70 Years of Indian Democracy: Achievements and Challenges
That India had remained a democracy over the past 70 years since its independence from centuries of colonial rule is itself a great achievement. Stating this may sound like stating something very obvious. Nevertheless it is worth stating. Many nations that became free from colonial rule around the same time that India became independent could not remain democracies for long. In several post colonial countries constitutions were scrapped. Elected governments were overthrown in military coups. Authoritarian regimes were established and got entrenched. All this happened not in some distant lands in some distant time. The experience of the neighboring Pakistan that came to into existence due to the partition of united India in 1947 demonstrates this.
India had passed through many a testing time since Independence. Attempts were made to stifle political opposition. National Emergency was imposed in 1975 on the ground of internal rebellion. The country saw the assassinations of its top political leaders: Mrs. Indira Gandhi while she was in office and Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister. Mandal reservations and Mandir controversy in the 1990s pushed the country into deep trouble. The country had to restructure its economy in the wake of collapse of socialist states and adjust to the new logic of free market economy and globalization over the last two decades. However, India came out of these testing times successfully.
Reservation policies provided entry for disadvantaged social classes in representative institutions, employment and education made a big difference in the lives of the people. India is the only country that has an elaborate system of reservations in the form of quotas to ensure representation of the socially disadvantaged sections. It is no small matter that in a country that was characterized by hierarchical caste system for centuries, parties that claim to represent the self-respect and social justice could come to power in some important states of the country. They also play an important role in politics at the national level. It is no small matter that today the three top constitutional positions of India – President, Vice-President, and Prime Minister -- are occupied by political leaders who hail from a humble social background.
India is the only country in the world where communist parties came to form governments through elections and continue to be in power for a very long time, although at state level. Bharatiya Janata Party, which grew in strength on the plank of Hindu cultural nationalism, had to forge alliances with other parties with different standpoints. It showed moderation once it came to power. Likewise, parties that emerged on the basis of appeals to identities on the basis of caste and region too moderated their ideology due to electoral compulsions.
The democratic experience of India also taught some important political lessons for all the people of the world. When India became democratic republic after independence, several political pundits were skeptical of the possibility of democracy in India. Democracy and poverty were thought to be incongruent. They believed that democracy was possible only in developed nations with high rates of industrialization, urbanization and decent levels of per capita income. India did not possess any of the pre-conditions at that time. But India proved their theory wrong. When India’s democracy began to work, these pundits grew skeptical of the sustainability of Indian democracy. They said that the Indian state could not meet the aspirations of its people which would keep on rising as a result of democratic processes. They predicted that Indian democracy would collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. This also was proved to be wrong.
Some said that democracy would not survive in India because of its bewildering diversity. They thought that clash of identities based on region, language, caste, religion, ethnicity and tribe would flare up and India gets consumed in these fires. But no such calamity had happened. It is true that over the past 70 years India faced several formidable challenges to its unity and survival as one nation. There were times when Tamil leaders toyed with the idea for secession. Sikhs in Punjab launched struggles for Khalistan. Violent struggles went on for decades in several North Eastern states to break away from India. India could tame many of the problems relating to secessionism. Kashmir is one problem that has become intractable and still burning. Overall, the idea of India as one country enjoys overwhelming support among vast sections of people.
But we cannot say all is not well with India’s democracy. While we take pride in the fact that India is the world’s largest democracy, certain challenges stare in our face. The first challenge is political and administrative corruption. Many political leaders see politics as business to amass wealth. Now political leaders accuse each other of amassing wealth not in tens or hundreds or crores, but in thousands. We routinely hear how the politicians amass wealth through commissions, kickbacks and transactional favours by tweaking governmental policies. Media reports on deals and corruption scandals, such as the 2G scam and the coal scam, tell us how the craft of political graft has been so much refined over the years. They tells us how entrenched is crony capitalism. The raucous debates in the legislature and politicians’ tirades against each other tell us about the high personal stakes involved in political business.
A second challenge is dynastic succession. Political leaders see political power as personal property to be passed on to their sons, daughters and close relatives. Politicians exercise untrammeled power in party and government, have means to bestow favours and benefits on their followers, and have huge avenues to make money. They want to turn these opportunities and privileges into a family affair. The term Dynastic democracy sounds like a contradiction in terms. But that seems to be the style in which party and government leaders want Indian democracy to function. Politics today is like cine industry and businesses, where children are expected to take over fathers regardless of their talent and experience. In due course they learn some tricks of the game and turn out to be successful. Since politics is looked upon as a lucrative occupation with less demand on entrepreneurial skills and involving less risk, politicians at all levels want their children to take up the mantle of political leadership, and ensure the survival of the family business.
A third challenge is personalization of political power in both parties and government. In most states, the position of Chief Minister is looked upon as the only one that matters. The struggle for capturing the CM’s post explains the frictions within the ruling party, formation of new parties, and the making and unmaking of alliances and coalitions. Leaders of the party are rarely elected. No real election takes place to choose the members of the highest decision-making bodies. Those who disagree with the boss have no place in the party. They have to either shut up or get out. Leaders around the supremo in the party are happy so long as the leader is capable of winning elections for them.
We see these three things happening at all the levels of the polity. Also, all these three challenges are closely interrelated, which in turn breed other problems such as political defections. We cannot expect any one leader or party to completely tackle all these challenges. There is no democracy in the world that is completely free of these problems. But to be conscious of these problems and make concerted efforts to contain the negative aspects of democracy is the only way to make democracy more stable, enduring and meaningful. Over the past 70 years India’s democracy proved to be resilient and has the capacity to correct itself. Let’s hope the journey of democracy in the coming years and decades would further consolidate on its achievements and mitigate the shortcomings.
Author: Kondaveeti Chinnaya Suri
University of Hyderabad
