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Whatever happens on Tuesday, July 22, Indian democracy will never be the same again. As Asha Bhonsle once sang parda jo uth gaya to bhed khul jayaega. The veil is indeed off. In Narasimha Rao’s days, a vote was worth Rs 4 crore, now the going price is Rs. 25 or even Rs 30 crore and going up. And there are still days and hours to go before the final reckoning. It would be so much more transparent to put the whole thing on eBay and have a proper auction.

Then there is the sethia-dalal nexus. I have wondered all these years why Indian business, which is so dynamic and competitive, tolerates the appallingly inefficient political system. But now we know. If you don’t pay protection money to one party or another, you could have trouble. One Ambani has one party while the other one has to resort to another. It is when the two parties get together that Mukesh Ambani realises he is getting squeezed out. Luckily, he has diversified and has the Shiv Sena (and I hope the NCP and BJP as well) in his pocket. Since Rajya Sabha seats are much sought after by business tycoons, one should have a transparent system here as well. Why not auction RS seats among business houses and see who gets what.

Even the Left parties indulge in dubious behaviour. With them it is not money; it is the power of central dictatorship which has to be displayed. Thus CPI(M), which made a blunder 10 years ago preventing Jyoti Basu from becoming PM, is about to have its Tian An Man movement mowing down Somnath Chatterjee as he stands in way of the Karat Juggernaut. The open insinuation that all these months the Speaker far from being an impartial president of the chamber was a lowly CPI(M) hack bound to do its duty, says it all.

If I were Somnath Chatterjee I would become independent and prove that the value of not voting is far higher than of voting.

Look at the ‘principled’ hypocrisy of the Left parties. Once anti-communalism was synonymous with anti-BJPism, the dividing line between parties. Now anti-Americanism trumps anti-communalism. In 1941 when Hitler invaded the USSR, the Communists decided that the defence of the USSR was much more important than India’s independence. So, through the Second World War they enjoyed the patronage of the British while Congress leaders languished behind prison bars. This is consistent behaviour. Indian issues rank after those of the Communist’s best friend or their favourite enemy.

The system has now broken down completely. Neither anti-communalism nor anti-Congressism can provide an ideology for the future. The decay that set in when Indira Gandhi personalised politics and destroyed party structure has now come to fruition. Parliament is atomised. Every Man and woman is for himself or herself. Preserve your seat by flattering your leader. That way you may get back in and enjoy the perks and the pelf. If not, stay independent and you can have even more money and no responsibility. The atomisation of the political process is transparent; there are no structures, no ideals, no ideologies.

The system will have to be rebuilt. There is much common ground between the two national parties which is dissipated in fighting phony wars. India could be a Great Power along with China and the US in the next 20 years. It requires sustained growth and secure military power. It needs a strategy to ensure double digit economic growth which needs stable and large majorities at the Centre.

The Congress and BJP should look at the system as it has become and ask if India can afford such a shameful spectacle of individual independent unprincipled MPs holding the nation to ransom for Rs 25, 30 or 50 crores. Can it be dependent on jailed criminals being able to come and cast a crucial vote when they should be barred from membership in any decent country?

There will be time enough after July 22. India needs a change, not of government but of politics.

The writer is Professor Emeritus of Economics at London School of Economics and a Labour Peer

Write to M.Desai@lse.ac.uk

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