DNA Edit: Dance of democracy

The Gujarat assembly elections have been one of the most fiercely contested political battles in recent Indian history. It has been in parts unsavoury, unpalatable and a number of implicit lines that were never transgressed have been breached with ease. Accusations of hitting below the belt can be levelled against both the national parties in the fray. What’s more, conspiracy theories that should have been fact-checked and discouraged have been willingly fanned by a pliant section of the media in complete violation of the responsibility reposed in them by the people. By the very end of the campaigning, exhortations of the communal kind were made by a number of local leaders.

The Election Commission (EC) must not be remiss in clamping down on these leaders who have made communally inflammatory statements to extract electoral gains at the cost of damaging the secular fabric. As it is, the reputation of the EC has been taking a beating with political parties across the spectrum questioning the disquieting trend of EVMs malfunctioning repeatedly and their performance being off-kilter. The EC, on the other hand, has reassured the voters that there was no possibility of electoral malpractice as it has put in place an intricate and elaborate administrative framework, security mechanism and thorough checks and balances in Gujarat, which secures EVMs from any misuse.

Meanwhile, this election has delivered a reality check of sorts to the BJP. By the end of the poll campaign, it had become evident to the BJP that rallies of their leaders were not drawing the same crowds as in earlier campaigns. The party has been throughout trying to battle the fatigue that has set in with the people after 22 years of incumbency. This anti-incumbency has been mined to the hilt by a number of local leaders and ground reports suggest that these leaders — Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakor and Jignesh Mevani — have entrenched themselves deep in the minds of their constituencies and are here to stay for a long term. In the run-up to the elections, Rahul Gandhi was elevated to the position of the president from that of vice president of the Congress party.

Notwithstanding whether the Congress wins or not in Gujarat, Rahul will have to set himself to the task of strengthening the roots of the party that currently suffers from a demoralised and enervated party cadre base. Ushering intra-party democracy will also help in improving the prospects of those at the lower end of the ladder, and will help ameliorate the larger perception of the party. By last evening, the voting for the second phase of the elections recorded an overall turnout of an impressive 63 per cent signalling that the Indian democracy is still going strong. From today, the winter session of Parliament will start and the 21-day-long session will have 14 joint sittings of both the houses. Top on BJP’s list is the introduction of the bill to end triple talaq, which is still being widely practiced despite a Supreme Court verdict banning the custom.