The True Measure of an Election: Does It Improve the Lives of the People?
- The West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Assam Elections: A Change of Power or the Public Interest?
- The Ramayana Context: "What Does It Matter to Us Who Reigns?"—and Contemporary Politics
- Questions on Indian Democracy: Do Caste and Religion Determine Election Outcomes?
- MPs with Criminal Backgrounds and Vote-Bank Politics
- Democracy vs. Public Welfare: Has Indian Democracy Lost Sight of Its Core Purpose?
- The China Example: How Was Economic Progress Achieved Without Democracy?
Are Indian Elections Truly Irrelevant to the Common Citizen?
Justice Markandey Katju's trenchant analysis of the ongoing elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and Puducherry. Is Indian democracy improving the lives of the common people, or have elections merely become a game of power and caste equations?
The ongoing state elections in India
By Justice Markandey Katju
Many people asked me why I have not written on the ongoing elections in the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, and in the union territory of Pondicherry.
My reply has always been that they are irrelevant. Let me explain.
The test of every political activity is one, and only one: does it raise the standard of living of the common people? Does it give them better lives?
From that viewpoint how does it matter who wins the elections? At most, it may result in a change of the Chief Minister and the party in government. But the common people will keep leading miserable lives. There will be no abolition or substantial reduction in the prevailing massive poverty, massive unemployment, appalling level of child malnutrition ( every second child in India is malnourished, according to Global Hunger Index, and the situation has got worse in recent years ), skyrocketing prices of essential commodities like food, fuel, etc, almost total lack of proper healthcare and good education for the masses, etc.
One is reminded of a story in the Ramayan. When King Dasharath became old, the question arose who should be the next king of Ayodhya. Queen Kaikeyi, the second wife of Dasharath, wanted her son Bharat to be the next king, in preference to Ram, the son of the elder Queen Kaushalya.
At this time, Manthara, the slave girl of Kaikeyi, told Kaikeyi :
'' Koi nrip hoye hamein ka haani
Chedi chaand ka hoib rani ? ''
i.e.
How does it matter who will be the next king, Ram or Bharat?
Will I cease to be a slave and become a Queen ?
Similarly, how does it matter to the common people what will be results of the present elections? Their miserable lives will continue as before, as none of our present politicians, of all parties, are really interested in improving the lives of the common people, but only seek power and pelf for themselves or their kith and kin..
My own opinion is that most Indians are not suited for democracy, since a prerequisite for democracy is a people with rational minds, whereas most of our people ( including even most of our so-called educated people ) have feudal mindsets, full of casteism and communalism.
The word 'democracy', when considered in the abstract, presents a rosy picture, as it stands for rule by the people ( as Abraham Lincoln defined it ). But what we have to see is not democracy in the abstract or in general, but as it is actually practised in India.
Everyone who understands Indian politics knows that in India, politics largely runs on the basis of caste and communal vote banks. When about 90% Indians go to vote they they do not see the candidate's merits, whether he is a good man or bad, educated or uneducated, criminal or not, etc. They also do not take into consideration the rise in prices and unemployment. They do not consider whether the candidate they vote for, if elected, will work for their welfare.
All the voters see is the candidate's caste or religion ( or the caste or religion which the candidate's party claims to represent ).
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, almost half the MPs elected have criminal backgrounds
https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2024/Jun/06/record-46-of-newly-elected-lok-sabha-mps-facing-criminal-cases-study
This proves that most of our voters are not bothered whether the candidate they are voting for is a criminal or not. All they see is his caste or religion. Phoolan Devi, a notorious dacoit who had killed several people, was elected to the Lok Sabha just because she was of a backward caste, which was numerous in her constituency.
Democracy is not an end in itself. It can only be a means to an end. And that end must be raising the standard of living of the people, and giving them better lives. If democracy helps to achieve that end, it is a good thing, but not otherwise. Indian democracy fortifies and strengthens casteism and communalism, for it runs on their basis. Casteism and communalism are feudal forces, which must be destroyed if India is to progress, but as stated before, democracy as practised in India further entrenches them. How then can it be said to be a good thing ?
Democracy professes to be rule by the people. But India is ruled by a bunch of crooks ( of all parties ), who have no genuine love for the people, but only seek power and pelf.
Before the Bihar state assembly elections, I was interviewed by journalist Neelu Vyas who asked me my opinion about the numerous complaints of 'vote chori' ( vote theft ) and alleged rigging by the Election Commission of India. I replied that there should be more vote chori, in the sense that most Indians are not fit for democracy and should not have the right to vote ( as they will vote on caste and communal lines )
China has no democracy, but it has become the second superpower in the world with GDP of 20.85 trillion dollars, and has lifted 80-90 crore of its people above the poverty line
On the other hand, the GDP of India ( which has about the same population of China ) is about 4 trillion dollars ( and there are many doubts about even that figure ), with our vast masses living in abject poverty.
So are elections relevant in India ?
(Justice Markandey Katju is a former Judge of the Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman of the Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own.)
