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CORE POLL ISSUES PERFORMANCE & PERSONALITIES
Shyam Khosla
The Prime Minister has exercised his prerogative to get the Lok Sabha dissolved after the conclusion of the current session to seek a fresh mandate from the people. There is no valid reason to question this decision on moral or constitutional grounds since the Government enjoys a comfortable majority in the House. In a parliamentary democracy a Prime Minister is entitled to seek the dissolution of a popularly elected House to suit his political convenience. The early dissolution of the House is a measure of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance'sself-esteem and confidence in the widely held perception that the political climate in the country is advantageous to it. There is nothing wrong in the BJP-led alliance'sdesire to en-cash the “feel good” factor prevailing in the country. The Congress, on the other hand, is in jitters and is extremely reluctant to face the electorate so soon after its comprehensive defeat in three Hindi speaking states. It is manifest in its raising non-issues like the impropriety involved in the Government not proroguing the two Houses after the winter session. Sonia Gandhi wrote to the President protesting against the “failure” of the Government to convene a new session thereby preventing the President from addressing a joint session of parliament. What would have the Opposition gained from a joint session of parliament barring a possible delay in the poll dates? Presidential addresses would have provided the ruling alliance to get some publicity about its achievements in the previous year and an opportunity to outline its initiatives during the year. NDA would have no problem in getting a nod from the House on the customary motion of thanks since it has the numbers. It is no one'scase that the Government is afraid of facing the House. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the Government view that the brief session is a continuation of the winter session that has been summoned to get the parliament'snod for the vote on accounts. The issue boils down to the simple dispute – the Opposition wanting more time to get its act together and the ruling alliance not obliging. Non-NDA parties are further unnerved by the spate of sops announced in recent weeks by the Government for various sections of the society. The Opposition has taken strong exception to these concessions saying these would cost the exchequer a massive amount and adversely affect the economy. It has accused the Government of taking “unfair” advantage to enhance its polls prospects. Whatever the merit of the charge, the fact remains that countless central and state governments have been routinely resorting to similar tactics with varying impact on the poll results. The Opposition is caught in a cleft-stick. It can'tresist the temptation to target the Government on the issue (in the absence of substantive issues) but knows that more it rubs this point the worse it would be for its own prospects. Meanwhile the Government is bombarding the voters with its “India Shining” messages in a bid to further consolidate the “feel good” factor. The BJP-led-NDA has set the tone for the coming parliamentary polls by seeking a popular mandate on the basis of the Government'sperformance during the past five years and its policies and programmes. It will be a healthy development if the focus in the election campaign is on issues like good governance, development and national security. It is the responsibility of both the NDA and the Opposition to discuss and debate these issues in a dignified and sober manner so that the voter is presented with a choice of ideas and policies. Let the political parties resist the temptation to indulge in mud slinging and character assassination of their political rivals to obfuscate the issues. Ideological debates are welcome, as the election campaigns can be powerful instruments of educating the masses on the respective ideologies of the parties and their merits. Politicians are absolutely wrong when they blame the voter for not taking interest in ideological debates. Politicians indulge in name calling under the garb of discussing ideologies. They dish out blatant lies to damn the rivals and put words in their rivals? mouth to discredit them. It is the political class that has converted the electoral process into a power grabbing exercise with the help of money power, muscle power and tall promises. Let the political class raise substantive issues and give the voter a free and fair choice. Political India will be doing the nation a great service by debating the BJP-led alliance'sclaims about the booming economy, GDP'sgrowth rate, massive investments in the infra-structural sector, IT revolution, massive road building projects, rural development, foreign policy and success on the security front. Let them debate the Prime Minister'sclaim of improving relations with Pakistan without sacrificing national interests and the Government'ssuccess or otherwise in fighting terrorism even while bringing comparative peace in J&K and Northeast. Let them debate whether or not Atal Behari Vajpayee has been a successful Prime Minister that has put the nation on the road to development and brought about political stability. The Opposition can, if it so desire, raise issues pertaining to Government'sperceived failures, weaknesses and corruption and scams surfacing from time to time. Let the Opposition project an alternative vision of India and seek mandate on their policies and programmes. One may like it or not, the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the prime ministerial candidates will be one of the key issues in the parliamentary elections. Although the Congress has not projected her as its prime ministerial candidate as a matter of strategy and compulsion, it will be futile to expect that respective merits of Vajpayee and Sonia will not be discussed and debated during the campaign. Atalji'sstatesmanship, his long and unblemished record of public service spanning over five decades and his highly successful stewardship of the NDA will be issues in the coming polls. So will be Sonia Gandhi'sforeign origin. It is not a constitutional or legal issue. There is no law to prevent persons of foreign origin from contesting elections and occupying highest office in the land. It is a question of national pride, as former Speaker P.A. Sangma is never tired of insisting. Let them discuss it and also critically examine whether she has the political acumen and experience to run a country of India'ssize and complexities. Let the voter decide whether she is aware of Indian reality, traditions and culture. Joining of Mrs. Vadhra and her brother is no issue. If they want to contest elections, let them do so. Their participation in the contest or their campaigning for the Congress is of little consequence to the nation. Hindutva and “secularism” are issues of lasting importance for the future of the nation. These and the related issue of Ayodhya are bound to crop up during the campaign in one way or the other. These need to be discussed in depth and in a decent and sober manner without resorting to abuses and false accusations. These issues of great national importance are unlikely to be on the NDA agenda not because the BJP is no longer committed to them but because of political compulsions. However, the Opposition is unlikely to give up BJP-bashing during the campaign in a bid to consolidate Muslim votes. The charge of “communalism” against the “saffron party” has lost its sheen as more and more people have come to believe that it is a canard to corner minority votes. Besides, fighting “communal forces” is no longer a politically advantageous slogan as more and more “secular” parties are joining the BJP bandwagon. BJP is keen to contest the polls on issues of governance and development but will have no option to respond to any criticism about its “communal” character by exposing the faulty concept of “secularism” propagated by secular fundamentalists and the Islamists. The sooner the Congress party realizes that Hindutva-versus-secularism debate is hurting its political fortunes the better it will be for the party and the nation.
It will be a healthy development if the focus in the election campaign is on issues like good governance, development and national security. It is the responsibility of both the NDA and the Opposition to discuss and debate these issues in a dignified and sober manner so that the voter is presented with a choice of ideas and policies. Let the political parties resist the temptation to indulge in mud slinging and character assassination of their political rivals to obfuscate the issues. Ideological debates are welcome, as the election campaigns can be powerful instruments of educating the masses on the respective ideologies of the parties and their merits.
There is nothing wrong in the BJP-led alliance'sdesire to encash the “feel good” factor prevailing in the country. The Congress, on the other hand, is in jitters and is extremely reluctant to face the electorate so soon after its comprehensive defeat in three Hindi-speaking States.
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