Indian General Election 2009 : The Case for Stability and Term Limits

Once upon a time when steam engines were still the toast of the nation and earning Rs25 a day was cool, there used to be a thing in politics called stability. Life, as we know seemed to have more sense, there wasn’t one incident political or social that could create a domino effect with the force to shake the big green tree at the PM’s office let alone their job safety.

Life, as we know has changed a lot, everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame, doesn’t matter if its good or bad, as long as they got on NDTV or AajTak and get their gibberish on a loop they have achieved their purpose in life.

As time rolled on, the denizens of our nation have gotten an incredible itch and rage to make “it”. While it has often resulted in producing some wonderful visionaries at the head of some key public and private divisions and companies, it has also created avenues for the not so good folks to expand their roots across the fabric of our country.

When the drafters of the Indian constitution decided to have a cup of tea and talk about the laws and regulations, I am not sure they would have spent much time on the validity of a multi party system, they wouldn’t have deemed it as a luxury, it was a basic right. I for one am too young and too jaded to look up when multi parties started to get prominence in India but certainly not many folks would have expected the instability that would portend from such a luxury.

Over the last several elections in India, if there is one thing that we have come to realize its that the local parties in almost every state have become the king makers of the government in the centre. While we can all sit down and argue till we turn blue in the face arguing about the vagaries and riches of national and regional parties, we cannot be revisionist, we are bounded by the fact that everyone has the power to head a party and they have a voice. While at a fundamental level this is what countries strive for when they fought for freedom, what we have in our hands by virtue of the multi party system is a complicated mess, a conglomerate of spices and sweets that just aint cutting it for the dinner.

We cant say multi-party system and local parties are not worth their salt, that would be counter to what we want to achieve as a free nation, but let us drool on the following stat

From 1989 to 2004, there have been 7 general elections

89, 91, 92, 96, 98, 99, 04

Digest that!!! Now we are a nation of close to billion people, the cost for each general election is gargantuan, the election process consumes so much airtime, resources, money, causes added noise pollution, traffic, goons to knock your door in the name of vote canvassing, its practical stalking every time…

We all need so many things out of our elected officials. All I ask would be stability and limits. Term limits is a necessity, it ensures that there is no one hawk politician running a party and having a dynasty and it also offers opportunities for others, we have various examples at both state and national level where the same candidate keeps getting elected, beyond a point some things grow stale, its true with ideas too. Term limits is a must have. Similarly, if coalition governments are formed the party lending support should assure they will not hold the country siege for every petty issue by threatening to withdraw support.

If there was a law that says all government reigns will be for 5 years and if a coalition government is formed, the supporting party cannot withdraw support and even if they do that will not trigger elections. If supporting parties have a fall out then they can show their disagreements by not supporting for laws, I am tired of repeat elections every 2 years and every street corner party triggering elections by withdrawing support. This does not bode well to the government that is in power or the people whose tax mney go down the drain with each election.

Just imagine the 7 elections between 1989 and 2004, when, there should have been 4. That’s 3 more elections for a nation with 1 billion people, just calculate the cost that entails on the country, so many useful things could have been done with that tax money.

Whether you vote for BJP or Congress or 3rd Front, all we should ask from the winner is that govern judiciously, respect other parties, serve the people and all we should ask the losers is to accept defeat graciously, be a constructive critic and server the best interests of the country, the people you represent and then your party.

Good luck to Advani, Singh and Mayawati, may the best candidate win and lead us to better and sane times ahead. Most world economies piggy back on the American economy and with the stutter that has happened to the US the effects of it are slowly and surely hitting us in India, here's hoping for a clear cut winner this summer and sane and stable government for the next 5 years. Jai Hind !!