Political Diary
New Delhi, 18 January 2022
Gaddi Aur Gaddari
DEFECTION
NEW NORMAL
By
Poonam I Kaushish
A sense of de ja vu overwhelms. Reinforced by the revolving door politics in
five States going to polls next month last fortnight whereby turncoats are the
flavour of the season. Attracting and accepting legislators seems to be the
easiest and fastest strategy to come to power to the exclusion of ideological
and ethical considerations. After all, in these artificially made alignments,
we are persuaded to believe that ends justify means whereby defection is the
new black of political morality.
Underscored by UP’s pre-election tamasha where every Party is facing
turbulence. If Samajwadi’s Akhilesh Yadav can boast of having pulled off a
minor coup by bagging three veteran BJP OBC Ministers and 8 MLA’s, BJP has also
won over a fair share of BSP and SP leaders. In Uttarakhand, honours are even
with BJP and Congress trading top leaders.
In Punjab, Parties are plummeted by defections
even as Congress, AAP and Akalis retain most sitting MLAs to prevent more defecting.
In Goa the pendulum swings all ways as Congress, BJP, TMC and AAP witness turncoats
knock and leave at frequent intervals. In Manipur exits are primarily from Congress and many top BJP netas have a Congress past.
In fact, Parties love to poach “available and
willing” leaders, depending on the price. Worse, with various types of chameleons
crossing Party floors one doesn’t know who is sleeping with whom and who is
jumping from one bed to another, as friends and enemies are all rolled into one.
The issue is not these States, but raises a
larger question: Are they symptomatic of today’s polity? Remember last year
West Bengal and Puducherry were plagued by defections, while 2020 stands testimony
to brazen horse-trading with senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya
Scindia along-with 22 loyalist MLAs joining BJP resulting in Kamal Nath’s
Government downfall and coronation of
Shivraj Chauhan’s as Chief Minister.
Ditto in Karnataka 2019 when 15
Congress-JD(S) MLAs switched to BJP, kicked out Kumaraswamy’s Government and
installed Yediruppa’s Sarkar.
Notwithstanding, fundamentally violating the democratic principle: Voters’
rights to choose their Governments via the ballot box.
Reminiscent of 1967 Aya Ram Gaya Ram culture when Gaya Lal a Haryana Independent MLA
switched three Parties in 15 days. Followed by Bhajan Lal who hijacked his
Janata Party Government to Congress, thereby opening the floodgates of
defection and institutionalizing it through Indira Gandhi’s 60s-80s.
During 1967-1983 Parliament saw 162
defections and State Assemblies 2,700 with 212 defectors rewarded as Ministers
and 15 became Chief Ministers, according to PRS Legislative Research. Several
of them did so more than once, some even five times. One MLA defected five
times to be a Minister for only five days.
Alas, this kind of politricking is all
encompassing. Whereby, once we peel off our netagan’s
mask one comes face to face with Aya Rams
and Gaya Rams all rolled into one to fulfill their lust for power and money,
making it abundantly clear that they have no strong single-Party preference and
are willing to switch sides to the highest bidder. Their purchasing price is governed
by the law of diminishing returns. Elucidated by JMM’s Suraj Mandal in the Lok
Sabha 1993, “Paisa boriyoin mein atta hai!”
More. Politicians girgit-like transfer loyalties from one Party to another based on
winnability. The modus operandi: Paisa
and satta bargains are struck,
depending on the value of legislators, who switch sides. All, with clinical
precision devoid of pretensions, of ‘meeting of minds’, ideology, principles or personal fondness.
Patronage,
opportunism and a share of the power pie is the glue that keeps the swarm of
hoppers together with its new benefactors and makes incongruent Parties come
together whereby poaching of legislators is extolled as smart political
management: money for allurement, use of State machinery for intimidation etc are
commended as resourcefulness.
Succinctly, these paper tigers who sell their
political soul to the highest bidder in this political nautanki are dubbed as survivors not defectors. Paraded as prized
bulls and portrayed as safedi ki chamkan
compared to their chor brethren who
are unfit to rule, leave alone provide good and honest governance. The winner
can commit no sin; a defector crossing to the ruling camp stands cleansed of
all guilt and criminality.
Bringing things to such a pass where every
Party and its leaders have perfected the art of beguiling its hum zulfs and dushmans with aplomb, saddling us with opportunists and liars. Exposing
the disdain with which our political class holds democracy and the aam aadmi.
Thereby, exposing politics of the worst kind,
cultivating low morality and high greed, donning different Party robes,
according to their whims and fancies --- and the need of the hour. A power-play
when personality-oriented malicious vilification seems to have became the
hallmark of democracy. Sans shared ideology and mutual objectives. This pithily
is aaj ki rajneeti.
Alas, so caught up in the verbose of
one-upmanship are all that none stops to think and ponder the implications of
their actions. The tragedy of it all is that in this winner take-all-fight
governance and people go for a toss. Satta
batoan aur tamasha dekho! What matters is only the end game: Gaddi.
Questionably, is defection a Constitutional
sin? Yes, averred the Supreme Court in Uttarakhand Chief Minister Rawat’s case
2017. Whereby, it underscored that “unholy treacheries are masked as tacit
mergers or wholesale defections.” But are Constitutionally accepted thanks to political
compulsions, politics of convenience and opportunism facilitating them.
Thus, in this game of lies, deceit and
deception, BJP, Congress and regional outfits reflect the emerging truth of
today’s India. Power is all. Arguably, one can say this is what democracy is about. If arch enemies are willing to align
with each other, then why have elections at all? Ideally, all should grasp the
reality of parliamentary democracy.
Sure, one can quibble that elections are won
by Parties not individuals. In this market model of democracy it is a misnomer
to believe that Parties are governed by ideology. Instead, there is a tendency
to capture the imagination of the people by creating a spectacle alongside money
which makes the clogged, polluted and corrupt political mare go around.
Questionably, in a milieu where defections
undermine the foundations of democracy and where ‘stable’ Governments are
formed through barefaced political immorality, no Party can claim the high
moral ground. Instead such behaviour is commended as a sign of political
ambition than censured as opportunism. In this process, our leaders forget that
they leave behind a toxic residue of hatred long after polls are over.
In this immoral political desert and barren
discourse, voters have to make tough calls. No longer can we merely shrug our
shoulders and dismiss it as political kalyug.
Our polity must desist from employing their individual meanness in the name of
public good. They need to re-think their priorities and desist from destructive
mindlessness. The ‘Conduct of Politics’ necessitates reliability, integrity,
credibility, conviction
and courage. As nothing costs a nation more than cheap politicians!
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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