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Fighting Elections: Can Secular SC Order be Implemented?

By Dhurjati Mukherjee. Dated: 2/21/2017 11:29:04 PM

The recent Supreme Court majority judgment prohibiting candidates from using religion, caste, class, language etc. to campaign for elections appears to be quite laudable, judged from a theoretical platform. The secular bias of the order once again proves the high position of the country's judicial talent. Obviously this should be ideally be followed and there has to total transparency in seeking votes.
The just retired Chief Justice T. S. Thakur stated in the judgment: "Electoral processes are doubtless secular activities of the State. Religion can have no place in such activities for religion is a matter personal to the individual with which neither the State nor any other individual has anything to do". He pointed out that while there is complete freedom for practicing, professing and religious faith, "the freedom so guaranteed has nothing to do with secular activities which the State undertakes".
However, in a country where education levels are quite poor apart from low literacy levels, the people do not have much analytical idea about what the political parties stand for, their performance as also the hopes raised by various political leaders. They vote for the candidate whose name is discussed in the community - by the political dadas -- without judiciously analyzing whether their observations and developmental programmes would actually become a reality. Thus most of the aam janata vote on religious and caste lines. It is thus quite clear that India's position is totally different from the western countries where the electorate is highly educated and takes decisions after weighing the pros and cons.
As a result, elections in the country have been held on the basis of religious and caste equations. Religious and caste leaders are there in all political parties and they are used to campaign for votes of their religious and caste fraternity. This is obviously not a happy state of affairs and must come to an end. But how much time it would take to make this a reality, remains the big question of the day.
The political scenario of the country has, for quite a few years, been fraught with violence on inter-caste and inter-religious lines. For example, the elections in U. P., where elections would be held shortly, it is quite obvious that religion, caste and class would play a big role. Not just U.P. but even in other states like Punjab, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand, where elections have been announced, both religion and caste would be major factors.
Though the apex court has given its verdict, implementation of the order may be quite difficult. As is well known, in the country there are many rules and regulations but most of them are violated as monitoring of these are not strict as per any standards. The political dispensation and their supporters, whether in the Centre and in the states, are not interested to ensure that these regulations are adhered to as a result of which the violators mostly go scot-free.
Most of the political parties like the various factions of the Muslim League, the Akali Dal, the Shiv Sena, the BSP etc, represent a religion or class and obviously they would like to make speeches, highlighting their specific problems. Whether it would be taken as seeking votes in the name of region, caste or class or voicing their grievances remains to be analyzed which experts would do as also the Election Commission. The apex court, however, did not say anything on this distinction between a 'grievance' and an appeal on the basis of religion, caste, class etc.
Meanwhile it may be pertinent here to mention here that a survey carried out by NDTV revealed that trends in major countries like U.K., India, USA and Russia show that the people want a more authoritarian leadership than democracy. In India the growth in such trends has been 5 per cent, USA 8 per cent and Russia 25 per cent. Relating this to the elections, it seems that authoritarian personalities like Modi or Mulayam/Akhilesh or Mayawati or even on Mamata, where the decisions are concentrated in the hands of one or two personalities in a political party, are favoured than a truly decentralized political order, as was perceived by Mahatma Gandhi.
It is indeed tragic that though decentralization - both political and economic -- has been aired by political leaders, there is still centralization of authority whether at the Centre and even in the states. It goes without saying that only through decentralization that decisions can be transparent, judicious and inclusive and take care of the lowest segments of society.
With elections campaigning already started in the five states, it remains to be seen in what form the order would be implemented. Analysts are of the opinion that most of the political parties in the fray may not raise any hue and cry and allow the others do continue with their style of campaigning.
The initiative to make elections transparent and secular is, no doubt, a unique step. Similarly, it is necessary to bring financial probity through greater financial transparency. Starting with the Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms in 1990 till the 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission 2008, scores of committees have furnished voluminous reports but all of them have largely remained confined to proposals, ideas and intentions.
There is talk of environmental and legal awareness but there is also need to impart awareness, specially in the rural areas, about elections, political parties and their role and responsibilities in society. It has been evident that due to lack of awareness, people remain in the dark about the functioning of political parties, their promises and hopes, their mode of collecting funds etc. However, experts believe that to bring in transparency and the secular spirit in elections would take a few more years as awareness has to reach at the grass-root level to the bottom tiers of society.
It remains to be concluded that however much we talk and formulate policies and regulations, the most important necessity is to translate these into effective action. Unless this is done, all noble ideas will become theoretical propositions whose debate and discussion would be confined among a very small segment of the population.