The elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are over, but not without leaving a trail of charges of manipulation of the poll process. The Congress party has been vociferously complaining about the wrongs committed by the EVMs against it.
This has come more in the wake of publication of the Exit polls predicting a complete rout of the party in Himachal and also a poor performance in Gujarat where it pooled all its resources, financial and human to win the electoral battle. Strangely, the party has not raised similar voice in the case of Himachal where it is being shown as a complete failure as an electoral machine.
The Election Commission agreeing to its earlier demand that VVPAT based EVMs should be used does not cut much ice with it now. It went to the extent of knocking the doors of the Supreme Court with a demand that VVPAT votes should be matched with EVM votes to which the judiciary refused. At the same time, it mobilized a demonstration at the premises of the election commission leveling charges of bias and partiality against the Congress to make BJP win the elections in Gujarat. It used foul language against a constitutional authority to discred the institution in the eyes of the public. It said that chief election commissioner was acting like the PS to Narendra Modi or it was a captive puppet of the BJP.
Such an outburst on the part of the Congress, a grand old party really shows that the age has really impacted its mind and behaviour. Such attempts on its part can also be taken as a threat to democracy, as it might create a sense of alienation amongst the masses and distrust in the democratic process. It reminds of the days of Indira Gandhi when democratic institutions were sought to be denounced and blamed for the non performance of the government and the party headed by her.
The opposition parties, the bureaucracy and the judiciary all were damned as hurdles in bringing about the desired changes to fruition. The constitution was, through 42nd amendment was completely overhauled to suit the needs of the then prime minister and the government. The powers of the judiciary were curtailed in several ways. The election of the Prime minister was taken out of the reach of the judiciary.
The people of India did not approve such machinations to win and retain power culminating in the defeat in the 1977 general elections of not only the Congress but of the then Prime Minister Mrs Gandhi herself. Infirmities inserted in the constitution were later corrected by the Morarji Desai government through 44th constitutional amendment.
Further, the Congress seems to be conveniently sidetracking and forgetting the fact that Congress was in power at the centre for a long period of time upto 1977 by way of paper ballot supported by large scale rigging and booth capturing. It was not only to save some money and time on elections that EVM system was brought in but it was also to overcome the challenge of the use of muscle and money power to influence the outcome of the elections.
Congress was a party to this reform. The public is now putting two questions to this aged party. One, was the election commission a captive of the Congress to make it win elections from 1952 to 1977 and again from 1980 to 84 followed by 1991 and 2004 to 2014? Second, why it does not question the efficacy of the EVMs when it wins elections? Both these questions have reduced the credibility of the party in the eyes of the common voter.
Finally, the Congress party is in disarray in the absence of any clear ideology or the agenda of governance. The old tools of negative politics and campaigning are proving unproductive. The politics of caste and parochial discourse, though not completely irrelevant, is going slowly but surely into the background. This is so because in aspirational 21st century India the political culture is undergoing a significant change.
People are becoming more cognitive and evaluative when it comes to making representational choice. That mere rhetoric and slogans will not work as effectively as they used to be in the past is something to be properly understood by the political parties, in power and out of power. The voter is not going to accept the criticism of the ruling party or of the opposition on its face value. It has started judging that criticism with reference to facts.
Moreover, the voter of India has grown mature over a period of time and gives enough time to the political class to perform on the basis of the promises made in their election manifestoes. They trusted Congress for about 60 years to translate their slogans into reality from Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi and then from PV Narasimha Rao to Manmohan Singh.
It was only after the convincing failure of Congress model of governance and development and large scale corruption afflicting the state and the society of India attached to it that people turned to Gujarat model or one can say the Narendra Modi Model of development and change in 2014.People want to give enough chance to Prime Minister Modi and his reformist, transformational governance and politics and will not easily back out from believing the intent and commitment of Mr Modi and his team.
The only eventuality of losing the popular trust would be when any serious case/es of corruption engulf this government too. It is for the Congress to understand this reality and frame its agenda accordingly. There is a need to accept that partisan disruptions of Parliament by the political parties are also not generally taken as usual.
After having said this, the Modi government also cannot take the people of India for granted. Whatever policies for the poor, the youth and for the industry it has made, it shall have to bring them on to the ground operation. Otherwise, Prime Minister Modi is not going to get as long a time as the Congress was given. The government shall have to make and retain its connect with the people through its workers, the academics, the civil society and the media in order to be responsive to the feedback from them instead of totally depending on the technocrats and bureaucrats.
Mr Modi would be tested on the basis of progressive change he could cause to the quality of life and ease of life of the people of India. Let us see.
(The writer is Senior Consultant, School Of Social Sciences, IGNOU, New Delhi)