Sunday Feature by Falguni Ghosh

INDIAN DEMOCRACY TODAY

Indian Democracy is a big enigma. Nobel Laureate writer V.S.Naipaul opined that India is a difficult country. But why? I am going to discuss according to my study and observations. After winning the independence in 1947 India had taken oath to be a democratic republic. In 1950 on 26th of January new India observed as the Republic Day too. Constitution was resolved by the master minds and stalwarts spearheaded by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

All right. Jawaharlal Nehru literally a scholar, a freedom fighter, a political diplomat overall the closest minion of M.K.Gandhi ….became the first Prime Minister of a new nation. Congress party thus started to rule India in a democratic India with a competent Parliamentary system. A post was created too… that is President…in reality powerlessly powerful. Babu Rajendraprasad decorated the post of the first President of the newly emerging modern nation. The sometime colonized land by the British for long 200 years was dreaming to be a modern democratic power.

We know Democracy according to the great American Abraham Lincoln….of the people, for the people and by the people. So this is people’s cracy by an electory arrangement. In every 5 years Parliamentary voting system is taking to be a process of our democracy. Congress party administered for about 60 years by the Nehru and Gandhi dynasty. Time grows….Nehru died in 1964 at the age of 75. After one year intervension of Lalbahadur Shastri’s P.M ship Nehru’s darling daughter Indira Gandhi came to the power. Once meek Indira becomes the Queen Indira in Indian politics. Her iron rule made India stronger but also she became somehow fascist in the 1970s. Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. P.M Indira was the true exhibition of that.

Whatever this may be, time’s current flown by….Indira Gandhi was assassinated in 1984. A turning point of Indian democracy started its journey. Indira son Rajib Gandhi was enthrowned on the power as P.M.

In 1991 Rajib Gandhi was assassinated in the South India in Tamilnad by the LTTE terrorists. A crisis again started indeed. And also India has gone through an economic depression.

Narsimha Rao became the Prime Minister from the congress party. That was a very hard time indeed. Within few years there were the rallies of P.M s within those 5 years. 4 PMs came and went. In the threshold of a new millennium in 1999…Atal Behari Bajpayee from B.J.P became the Prime Minister. A new era started. But in 2004 Congress again came back in power…Manmohan Singh emerged as the P.M from Congress party. Sonia Gandhi was on the driver’s seat from the backyard. That empowerment of the Congress was going on upto 2014.

In 2014 B.J.P came to the power under the leadership of Advani disciple Narendra Modi. And now we are in the second term of the same Government. But how the democracy goes on ….??? A million dollar question indeed. In the last few years India has undergone through demonetizatin and digitalization. But reality says poor becomes poorer and rich becomes richer. More than 70 percent of wealth is accumulated in the hands of 1 percent people. Proper democracy how goes in such a way. Proper distribution of wealth is in astray. Oppositional parties become weaker and weaker. As a matter of fact the party in power appears to be a fascist.

Tendency of fascism in a democratic nation is dangerous. National banks are bankrupted by the stealing of billions and billions amount of money. As a matter of fact Govt treasury becomes empty. Govt is several times failed in employment. Religious fundamentalism floats in the air too. Somehow a democracy goes on in this hardest times inflicted with deadly Covid 19.

Govt. imposed new education policy in a new time. And also a kind of ethoes to persue the ancient Vedic Times is being imposed. Ayurvedic health care is given importance along with the other systems. Opposition parties called these things as Saffronization looming large. A true democracy can be well activated when the distribution of all most needed conditions and provisions would be achieved. Promise is here. Provision is created too. But corruption is ubiquitous in all the levels …..in the States and in the Centre. People are merely the goats for sacrifice. They only are given a power that is vote. For the voting system in the democracy political parties and ministers of those are working for the nation’s progress.