BJP'S dangerous game: Playing with democracy

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on a dangerous path of subverting the constitutional system of parliamentary democracy by projecting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as Presidential election. Our constituent assembly, after mature deliberation and critical examination of both systems parliamentary and presidential decided to adopt the parliamentary system of government as in the UK.

Considering the vastness of our country, its multi-dimensional diversity, poverty, inequality, illiteracy and backwardness of the people and their propensity to hero worship, the founding fathers of our constitution thought that a representative cabinet government collectively responsible to the parliament, enjoying confidence of the majority and exposed to both periodical assessment at the time of regular elections and continuous day-to-day assessment during the session of the parliament is preferable over a system of singular President directly elected by the people, independent and not responsible to the legislature, and enjoying a fixed term tenure.

It is true, that the parliament form of government may become some kind of a prime-ministerial form of government. Still, the prime minister is not supreme and final but only the first among equals and answerable to the elected parliament. His political party and the parliament act as a  check upon him.

Still, the danger is there. Jawaharlal Nehru country’s first prime minister enjoying the great popularity could have assumed all dictatorial powers. He, however, being deeply democratic and surrounded by other giant Congress leaders, chose not be a dictator. On the other hand, Indira Gandhi, with great popularity and Congress-party emasculated by her, did assume dictatorial powers during the Emergency June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977. Nonetheless, for various reasons she had to declare elections and lost.

This time around, the BJP is playing the same dangerous game in order to cover up its failure and present the party as an effective opposition. Except obstructing the parliament and its lack of confidence to fill the electorate as a prospective ruling party, it has fallen at the feet of the demagogue, authoritarian and megalomaniac Narendra Modi, as its PM candidate.

Everyone in the country knows how Modi has created personality-cult around him through blatant lies, expensive publicity and corporate support. He has made himself, not a leader to be judged but an icon of faith to be worshipped.

This personality cult is confined not only to Gujarat but is sought to be achieved throughout the country through social network and his worshippers. The BJP wants to exploit Modi’s personality cult in the coming elections, even at the cost of the party’s principle of collective leadership and not to raise an individual above the party.  The next election is presented by the BJP as a contest not between the BJP and other political parties but only as a contest between Narendra Modi versus Congress. That is why, Arun Jaitely calls it a Presidential election.

The BJP is playing with fire by creating a Frankestein of its own. For, it fully knows what Modi has done in Gujarat. He has destroyed democracy, undermined all constitutional authorities and emasculated the BJP itself in Gujarat. He is the only one who counts both in the party and in the government, while others are merely dummies.

During the last Assembly elections, he had the audacity to call upon the people, to look at him only and not the party’s candidate. He has created the new mantra, namely, Modi is Gujarat and Gujarat is Modi like the Congress slogan “Indira is India and India is Indira” during the Emergency.

The same is likely to be replicated in the whole country if he by chance wins the next election. By asking people to vote in the name of Modi, the victory of the BJP will be Modi’s victory and not BJP’s. Modi then will virtually act as the President, much more powerful than the US President as the latter has to confront the independent and powerful Legislature, namely Congress, while Modi will have the BJP MPs in his pocket and at his command. He will turn to be an elected despot; the party will be the first casualty and India will be the next. Modi will out-Hitler Hitler himself.

The author is an eminent lawyer and human rights activist