Oommen Chandy Chief Minister
Multiplicity of political parties, formation of caste and regional based parties; all have led to the emergence of coalition politics and it has become the order of the day in many states of India. We have had coalitions at the Centre. Coalitions for mere sharing of power are not ideal. There should be a Common Minimum Programme and the coalition should be able to implement it. The coalition in Jammu and Kashmir between the PDP and the BJP has nothing in common. It is just a marriage of convenience for sharing the fruits of power.
Kerala is the best example of a multiparty coalition system that functions within the framework of alliance politics in the form of the UDF and the LDF. Coalition politics itself is something that nurtures and supports specific interests. From the time of David Lloyd George in England, coalitions have come together on the basis of a common minimum programme. Being the case, the coalition parties have a strong say in the formation of policies and decisions. The coalition system gave political stability in Kerala and it has now become a reality in different states and at the Centre. This ‘old model’ has become a way of politics now. Instead of getting stuck in a time warp, it has become a vibrant mode of political expression and a necessity.
Though the CPM is a national party in the technical sense of the term, it is a party with presence only in three states. Because of the strong secular character of Kerala, the BJP has no space in the political arena of Kerala. But, of late, the BJP has begun efforts to make its presence felt. In the recently-held local body elections it entered into an understanding with the BDJS, which was taking its infant steps. The only political party that can take care of regional interests within a national frame work is the Indian National Congress.
Kerala showed the way in coalition politics and we had very successful coalition governments in the past. In a coalition government, we have to carry all sections together and have to compromise at times. This is the weakness and strength of coalition. But, it is justifiable in a pluralistic society. Multiplicity of parties and split in parties for personal motives is not a healthy trend.
Kummanam Rajasekharan BJP state president
Kerala has ceased to be the country’s political crucible. For the past few decades, there has been no political experiment in the state. On the contrary, with the monopoly of the two coalitions led by the Congress and the CPM respectively, state politics has been lately stagnating and stinking. Though ideologically and politically poles apart, the two coalitions are cousins in regard to policy and programme. As a result, there is hardly any new initiative or innovation. This inhibits growth and development. At stake is the very credibility of politics itself. The younger generation who were earlier hyper active in political activity is now averse to politics. The resultant emerging apolitical generation could prove disastrous to democracy. It is for the political leadership in the state to urgently address this issue. This calls for a fesh leadership in the state, a leadership that could win the trust and boost the confidence of the people, free from corruption, communal pressure and nepotism, and committed to cause and not to power, posts or positions. Both UDF and LDF have been tried several times by the Kerala electorate hoping against hope, but in vain. Left between the devil and the deep sea,there was no choice before the people.
The two coalitions vyingly nurtured and promoted communal politics. Appeasement of organised vote banks by the two fronts has upset the social and communal harmony in the state. The organised minority is pampered at the expense of the unorganised majority. This has led to a sense of social insecurity among vast sections of society. Organised minority was allowed to hold the unorganised majority to ransom. To put it in simple terms, the competitive minoritism, pursued by the two coalitions has cost the state and society dearly. The situation is so explosive that urgent intervention by a genuinely secular political leadership has become inevitable.
Pinarayi Vijayan CPM Politburo member
The model envisaged in the Constitution has not lost its credibility. Strictly adhering to the concept of ‘unity in diversity’, the founding fathers of our Constitution upheld the spirit of federalism. Unfortunately, the essence of federalism was sought to be replaced by the spirit of unitary concept of governance by the successive Congress Governments for many decades. This was highly detrimental to the very concept of balanced development of various regions and the equitable distribution of resources among various provinces. As a result, regional imbalance and the resultant discontentment came to the fore. If you closely watch the history of upsurge of the divisive forces, you can see that they got strengthened by exploiting the discontentment of the masses, which was a direct sequel to the discrimination meted out to the states. Governance is not looting the states and enriching the Centre. What is required is a strong Centre and dynamic states. The Congress forgot this concept. The powers vested with the states as per the Constitution got eroded as a result of the policies of the congress governments. The successive Congress Governments usurped the rights of the states and overstepping the jurisdiction of the states, made a series of legislations that took away a number of rights and powers that were earlier vested either in the state list or in the concurrent list. It is against this backdrop that the regional parties flourished, challenging the one party hegemony of the Congress at the Centre. All the secular, democratic non-Congress national parties too upheld the federal spirit of the Constitution in its true spirit. The CPM had all along been in the forefront of the forces that vehemently called for the restructuring of the Centre-State relations in general and the financial relations in particular. It is not fair to conclude that the regional parties alone will defend the interests of the states. The need of the hour is to highlight the causes of the states within the framework of the general aspirations of the nation. Often, the non-Congress, non-BJP national parties strictly adhered to this. In Kerala, our party has always fought against the usurping of the states’ rights and defended the interest of the state in its totality. This may be one of the reasons that the regional formations could not take over in Kerala. The era of one-party rule is not likely to come back at the Centre. A coalition of national parties and regional parties that are secular in character alone will be a viable alternative to both the Congress and the BJP. In that sense, it is true that Kerala, which is known as a laboratory of varied political experiments, is showing the way; earlier in the formation of coalition and now in the move that keeps both the BJP and the Congress away.
