Sop opera

This week has seen a number of parties scrambling to front-load populist agendas in anticipation of the polls. The Prime Minister has shown...

This week has seen a number of parties scrambling to front-load populist agendas in anticipation of the polls. The Prime Minister has shown his commitment to the Northeast, the Shiv Sena-BJP Government in Maharashtra has put three times the usual number of items on its hotlist and Kalyan Singh has transferred 46 officials in UP. In retaliation, the Election Commission has threatened to announce the poll schedule in double-quick time, which will put the model code of conduct into effect. But because the code will remain in operation for two months, the Commission will have to proceed with some caution and see that the baby is not thrown out with the bathwater. Certainly, curbing electoral malpractice is a priority, but normal developmental activities also have to go on. It will have to look into the circumstances in which an alleged malpractice was perpetrated instead of merely going by first impressions.

The UP case is clear enough. The Commission has argued that the transfers will delay the finalisation of the voter lists, which obviously enjoys priority in the election season. The Sena-BJP8217;s moves are, equally clearly, pre-poll sops. Two of the seven schemes cleared relate to housing, which has traditionally been used for political ends in Maharashtra. The Prime Minister8217;s case is a little more complicated. He was, after all, fulfilling a promise he made at the beginning of his term. He was making good the obligations of the State, a perfectly harmless and even commendable activity. But significantly, he chose to do it at a venue which was decked with party flags. No doubt, after the model code of conduct comes into effect, there will be many more such cases. While the Election Commission should take care not to stand in the way of development, the parties should be equally careful in not inviting its ire. Ruling parties in particular, which will be sorely tempted to use office to gain mileage unfairly, should draw a clearly visible line between their function as the caretakers of the State and their ordinary political activities.

An attempt to use the privilege of government to hand out electoral sops will, ultimately, be to the concerned party8217;s detriment. The Election Commission has no intermediate means for dealing with malpractice. It only has the final solution: countermanding the polls. If that were to happen, the party in question will not find the electorate too forgiving at the repoll, because it will have been called to the booths twice when it was reluctant to go even once. It is time to end this wilful confusion of party with State, which was perfected by the Congress when it was still India8217;s premier party. It is sometimes facilely argued that sops are all right because elections are the only opportunity for the electorate to get some benefits. However, this is democracy operating perversely, in reverse gear. Parties are supposed to offer promises and get elected on them. They are not supposed to distribute largesse first and get elected afterwards. It is to be hoped that in this election, parties will show a basic responsibility to the electorate and not create a situation where they end up derailing development.