Democracy in India
There are many types of democracies being practised in contemporary world and one need not ape the other. But there is always some radical element in a democracy which can prove to be a panacea for quite a number of problems. In this context, the fundamental difference between democracies of the USA and India needs highlighting.
During the on-going primaries of presidential election of the USA, the party candidates for presidency are being elected by party members in these elections (conducted under State authorities), which make all the difference in a democracy.
On the contrary, party office bearers and party candidates in Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly elections in India are appointed and chosen so arbitrarily that it is no surprise that:
(1) In India, the members of political party permanently complain about party office bearers arbitrarily foisted on them.
[To quote only one example, the case of Shiv Sena is quite educative in this respect. Shiv Sena has sizable membership in the provinces of India also other than Maharashtra and its candidates contest Parliamentary and Legislative Assembly elections too over there. But the Shiv Sainiks from the rest of India do not have any right or voice (as to who will be the office bearers of Shiv Sena and who will be the Shiv Sena candidates in elections) for the simple reason that there are no organisational elections in Shiv Sena.
(2) During every election, the Indian people and media complain that sizable numbers of candidates of various political parties are accused of serious crimes which is a sign of criminalisation of Indian politics.
(3) Political parties still do not file annual returns of their audited financial accounts. This despite the order dated April 4, 1996 in S.C. case No. 24 of 1995 where the Supreme Court of India ordered Income Tax authorities to ensure these returns, which otherwise also is mandatory duty of I.T. Dept.
(To what extent this financial anarchy of political parties has criminalised Indian politics is known to anyone who knows India).
This political farce in India can easily be ended forever if organisational elections of registered political parties are conducted under State authorities, so that party members can elect office bearers of the party who will have legitimacy.
Otherwise, the present ridiculous situation will persist where apart from other glaring injustices and anarchy: -
i) Dalits (oppressed castes) & other weaker sections of society are still treated inhumanely in villages and other parts of India.
ii) National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, the only hope and future of India (which is going to sustain about half of India's poor population) is almost non-existent at implementation level.
Therefore, if India wants to survive as the largest functioning democracy and that too in this part of Asia, then without any further delay it should adopt the 'State authority controlled party election system'
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