You have entrusted to me this year the responsibility of serving as party president. Ours is an organisation of workers, all engrossed in building up the party with equal zeal and devotion. That you have called upon me to fulfil this particular constitutional obligation and thus honoured me is a token only of your own generosity and affection, which indeed I have been receiving in liberal measure during the past fifteen years that I have been General Secretary. It is this generous affection of you all that is going to be my mainstay hereafter, too.
Conjunction of Two Eras
We are meeting today in Kerala, this land hallowed by Bhagwan Parashuram’s tapas. We are currently at the intersection of two years. Over the past half-century, the country’s mind has been dominated by the Congress and its ideology. Its leaders have not only been the framers of national policy but also the arbiters of contemporary values. After independence, the reins of government also came into their hands. While this is no occasion for any elaborate stock-taking of the Congress’s performance, it cannot be gainsaid that the awakening of political consciousness in the common man has been the most significant contribution of this era. If this political consciousness, unpolluted by the exigencies of the day-to-day politics, had been made an instrument for the country’s resurgence on a positive national basis, we would have made considerable progress by now, and the country might have been spared the problems which beset it today. The new era, at whose threshold the country stands today, should be a positive manifestation of this political awakening. There are people in the country who are still chained to the past. Then there are others who are ignorant of national values or have scant regard for them and are therefore readily influenced by foreign concepts. The country’s transition to the new era, therefore, is not going smoothly. It is accompanied by significant strain and challenges. Against this background, we must analyse current problems and develop our policy.
Search for an Alternative
Portents of the coming revolution had become visible in August-September 1965, when India’s brave legions proved their valour against Pakistani aggression. The policies framed by the Congress regime in the wake of these events demonstrated only its utter incapacity to function as the instrument of the coming revolution. The result was that people longed even more for emancipation from Congress’s misrule. With the Fourth General Election, the process has started for Congress’s gradual withering away. If opposition parties had been better organised at the time, the results would have been even more convincing. Compared with other parties, the Jana Sangh’s election performance has been particularly significant. However, given the situation’s demands, the results were disappointing. However, the outcome of these elections clearly demonstrated the Jana Sangh’s potential to become a clear alternative to the Congress. It is this confidence among the people that accounts for the sharp rise in the party’s popularity and its organisational expansion after the election.
Nature of Problems
Post-election problems can be classified into three categories. First, there are problems related to the politics of the transition. Inter-party relations, instability of coalition ministries, floor-crossing, etc., are problems which fall in this category. To the second category belong those problems which stem from our constitutional set-up but which have either not arisen as yet, or have not confronted us as seriously as now. And thirdly, there are the manifold problems relating to economic, defence, home and foreign affairs which, because of the policies of the Congress Government, have become very grave now. Problems of the first category are of immediate topical interest and so generally evoke the maximum of public comment and debate. But they are less important than those in the other two categories. If these letter problems are not properly tackled, they can seriously jeopardise the country’s unity and interests.
Conduct of Governors
The first problem faced by opposition parties after the elections was that, except in Delhi and Madras, no single party could secure a clear majority and thus form an alternative non-Congress Government on its own. Recognising the situation’s requirements and in deference to the electorate’s verdict, various non-Congress parties came together to form coalition governments in Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, and Kerala. In Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, however, in the teeth of public opposition, the Congress contrived to worm its way into office with the assistance of the State Governors. In Uttar Pradesh, they could not hold on to office for long, but in Rajasthan, by taking recourse to various devious means, they have managed to increase their majority considerably.
The arbitrary conduct of the Governors in the above cases, then later in Madhya Pradesh at the time of the fall of the Mishra Government, and again recently in West Bengal, Haryana and Punjab, has lowered the prestige of this august institution and weakened regard for constitutional proprieties. As Governors are the representatives of the Centre, the Central Government must own full responsibility for their actions. By declining to take the onus of their actions, the Central Government has only created mistrust about its own bonafides and confirmed misgivings that they are intent on using the office of Governor only as a facade behind which they might further their own party’s ends.
Some quarters have called for the Governor’s position to be elected. I do not think that would solve the problem. Exceptional occasions apart, the Governor is only a constitutional head. Appointees to this post, therefore, should be men of integrity capable of exercising their discretion in a judicious manner and in whose impartiality there is general confidence. I think it would be better if, instead of selecting rejected politicians or retired civil servants for this job, the Government turned its attention to retired Supreme Court judges. A list may be drawn up on the basis of their dates of retirement and posts of Governors falling vacant hereafter may be filled by these judges in their order of priority. If some such convention is followed, neither the consent of the State Government concerned nor the wishes of the Home Ministry would have any relevance.
Performance of Coalition Governments
On the administrative level, the coalition governments did present a better alternative to the Congress, but they did not offer any comprehensive set of policies and programmes in substitution of the Congress’s. Actually, l thinks, they were not intended to. It is a matter of regret that some of the constituents of these coalitions failed to appreciate the ideological limitations under which such coalitions would necessarily have to function, and tried to use these governments as instruments for the execution for their respective party policies. As a result of this partisan approach and lack of accountability, these governments have faced internal strains and have always operated under a shadow of uncertainty. It must be recorded, however, that despite all these handicaps, despite the limited resources and rights of the States, and despite continuing Central machinations to topple non-Congress governments, these coalitions have, during their brief term of office, brought relief to the people in many matters. Of course, those who expected these governments to work miracles might have been disappointed.
If this coalition experiment has given birth to a sense of realism and a habit of objective political appraisal, that, in itself, would be a gain. Also, the formation of these Governments has been a commendable step toward eradicating political untouchability. A readiness to appreciate an opponent’s viewpoint and a willingness on the part of different parties to work together in spite of variations of policy is an index of a democratic temperament and of the nation’s basic homogeneity. Whatever be the future of these coalition governments, I wish we are able to conserve this achievement.
Parliamentary Democracy on Trial
The strains inside these coalitions and the political instability resulting from the continued efforts to topple these Governments, or from their fall, have prompted many to suggest that the present cabinet form of Government are discarded in favour of the Presidential system. Shri Ashok Mehta has suggested that the system be introduced only at the State level. I really fail to understand why a distinction is sought to be made between the Centre and the States. The fact is that the systems of Government in Britain and in the U.S.A. have grown out of their history. Instead of trying merely to imitate one or the other, let us try to evolve democratic practices suited to our own genius. Actually, during the past 50 years or so we have been working with the parliamentary system of Government. It would be more fruitful if we try to mould this to suit our changing politics. Instead of conventions relevant to the two-party democracy of the British Parliament, let us develop conventions suited to the multi-party pattern of Indian politics so that the instability of the transition period can be avoided. A convention can be accepted, for instance, that no Government would resign except on the adoption of a no-confidence vote against it by the legislature. Another convention which might evolve in conjunction with the above one is that if a majority of the members of a legislature request the Speaker to convene the House, a meeting of the legislature would be invariably summoned.
Problem of Floor-Crossing
Floor-crossing by legislators is another issue that has attracted considerable comment in the context of the formation and fall of Governments lately. Floor crossing is no new phenomenon. Quitting the Congress on the eve of elections and rejoining it after the elections has been a familiar feature of Indian politics, and the birth of several parties and the dissolution of others can be traced to this feature. Even those who may not have left the Congress have been shifting their factional loyalty within the party very frequently. As a result, although the Congress’s name has remained constant, Its Ministries have been in a state of perpetual instability and have often fallen. After independence, Congress and Congressmen have betrayed a singular idealism and direction. It is therefore that they have been inclined to behave thus. Ninety-nine per cent of those guilty of floor-crossing are either Congressmen or ex-Congressmen. As the policies and programmes of parties crystallize on the basis of well defined principles, their organisations become stronger and political enlightenment of the masses grows and enables talent to exercise their vote on the basis of a party’s platform, this tendency of floor-crossing will automatically decline.
It has been suggested that legislative steps be taken to enable opportunistic floor-crossing. Rather than resort to the law to control lawmakers, it would be better to leave the matter to convention and the pressure of public opinion. After all, every legislator is responsible not only to his party but also to his constituency and the country. It would not be easy to fit all these varied obligations of his into a rigid legal scheme. If, however, political parties could agree on a code of conduct in this regard, opportunism can be suitably checked. Also, if, instead of having electors vote for individual candidates on the British pattern, we adopted the Lists System, in which votes are cast for the party, many of the evils of present-day politics might be obviated. Perhaps a synthesis of both patterns, along the lines of West Germany, would suit us best.
