Electoral Contract – Moral, Socio-Political and Legal dimensions
By: Amit Bhushan Date: 13th Nov. 2014
One of the chief problems of India with its democratic set up with its plethora of poor population is emerging to be the ‘cost’ of electoral hustling. Mindless expenses to raise cost of ‘election’ for rivals resorted by political leaders as well as barons of political parties/families have come to haunt the roost. The cost of reaching out to the population by out-shouting competitors is rising every year. The seasoned political parties/families (with their ‘committed’ financial backers) that have proven themselves to be adept at identifying potential winners and then offer them ‘ticket’ to victory at hustling are being tested for resilience. The expectation of loyalty factor to be depicted by candidates post victory though it is no where explicit as per law/constitution is also being tested. The apparent lack of loyalties may have their own potential consequences in terms that leaders may become untouchable to ‘all parties’ who expect ‘loyalty’, specific targeting in public & media for the leader and so on…thus a moral dimension. The hapless ordinary campaigner, elements in mass media (as well as in social media) and voters in turn are also expecting ‘output’ committed to them explicitly or implicitly during elections where ‘haven’ is increasingly being seen as an ordinary commitment. The contract with voters is explicit but has almost no consequence barring in the ‘follow up’ elections. With voters turning increasingly restive and fickle minded, often changing opinions sharply even in mid-term is putting additional pressure. Thus, the dice is increasingly seen to be set as against the ‘elected’ representative who is expected to deliver on the ‘potentially conflicting’ interests. The rep. of course have options - to change constituencies/seats or change parties or both and escape the wrath of voters while continuing to pursue their political careers, however with an assertive media and competitive rivals, it is no longer going to be easy. ‘Sacrificing’ claim for victory in the constituency in favour of a ‘capable’ progeny; an option exercised hitherto with vengeance seems to have already failed for most barring a few cases.
While we have rules regards change of parties during the course when the chosen reps. are pursuing policy making to restrict change; however what it essentially does is force ‘collectivism’ wherein at least a third of them need to collect their might to enforce a particular course of action on the political party. During ‘easier days of politics’, the seasoned political parties/families could have called shots and silence the elected rep. with the wave of hand since it was easier to manage political careers for the Reps. provided one had strong politico-monetary backing. Now with voters putting increasingly tough questions; Ranchods and Bhagodas facing ever greater wrath; the candidates themselves as well as political parties/families are becoming more circumspect. It is no longer possible for political leaders and families to take decisions in silos without assembling the elected Reps. and taking them into confidence regards a course of action since a motley group conscious of pressures can swell in ranks and tilt the tide. This fact is likely to become increasingly evident as electorate begins to question the jargon “party’s interest” and the basis of measuring the same (since the party officially runs on donations from public). The lack of provision of party’s interest in law/constitution will increasingly come handy alongside carrots dangled by the sundry rival parties/families.
We now also have increased competition amongst media which is likely to translate media into investigative machine to raise public concern and shore up their own viewership. This is because ‘rewards’ are available for only those who can manage to influence people and not for others. Similarly we have seen rise of ‘volunteers’ for various causes who dwell into ‘politics’ as well and this has raised cost for the elected Reps. to raise the number of the campaigners to effectively combat this lot. This signals difficult times for the political leaders with ‘bad image’ as well as those with a ‘low media profile’. This is because the lot with a bad image is likely to be confronted with tougher questions (from mass media) while those with low media profile are likely to be badgered with questions while their positive works remaining unsung. Riding on the ‘wave’ created by some haloed ‘mass leader’ has already been tested in recent Maharashtra elections & therefore its reliability is suspect for most barring those who have something material to show. Perhaps the time dimension of delivery of electoral promises is only thing which is not being questioned timely i.e. before the decisions are exercised but it looks sure that media will step up to fill the void sooner than later because of inherent competition in business. People and parties unable to ‘team up’ prior to elections including party hopping & shopping for preferred constituency ticket is a telling sign of lack of confidence prevailing amongst ‘leaders’ about each others relative ability to rally the electorate. No party new or old is untouched by the bug though some may be better placed than others, but for how long…
While the TRP hungry news media has long kept its audiences hooked to rhetoric of political leaders (including some of their own buzz) however with increased presence of activists, experts and data analysts experts most of whom are more active on internet, it is the ‘data dimension’ and ‘solution’ aspect which will form the crux of voter’s question. The leaders ignoring these dimensions are more likely to receive negative publicity from activists on social media and thus opinion formations for voting exercises may be influenced. The elections in the capital state will test how strong is this wave and its penetration level in society at the current juncture, it is however given that the direction of further political evolution has been set and now it is more about when the changed thinking seeps and reaches the most ordinary citizens in the country. We will of course continue to face challenges from caste-ism, religion-ism, regionalism, linguists who will make continued attempts to make comeback, however not without challenge. And off course we have continued attempts to search for new as well as re-modified holograms as well who can rally public across the country.
By: Amit Bhushan Date: 13th Nov. 2014
One of the chief problems of India with its democratic set up with its plethora of poor population is emerging to be the ‘cost’ of electoral hustling. Mindless expenses to raise cost of ‘election’ for rivals resorted by political leaders as well as barons of political parties/families have come to haunt the roost. The cost of reaching out to the population by out-shouting competitors is rising every year. The seasoned political parties/families (with their ‘committed’ financial backers) that have proven themselves to be adept at identifying potential winners and then offer them ‘ticket’ to victory at hustling are being tested for resilience. The expectation of loyalty factor to be depicted by candidates post victory though it is no where explicit as per law/constitution is also being tested. The apparent lack of loyalties may have their own potential consequences in terms that leaders may become untouchable to ‘all parties’ who expect ‘loyalty’, specific targeting in public & media for the leader and so on…thus a moral dimension. The hapless ordinary campaigner, elements in mass media (as well as in social media) and voters in turn are also expecting ‘output’ committed to them explicitly or implicitly during elections where ‘haven’ is increasingly being seen as an ordinary commitment. The contract with voters is explicit but has almost no consequence barring in the ‘follow up’ elections. With voters turning increasingly restive and fickle minded, often changing opinions sharply even in mid-term is putting additional pressure. Thus, the dice is increasingly seen to be set as against the ‘elected’ representative who is expected to deliver on the ‘potentially conflicting’ interests. The rep. of course have options - to change constituencies/seats or change parties or both and escape the wrath of voters while continuing to pursue their political careers, however with an assertive media and competitive rivals, it is no longer going to be easy. ‘Sacrificing’ claim for victory in the constituency in favour of a ‘capable’ progeny; an option exercised hitherto with vengeance seems to have already failed for most barring a few cases.
While we have rules regards change of parties during the course when the chosen reps. are pursuing policy making to restrict change; however what it essentially does is force ‘collectivism’ wherein at least a third of them need to collect their might to enforce a particular course of action on the political party. During ‘easier days of politics’, the seasoned political parties/families could have called shots and silence the elected rep. with the wave of hand since it was easier to manage political careers for the Reps. provided one had strong politico-monetary backing. Now with voters putting increasingly tough questions; Ranchods and Bhagodas facing ever greater wrath; the candidates themselves as well as political parties/families are becoming more circumspect. It is no longer possible for political leaders and families to take decisions in silos without assembling the elected Reps. and taking them into confidence regards a course of action since a motley group conscious of pressures can swell in ranks and tilt the tide. This fact is likely to become increasingly evident as electorate begins to question the jargon “party’s interest” and the basis of measuring the same (since the party officially runs on donations from public). The lack of provision of party’s interest in law/constitution will increasingly come handy alongside carrots dangled by the sundry rival parties/families.
We now also have increased competition amongst media which is likely to translate media into investigative machine to raise public concern and shore up their own viewership. This is because ‘rewards’ are available for only those who can manage to influence people and not for others. Similarly we have seen rise of ‘volunteers’ for various causes who dwell into ‘politics’ as well and this has raised cost for the elected Reps. to raise the number of the campaigners to effectively combat this lot. This signals difficult times for the political leaders with ‘bad image’ as well as those with a ‘low media profile’. This is because the lot with a bad image is likely to be confronted with tougher questions (from mass media) while those with low media profile are likely to be badgered with questions while their positive works remaining unsung. Riding on the ‘wave’ created by some haloed ‘mass leader’ has already been tested in recent Maharashtra elections & therefore its reliability is suspect for most barring those who have something material to show. Perhaps the time dimension of delivery of electoral promises is only thing which is not being questioned timely i.e. before the decisions are exercised but it looks sure that media will step up to fill the void sooner than later because of inherent competition in business. People and parties unable to ‘team up’ prior to elections including party hopping & shopping for preferred constituency ticket is a telling sign of lack of confidence prevailing amongst ‘leaders’ about each others relative ability to rally the electorate. No party new or old is untouched by the bug though some may be better placed than others, but for how long…
While the TRP hungry news media has long kept its audiences hooked to rhetoric of political leaders (including some of their own buzz) however with increased presence of activists, experts and data analysts experts most of whom are more active on internet, it is the ‘data dimension’ and ‘solution’ aspect which will form the crux of voter’s question. The leaders ignoring these dimensions are more likely to receive negative publicity from activists on social media and thus opinion formations for voting exercises may be influenced. The elections in the capital state will test how strong is this wave and its penetration level in society at the current juncture, it is however given that the direction of further political evolution has been set and now it is more about when the changed thinking seeps and reaches the most ordinary citizens in the country. We will of course continue to face challenges from caste-ism, religion-ism, regionalism, linguists who will make continued attempts to make comeback, however not without challenge. And off course we have continued attempts to search for new as well as re-modified holograms as well who can rally public across the country.