Whatever the shape of things to come the orderly and peaceful elections just completed successfully in the world’s largest democracy deserve to be followed by a sober acceptance of the verdict by both the victors and the vanquished. Now is the time for the bitterness of the hot contest to yield for reconciliation and co-operation in grappling with the many pressing problems facing the nation.”
MARCH 22, 1977
The people’s verdict
THE ELECTIONS TO THE SIXTH LOK SABHA HAVE INDEED sprung many surprises, the most unexpected being the defeat of the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, in Rae Bareli, which constituency she has held hitherto with big majorities. With the bulk of the returns already on hand, the emerging trend is clear that the Congress Party’s unbroken rule at the Centre since Independence is about to end, that it has been rejected by a majority of those who voted and that the Janata Party, formed by the get-together of the Jan Sangh, the Congress (O), the Bharatiya Lok Dal, and the SSP is well set to hold the reins of power at the Centre. The same people who massively voted Mrs. Gandhi and her party to power with a two-thirds majority in 1971 have thought it necessary now, with an equal sense of purpose, to deny her even a seat in the Lok Sabha. It is also to be noted that the voters who discounted the Grand Alliance’s slogan of “democracy in danger” in 1971 have this time heeded the same slogan when raised by the Janata Party, a re-incarnation of the same alliance under a new name. Evidently they had reasons to believe that this time the cry had a lot more of substance.
Nevertheless, the impressive and unmistakable success of Mrs. Gandhi’s Congress in the southern States which were exposed to the same Emergency restrictions and the same Janata wave as were the populous (and so decisive) northern States may also help isolate the factor or factors that have pushed the Congress down notwithstanding the perceptible benefits derived by the weaker sections from the implementation of some of the schemes of the Prime Minister’s 20-point programme. It is a pity that the era of press censorship had kept the South (and the higher authorities themselves to an extent) ignorant of the gross excesses of the family planning drive in the Hindi-speaking States and other acts of repression. The southern States, especially Maharashtra, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have in fact achieved far better results in family planning and brought down the birth-rate to below 30 per thousand, while it still remains around 35 per thousand in Hindispeaking belt. But these results were obtained in the South by a judicious combination of motivation, monetary and other incentives, aftercare of sterilisation acceptors in well-conducted F.P. camps and some element of compulsion even. It is the hurried and immature attempts in the northern States to make up for lost time by the use of indiscriminate strong arm methods for mass compulsory sterilisation that are said to have so roused popular anger in the North against Mrs. Gandhi whether or not she herself had had a hand in the misdeed.
If this is indeed the crucial factor that has so clearly differentiated the verdict of the southern and northern States in the present poll, it is all the same unfortunate that there should occur such a region-wise conflict to preferences. For what becomes very relevant and significant is its possible impact on the unity of approach to national problems, so necessary. With the Janata Party so sparsely represented in the Lok Sabha from the four enlightened southern States, their involvement in the business of the Central Government is bound to suffer from the lack of adequate representation. It is however to be hoped that men of vision and statesmanship will take due cognisance of this new lack of adequate representation. It is however to be hoped that men of vision and statesmanship will take due cognisance of this new developing situation to ensure that the interests of the South would not go by default as a consequence of an entirely unexpected turn of events.
Just now the sixth Lok Sabha appears to advance towards a virtually two-party parliamentary system, if it is indeed a most desirable thing in the evolution of our young democracy. The intensive participation of the bulk of the entire nation in the elections that such unprecedently heavy polling shows, is also a welcome indication of the awareness and alertness of the Indian electorate. For it does serve as a warning to any ruling party that it cannot take the people for granted and that even good intentions (as in the F.P. programme) cannot make up for bad implementation. A great deal depends on whether the Janata Party is going to fulfill its pre-election promise to effect de jure merger of the constituent parties soon after the elections. When it does that, it would have taken the first step towards dispelling genuinely entertained fears of instability at the Centre.
The people have unmistakably shown that the basic purpose of using their vote is to set up good government by returning the ruling coalition in the Kerala Assembly elections with much bigger majority than before. And they have shown themselves to be clearly against the marxists, no doubt because of the feeling that, otherwise, they would be retarding economic progress in the State. The rout of the DMK in Tamil Nadu is also proof that the people cannot be fooled for long. Apart from the findings of the Sarkaria Commission of corruption and misuse of authority by the DMK while in power, Mr. Karunanidhi’s thinly disguised separatist proclivities have surely had everything to do with the overwhelming defeat of the party at the polls. All these developments infuse a heartening confidence in the nation that the ordinary people know how to apply their political prerogatives.
It is of course too early to say what the impact of the Lok Sabha poll results is likely to be on the party alignments in the State Assemblies and the possible changes in governmental set-up. The coming months may hold many more surprises. Whatever the shape of things to come, the orderly and peaceful elections just completed successfully in the world’s largest democracy deserve to be followed by a sober acceptance of the verdict by both the victors and the vanquished. Now is the time for the bitterness of the hot contest to yield for reconciliation and co-operation in grappling with the many pressing problems facing the nation. The ruling party and the Opposition are but two essential limbs of governance. The people do expect them to establish new conventions and practices for the constructive functioning of the two houses of Parliament.
Reference:
The First 100
A Selection of Editorials, 1878-1978, THE HINDU, VOLUME I