last Government changed the name of a railway station, from Mughal Sarai Jn to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyada Jn, Faizabad to Ayodhya in influence of superego to promote the intolerance as it becomes an ultimate show time for the politicians.
Apart from this, the case is quite similar to the gender biased religious issues where women are not allowed to enter the temples as in Sabarimala case and there were mob lynching and riots for opposition leading to bloodshed and deaths. Gender biased ideas of the traditional community leading to ultimate violation of individual rights to pray is also somehow linked to the political mindset and this is the loophole when taken into account. BJP, CPM and INC gave their opinions for their individual growth in the State of Kerala. BJP influenced that they would protest against the verdict passed and they led a 6 day yathra from Kasargod to Pathanamthitta against women entering the temple which showed them a light for growth in their support in that state followed by CPM supporting the verdict by Supreme Court and implementation for it and finally INC supporting women of all age groups in that state to enter the temple with its own yathras on board. So, this led to an ineffective implementation and economic concerns in the State against the losses. Politics made pilgrimage take a steep turn in the State of Kerala and it posed a threat to the civilization, citizenship and various social movements which also showed Article 44 of our Indian Constitution needs to be followed strongly now. Trans formative politics changing according to scenarios showed inclusive democracy in India and hence, it has become a matter of utmost concern. Show of an ultimatum from democracy to autocracy because of a long living rule by a single party or an individual without any progressive and substantial changes with the time is a point of concern over here. Lack of opportunities to the youth and a group of corrupt politicians with a criminal record being voted is the danger to the future.
Democracy in Retreat
There is a great deal of phony news via web-based networking media, furnished by cognizant plan, by expert makers of such substance and dispersed over numerous stages and a huge number of WhatsApp groups. Counterfeit news serves to spread false data as well as to advance false doubles: mainstream versus patriot, dazzle dedication to the forces that be versus subversion. The Sangh Parivar has since quite a while ago distinguished Muslims with Pakistan, Christians with western powers and outsider culture and socialists and adherents of any shade of Left legislative issues with national disloyalty. The web based life have been staying at work past 40 hours to strengthen these characters. The outcome has been to dissolve majority rule government.
Democracy system isn't a flat out state yet a developing procedure, anyplace on the planet. The entry of President Donald Trump in the US and of xenophobic pioneers in different pieces of Europe uncover the unexpected center of the supposed propelled popular governments. India is a youthful democratic government, bumbling along the way to acknowledgment of lion's share rule as something out and out particular from a systematized harmony among individual and gathering rights, including minority rights. India's polytheistic religion with extraordinary philosophical assorted variety that permits little space for esteeming any religion as freak, its multicultural society and history ought to really enable India to develop quickly as a democracy system. Rather, assorted variety has turned into a wellspring of split, of the destructive kind that produces lynchings.
Secular has progressed toward becoming sickular in the speech of internet based life. India's 14% minority, the Muslims, are viewed as an object of pacification, a vote bank, as opposed to as the socially, monetarily and politically denied gathering set simply over the booked standings and beneath the other in reverse stations in a group-wise positioning of human advancement.
The vulnerabilities of Indian democracy have been articulated over the most recent five years, and a portion of its long haul increases have been undermined. Accordingly, this election is in excess of an activity to choose another legislature. This ought to likewise be an event to emphasize and strengthen Indian vote based system's fundamental beliefs, its agent character and its guarantee of a steady restoration of the aggregate soul. The ECI has declared a progression of crisp measures to fortify the honesty of the discretionary procedure and check some quickly developing risks, for example, the spread of deceptions went for making social polarization for combination of votes. Measures, for example, better observing of web based life crusades, while steps the correct way, are not in themselves satisfactory to manage the difficulties of these occasions. A lot is on the line for all contenders this year, and Indian politics has achieved a dimension of aggressiveness where standard procedures of commitment are routinely ignored. PM Narendra Modi, who rode to power in 2014 on the plan of material advancement through Hindutva, needs to shield his rule to look for a moment term. His adversaries sense an existential peril from him and are attempting to prepare those abandoned or who feel sabotaged by his administration. While facilitating individual interests, all gatherings must understand that democracy system itself is in question if the battle is gone for mutual polarization. Despite the fact that the guarantee of Indian majority rule government has not been completely acknowledged, voters have stayed focused on it. They turn up in enormous numbers to cast a ballot, and think about the very demonstration of casting a ballot as strengthening. That trust ought to be maintained.
Constitutional validity of conducting simultaneous elections:-
The Narendra Modi drove government has been obstinate on simultaneous elections across the country. This implies that the elections to state Assembly and the Parliament shall take place simultaneously. Be that as it may, the Law Commission has confined a rundown of key protected issues that are being bantered upon to check whether the potential changes ‘might be seen as tinkering with the basic structure of the Constitution’. After Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pitch for simultaneous elections on the National Law Day a year ago, the thought was alluded to the Law Commission. Prior, a draft white paper was additionally discharged to get supposition of general society, academicians and so on. To transform the possibility of simultaneous elections into the real world, changes would be required to different amendments of the Constitution.
This incorporates Article 83, Article 85, Article 172, Article 174, Article 356 and the Tenth schedule. There would likewise be changes to the Representation of People's Act, 1951. These articles relate to term, session and dissolution of the state Assembly. Any such alterations to the Constitution would likewise be manageable to legitimate difficulties. The 13-judge seat of the Supreme Court in the memorable instance of Kesavnanda Bharti vs Kerala had set out that the fundamental structure of the Constitution can't be changed through amendments, safeguarding the soul of democracy.
One of the primary constitutional issue that the law board has taken up is “In the case of having respect to the endless advantages of simultaneous elections, the inevitability of amendment to specific Articles of the Constitution that manage term and dissolution of the House of the People/Legislative Assembly providing for fixed tenure of Houses and standards all things considered and failure of constitutional machinery in states, which might be seen as tinkering with the basic structure of the Constitution?.” It isn't only the anxiety of tinkering with the basic structure of the Constitution that is a test to the possibility of simultaneous elections. The Law Commission is additionally reflecting if President rule can be forced in case of premature dissolution of the Legislative Assembly till the opportunity arrives for another arrangement of simultaneous elections. The key inquiry for the Law Commission is to investigate whether such a change will have any effect on the ‘functioning of our democratic set up vis-a-vis the constitutional precepts’. Under the present structure, the President rule can be forced for a half year and can be stretched out to a limit of three years subject to Parliament's endorsement at regular intervals. It tends to be renounced whenever by the President, without the endorsement of Parliament. Sacred standards state it is alluring that the decisions in the state be directed productively to stay away from any maltreatment of intensity.
One must not overlook the landmark judgment of the Uttarakhand High Court subduing the President rule forced by the Modi government, considering it a maltreatment of intensity and a technique to evacuate democratically elected state government.
Congress point of view of conducting simultaneous elections
The nation’s principal opposition party Congress have said that Simultaneous polls is a “Constitutional perversity”. The principal Opposition party have also asserted that the intent of the ruling party is to replace Parliamentary democracy and the spirit of federalism with authoritarianism and long spells of President’s rule.
At the All India Congress Committee (AICC), senior spokesperson and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi said the only reason cited for “this plausible-sounding catch-phrase” is that too much money is spent on holding different elections. “For facetious and mala fide reasons, the BJP wants to disrupt the entire Constitutional scheme and usurp the people’s right to elect or reject a government on any given day, month or year. This is the cornerstone of democracy which is being sought to be replaced with authoritarianism and dictatorship.”
A Parliament Standing Committee estimates the entire cost of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections at ₹4, 500 crore. “We would like to advise him (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) to first stop spending ₹4, 600 crore of public money on self promotion and propaganda, ” said Singhvi. Singhvi also said that “The proposal for simultaneous election hits at the core of democracy. It goes against the grain of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution, the will of the people, it denies people the right to elect a government of their choice and remove it. It is authoritarianism and dictatorship”.
Concerns about the future of Indian Democracy
Individuals from the liberal elite are enormously stressed, and which is all well and good, about the fate of political organizations that the authors of the republic had sustained with incredible consideration. A few of these organizations, including the Supreme Court, the Election Commission of India and the Central Bureau of Investigation, which are naturally ordered to be self-sufficient offices, have as of late gone under a cloud as a result of their apparent powerlessness to work freely of the political official or in view of the absence of straightforwardness in their exhibition.
The other real dread is the danger presented to the “thought of India” as a plural and comprehensive commonwealth by the ascent of Hindutva and its political instrument, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Congress gathering's quest for ‘delicate’ Hindutva, as against the BJP's ‘hard’ Hindutva, has uplifted such concerns. This is the reason numerous individuals from the liberal elite are incredibly stressed over the unmistakable change in the belief system of India's Grand Old Party. The third real concern is the noticeable ascent in populist and dictator inclinations in the nation reminiscent of Indira Gandhi's Emergency that take steps to diminish India to simply a procedural popular government where decisions are held basically to bless populist pioneers. This result, in the event that it happens, will be contradictory to the majority rule ethos cherished in the Constitution that Mrs. Indira Gandhi had attempted to subvert ineffectively.
Despite the fact that, We profoundly feel for these worries of the liberal elite, it jumped out at us that while liberal intelligent people have been focused on subjects, for example, the disintegration of establishments, the ascent of majoritarianism and the multiplication of populist and dictator propensities, most voters are unconcerned about these issues. Not many, aside from the religious minorities, are stressed over the disintegration of the pluralist thought of India. Their worries as they identify with the electoral process are restricted to three sorts of issues: jobs and livelihood; caste and communal considerations; and exhibition of Indian strength especially vis-a-vis Pakistan. The first is flawlessly reasonable since a generous portion of the populace lives simply over the poverty line and is continually stressed that it might be pushed underneath that line. Indeed, even working class Indians feel monetarily powerless without a social security net and are relentlessly apprehensive about occupation frailty. This clarifies the fascination of came up short on government occupations that give deep rooted security and the battle for and against reservations in the open part. The monetary misery in the horticultural area makes the provincial populace significantly more intensely mindful of dangers to their money related prosperity, for sure to their physical survival. It is these financial worries that have made both the decision BJP and the Congress accentuate monetarily ameliorative measures in their race statements.
Caste and community keep on assuming a significant job in Indian politics. Several gatherings are unequivocally founded on position or sub-station alliances. All gatherings pick their applicants dependent on rank and network figurings inside individual voting public and take part in activating position based help for their hopefuls. Casting a ballot on position lines is taken as a given in races and political savants every now and again base their guesses of appointive results on the standing number juggling. In the meantime, conservative gatherings, for example, the BJP stress the religious partition so as to exploit common combination based on religion.
Acceptance of increasing Autocracy
Slowly but narrowly, the pride has been accepted by the BJP that Narendra Modi alias NaMo has been the 9th most powerful persons in the world due to which , he has gained an absolute power over the democracy of India. Last Government elected in 2014 and this Government elected in 2019, both have been ruled by one person, NaMo as selected by BJP as if no other candidates are available for the race for being a Prime Minister of a nation other than this person. Plus, if we talk about the extraordinary work done by our PM, there isn’t much of a change in the GDP of the nation and this time, just the cabinet has changed because of pressure from the people. In his past rule over the nation, he has been showing off the growth and appreciation of India in a flamboyant way, but never showed the losses and cons of the nation lest, they were explored by the Media, who were later threatened or killed.Ultimatum is to show the autocratic power of NaMo which is being condensed and used in a superior way outskirting the legal powers. This shows an absolute malafide power with no freedom to speech and expression and also, the basic fundamental rights have been violated. Appreciation goes to those who have chosen NOTA option in the EVM Machines, when there are absolutely no good candidates to vote for and this is how democratic play comes into picture. Even if in 2013, the Supreme Court said that NOTA option will indeed compel a political party to nominate a sound and ideal candidate for getting voted in the elections as people don’t find him sane enough. This system has been helping to cleanse the political scenario in the nation in a better way. Vote of discontent is to be respected by the democratic nation where selection of proper eligible candidates is also important despite of any candidate having criminal records and BJP has re-nominated many candidates via shuffling them this elections.
Democracy is all about proper choice of individuals but, at the end of elections when one of the party gets the majority of votes and is allowed to select the Prime Minister, it may be unfair due to lack of statutory provisions that one existing Prime Minister to continue the same position and power in the next elected Government as well, even though he is elected as MLA or MP from any of the constituencies. As an example, reference of political unrest in West Bengal will be better and even weeks have passed after Lok Sabha elections are over, still then, the conflict between two major parties, All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) and BJP is yet on display. CM Mamata Banerjee has yet been accusing NaMo of tampering with EVM Machines and juggling with the votes of people. She even cites that Election Commission is corrupt, being involved with NaMo as a game of money and power irrespective of the root issues. Both the parties have been blaming each other for orchestrating arson and bloodbath as for the incident that happened on night of June 8, 2019, where the a leader of AITC was murdered on the open street and the suspects are the scoundrels of BJP as said by the CM, following to death of Satyajit Biswas, a TMC leader on holy occasion of Saraswati Puja. BJP leader, Babul Supriyo and BLP leader in state, Mukul Roy is accusing the CM for provoking the post poll violence and many BJP workers were killed because of chanting “Jai Shri Ram” in front of the AITC people. To the rebuttal, CM added “Jai Hind, Jai Bangla” and pronounced in proximity of the BJP workers irrespective of political standards and basic neutralisation. Even if, the illegal migrants and refugees like the Rohingyan Muslims and Bangladeshi people have been involved in the fake polling and casting of votes as well as spreading the violence all across the State. Post-poll violence has been inducted to such an extent that the Governor of WB, KN Tripathi has asked to impose President’s Rule in the State as the situation is going out of control now and many lives are being claimed. Tussle of power between the leading party and the left-behind party is the reason of fights between the national heads and the non-acceptance of defeat in the General Elections is the another reason for such violence and political unrest in the State.
Role of People in Politics
“Muddy swamp area is where politicians land and spend their life throughout”. This is what the general public think about the politics in India and therefore, we can see the less of inclusiveness of new people in the democratic system. In a country of far fetched diversities and excellence, with all kinds of resources and what not, we are still backwards after seventy years of Independence and one of the reasons for this can be we, the general public of India. Being blessed with a democratic system- which means of the people, by the people and for the people, the public emerges as the strongest medium which control a nation too. Unless and until there is no feeling of discrimination and fights between different sectors, communities and classes of people, the democracy would function well. But, when that conflicting term arises, the politicians get a key to divide and rule the general public by utmost manipulation and check mate the gate crashing supporters of opposition parties in picture. Thus, the origin is only based on the people, their education and their sensible understandings on political matters. The British Elections of 1910 can be a sample for this which will describe how the campaigning changes the minds of people when voting and how the political parties use their intentions to play with the minds of such a general public.
Looking upon the election dates in 2019, it would be surprising to find out the voter turnout and the negligence by the general public. 63.98% of citizens voted for this election and it was 67.6% of the citizens who voted for the elections held in 2014. Unexpectedly, the voter turnout went down and there were discussions based on the reasons why the voter turnout went down. One of the specific reasons to be the access and ease of voting, which is actually a problem as being employees in different states, youth studying in different cities and India doesn’t have the mode of online voting which when incorporated would help the people who stay in different states and at far off places outside India vote easily. Even also, there can be a proper analysis done in this techno-world with support of new Digital India for the benefit of voters. This would also increase the transparency of voter system which would be readily available for public display and RTI won’t be latent in this system immediately. Also, there should be inter-state MOUs and Agreements for allowing the voters to vote off line in any mode and medium, proving that they are the citizens of the Nation. Utter improvement in the term plans and limitations for voting can be fixed also by the Election Commission, along with a double security in the form of vigilance being implemented for the Commission.
Discipline is being one of the most important issues in India whether it may be for any personal cause or any official purpose. Indians are got to be late in everything despite of precautionary warnings, but our Prime Minister[footnoteRef:20] put forth his views as Discipline to be a signal of Autocracy being imposed upon and lack of flexibility. People would even support Military Rule instead of a Democracy so as to sustain a happy living and for that they need the rule of discipline would serve the most. Therefore, such manipulations from the politicians shouldn’t affect the people. Media should play it’s role perfectly irrespective of any threat or omission of work with due corruption in picture. Rather, equal discipline should be there during the time of elections and the party discipline must be present with particular standards being maintained. The parties shouldn’t indulge or play a culprit in any messed up situations with everything performed in peace. Minimum philosophical standards need to be maintained for an easy conduct of elections instead of ego clashes and further violent actions in picture.
