Opinion Rashtrapati,Rashtrapita

Sadly,the Congress president doesn’t believe that the other side should be heard. Specifically,she believes that she shouldn’t be seen to be seeking the BJP’s support for the UPA candidate in the presidential election. 10 Janpath’s attitude of treating the BJP as an untouchable still persists. Contrast this with the healthy approach Atal Bihari Vajpayee had adopted in the Rashtrapati election in 2002. He had proactively sought—and got—the support of Sonia Gandhi and Mulayam Singh Yadav,for Dr A P J Abdul Kalam,who was NDA’s candidate.

Contest in an election is not,in itself,an undesirable thing. After all,democracy provides for it. However,when the election is for the highest Constitutional office,the option of a contest should be invoked only after the other options of consensus-building have been fully exhausted. Every instance of principled cooperation between the ruling and opposition parties at the national level strengthens the spirit of cooperation at all the other levels of our democratic system. After all,once elected,the victor ceases to be a representative of only those who sponsored and voted for him. Again,in the wise words of Gandhiji,“The very essence of democracy is that every (elected) person represents all the varied interests which compose the nation.” Therefore,the President of India—and also the very process of electing him—should show the way to fostering two cardinal principles of democracy: (a) maximum cooperation among all political parties; and (b) commitment of every political party,especially of its elected representatives,to represent the totality or the social diversity of India.

Just as the President should represent the totality of India,unwaveringly displaying his loyalty to the Constitution and not to either the dynasty or the ruling establishment,it is equally important that the will of the totality of India be represented in electing the President. In saying this,I am not advocating direct national election of Rashtrapati. However,the time has certainly come to expand the electoral college for this election and to make it more representative of the totality of the country’s democratic system. In other words,elected members of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) should also have the right to vote in the presidential election. After the 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution,which empowered PRIs and ULBs respectively,there can be absolutely no political or constitutional justification for denying members of these bodies the right to participate in the election to choose the country’s President.

This major political reform will have several beneficial effects on our democracy. Firstly,it will broadbase the presidential election,by adding nearly three million more electors to the existing electoral college of 4,896 MPs and MLAs. There being no whip in this election,this will reduce the scope of politics of manipulation,inducements and blackmail that the Congress party routinely resorts to. Look how,by misusing the CBI stick,it’s got both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in UP to back its candidate. Secondly,this will encourage members of PRIs and ULBs to outgrow their localism and develop a national perspective. Thirdly,the President too will feel Constitutionally obliged to speak up for the legitimate needs and rights of these long-neglected grassroots institutions of democracy. Fourthly,this will compel political parties to start taking them more seriously. Lastly,giving PRIs and ULBs a right to vote in the presidential election will also force the centre and state governments to take them seriously. Today,even two decades after the 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments,neither the centre nor the state governments have taken all the necessary steps to decentralise powers to the PRIs and ULBs in terms of funds,functions and functionaries. India’s inclusive development without effective decentralisation of powers is a pipedream.

The strongest reason for broadbasing the electoral college for the Rashtrapati election is that this is in keeping with the thinking of India’s Rashtrapita (Father of the Nation). Mahatma Gandhi,who had envisioned Gram Swaraj or the Republic of India as a natural and national collective of largely self-governing and mutually cooperating village-town republics,had prophetically cautioned: “The larger a democracy grows,the less it becomes the rule of the people and the smaller is the say of individuals and localised groups in dealing with their own destinies.” He has been proved right by India’s highly centralised structure of (mis)governance.

Therefore,let’s all press for this reform,to be made operational for the Rashtrapati election in 2017.

sudheenkulkarni@gmail.com