There was a time not too long ago that a sense of utter contempt, almost bordering on a deep-seated hatred of the political class, used to be visible while citizens voiced their opinions. Jagdeep S Chhokar, IIM professor and founding member of the Association of Democratic Reforms, had once quoted from a letter to the editor after the 1999 general elections, in which the writer said: “Thank god! The verbal cacophony, throwing of abuses and trading of charges by parties with each other is over... What democratic values will this bunch of self-appointed leaders propagate with such narrow-minded approaches? Our democracy ends the day we cast our vote.”
Way back in 1981, Krishan Kant, a senior political leader who later became India’s vice-president, had observed: “While in the 1950s an MP or an MLA was considered a representative of the people, in the 1960s they came to be known as their advocates; and now people think that they elect their dalals, or brokers.” Krishan Kant’s assessment was echoed by Rajiv Gandhi in 1985 using the same term when he denounced the tendency of party workers to function as power-brokers.
However, neither Krishan Kant nor Rajiv Gandhi did anything substantial to restore the credibility of politicians. Thanks to the Narendra Modi-led government’s performance, popular respect for politicians has been fairly restored. The prime minister established things can be made to work. This has greatly reduced the overall disdain for the political class in general. Such contempt for politics and politicians is detrimental to democracy. Now that the ground situation has changed to a considerable extent, can we expect the quality of electoral campaigns to improve too?
Since the Election Commission has announced the schedule for elections, the question of the quality of political discourse in general and the election campaign in particular becomes all the more relevant. Election campaigns, ideally, have to be about public accountability of political parties and their candidates, public education on key issues, and a serious exercise towards opinion-making in a much more authentic way than at other times. Sadly, we find that in our established ways of campaigning over the years, blitzkrieg, brouhaha and bad-mouthing have pushed accountability, education and opinion-making to the periphery. This doesn’t augur well for the health of our democracy.
To start with, a number of practicable measures could be taken to strengthen the element of accountability of elected representatives. The mandate an elected representative gets is basically to serve the people. Hence, it is the right of voters to be well-equipped to assess the quality of service their representative provides them. To that end, can’t we make a rule mandating all elected representatives to file annual reports to the electorate? Such a report must reflect upon the representatives’ performance in the legislature. Details of the judicious use of the Local Area Development Fund must figure in it. It must mention the extent to which the representative has been able to ensure that the maximum number of eligible persons have taken advantage of government welfare programmes and development schemes.
An elected representative must also be compelled to file a statement about the assurances given and acted upon. Mandatory publication of manifestos by contesting parties at respective levels, followed by a compulsory action taken report would go a long way. Even parties that have lost an election could be asked to give information about their efforts to follow up on their promises. If such measures are implemented, they would automatically help prepare a representative’s progress report, facilitating informed voting.
These accountability measures would prevent efforts of winning popular support through ‘revadi’ distribution. The more we make our elected representatives accountable to voters, the greater would be the chances of cleansing our campaigns, liberating them from unfair practices.
Besides accountability, massive efforts for public or voter education are a must. Considering the centrality of the element of choice for the overall health of democracy, education must help voters take informed decisions. Obviously then, voter education efforts will have to be multi-pronged and undertaken all through the period between elections. Before voting, relevant details of candidates’ assets could be mandatorily given publicity on government TV channels and All India Radio.
No matter whether the election is for parliament or a state assembly, it must be made mandatory for the candidates to prepare and publicise a constituency manifesto. Such measures would help combining issues of global and national concern with local situations. Shared opportunities to all recognised political parties to explain their manifestos—not just via Doordarshan, but also on private news channels—almost simultaneously will also provide fillip to voter education. Voter education will lead to greater participation of voters, and for that, candidates should be allocated public spaces to display highlights of their manifestos and their track-record of implementation. Also, to ensure a level playing field for all political parties, it would be great if the usage of public grounds for public meetings is also distributed in a calibrated manner and at a reasonable price. If elections are truly a festival of democracy, then articulation through posters, banners and hoardings must be allowed in a regulated manner to all the contesting political parties, if not individual candidates.
The third important segment is of opinion-making. Here, the major challenges are of wantonly spread misinformation and manufacturing of narratives through clever ways of adulterating news with views. Prevention of adulteration of news with views, practised by umpteen local channels and newspapers, must get top priority. At least during the period the Model Code of Conduct is in play, the Election Commission should monitor the content of local news channels and, in these days, even key YouTube channels. Unless closely monitored, these channels can become vehicles for surrogate propaganda.
Our parliamentary and representative democracy has evolved over the last several decades. It has undergone several reforms. If we now try introducing key campaign reforms, it may help shape the narrative for political reforms. While reforms like ‘one nation, one election’ may take time, nothing prevents us from plucking these delicious low-hanging fruits.
(Views are personal)
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe | President, ICCR, and senior BJP leader