POLITICAL
STABILITY IN INDIA
India is the largest democratic
country of the world with a vast population of about 100 crores. The
growth of a sense of nationalism in India led to the independence of
the country in 1947 and we celebrated 50 years of our independence
with pride and honour. Unfortunately, the practical scenario in the
country is not sound today. Of late, we have seen about seven
Governments in the last 9 years at the Centre though the Constitution
of India provides for a five-year term for the Parliament and the
Government. The same situation prevails in the states as well where
the people sleep with one Government in office and rise with another
Government in office. This unstable situation in politics in India has
caused immense damage to our economy. Consequently, we are going
backward in social, political and economic fields. The people of India
are the worst affected lot for whose benefit and welfare all such
provisions and systems have been evolved by the founding fathers of
our nation. The Constitution of India is a vast and model Constitution
and it ensures and guarantees the welfare of the people of India and
is dedicated them. Unfortunately, the system of governance, that is,
the Parliamentary form of Government does not seem to be working well.
it is the need of the hour to ponder over it and evolve a better,
effective and workable system of governance ensuring political
stability in the country. A thorough study of the system of governance
in the other nations of the world to learn from their experience in
running the government is very crucial at the present stage. The
Presidential from of government as prevails in the United States of
America and other western countries is a better option and can provide
a solution to the problem of political instability in our country. In
the above system the executive power shall vest in the President of
the country who shall hold his office for a term of 5 years and
together with the Vice President chosen for the same term shall be
elected in a direct election. The President shall have the powers to
nominate or appoint Ambassadors, Ministers, Consuls, Judges of the
Supreme Court and other senior officials of the country.
The President, the Vice President
and all civil officers shall be removed from office on impeachment,
conviction of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanours.
This system will certainly strengthen the position of the President
and would provide a stable form of governance where the executive
could act without fear and favour and would be out of the clutches of
unscrupulous, power hungry and petty politicians who always try to
control or sabotage a government to suit their own interest taking
advantage of their numbers in the Lok Sabha where a majority support,
number wise, to from a government is essential. The above system has
been tested for decades in the United States of America and other
western countries and hopefully would bear fruit in India too and
provide economic security and stability.
When the 12th Lok Sabha
(Parliamentary) Elections were held no party was in a position to form
its own Government. They had to depend on other national as well as
regional parties in this regards. The BJP led coalition had twelve
regional parties whereas Congress and National Front had their own
combinations. Every party was trying to persuade independent Members
of Parliament to support it.
The people's mandate clearly
showed that they wanted, a "National Government" of all
parties without any division on the basis of secular and non-secular
ones with a programme for giving top priority to the development of
the country. People are fed up with the way the political parties
quite often discuss and debate the usual communal issues not so much
for finding a solution to them, but to reap the maximum political
benefit. It was crystal clear that neither the BJP nor the Congress
(I)-UF combine was capable of running a Government for the full term
of five years. In such a situation all parties should have come
forward to share power in a "National Government" in
proportion to their strength in Parliament and make the country attain
progress and prosperity. Fortunately, we had a President then who was
not afraid of setting a precedent. He was the first President in the
country to cast his vote in an election. Therefore, Mr. Narayanan
could have invoked, Article 86(2) of the Constitution and sent a
message to the Lok Sabha, calling upon the House to elect a
leader by a majority vote. Both the BJP and the Congress (I) could
nominate their candidate for the leadership. The person so elected
would then have been invited by the President to form the Government.
The Supreme Court had already set a precedent in dealing with the UP
imbroglio.
During that period of uncertainly,
owing to a Hung Parliament, Indian corporate sector was nervous that
India was in for another round of political instability. In the stock
markets, the indices were see-sawing on the possibility of a BJP-led
formation coming to power. But overall sentiment remained subdued
because the prospects were only for a loosely cobbled coalition-BJP or
Congress-led. For an industry still recovering from two short term
governments, the fear naturally was that this could happen yet again;
that political instability wold only add to the current recessionary
blues. After three years of seven per cent real GDP growth, the Indian
economy was slowing down to five per cent that year. Industrial growth
remained sluggish at 4.7 to 5 per cent. Agriculture was expected to
decline by two per cent. Stock markets remained depressed, banks were
flush with funds but credit to industry was low. The investor's
confidence had been shaken. Investors of late had been postponing
major investments in new projects or in expanding existing ones. The
result was a weakening of growth impulses across the board in industry
which should have been immediately reversed. The corporate were also
looking to the new government to invest in infrastructure. The fear of
Indian industrialists was precisely on this score, more so because
both contending political formations had to rely on a motley crowd of
independents or small regional parties. A BJP led formation included
16 allies at that time while a Congress led one comprised 18 partners.
In spite of the preparation of an agenda by the ruling formation, the
fact remained that at least five year's term would be necessary to
implement such an agenda, the outlook for which seemed bleak in a hung
parliamentary situation.
Under such circumstance the
various parties in the Parliament must evolve a common
"maximum" programme, sinking all political and ideological
differences. In addition to this, the Anti-Defection Law needs close
scrutiny and fresh enactment to stop shifting of loyalties for
personal gain after the verdict of the electorate, which causes
greater instability. There should be a law to call an elected Member
of Parliament back by the electorate if considered unsuitable. In the
absence of a suitable Government at the centre, the President of India
should be empowered to look after the country and act like the
President of United Sates of America. This will be a milestone in the
direction of making our country agriculturally, economically,
industrially and financially sound.