Opinion Demagogues harm democracy
Last week I was in Istanbul to participate in a conference on the future of democracy and the liberal order.
Last week I was in Istanbul to participate in a conference on the future of democracy and the liberal order. The subject made me think of these ideas in an Indian context. And,as my thoughts wandered back and forth through the pages of history,I found myself thinking about whether in those early decades after Independence we had real democracy or demagoguecracy. We had regular elections but we elected time and time again a prime minister of whom it was said that under his magnificent shadow not even small plants survived.
Then came a short interlude in which a very tiny plant (physically speaking) bloomed for a moment only to be replaced by another demagogue. His daughter. And,she ensured that the only person worthy of being her heir was her son whose only reason to be in politics was his bloodline and the untimely death of his more political brother. Today Indian democracy is so deeply infected by demagoguecracy that there is hardly a political party left that is not totally controlled by a demagogue and his family.
The latest outing of baby demagogues was in Bihar two weeks ago when the venerable patriarch,Shri Lalu Yadav,paraded his sons proudly as his political legacy at a public rally. He may not succeed in letting them inherit Bihar though,because thanks to our vast and growing middle class,estimated already to be larger than the population of the United States,it is no longer so easy to pass demagoguecracy off as democracy.
Middle-class voters are a demanding lot as we saw during Anna Hazares movement. They demand probity and public services and even the right to recall elected representatives. I was no supporter of Anna and his movement,but I fully share their concerns and long for the day when there are enough middle-class voters in India to put an end once and for all to demagogues because they nearly always mislead guileless voters.
There is one thing that can prevent that happy day from coming,and that is to stall the middle class from growing by keeping poverty alive forever. If you read carefully the report card that the Sonia-Manmohan government gave itself on its anniversary last week,you will notice that it prides itself on what it has done for the poor. It lists as
achievements direct cash transfers to beneficiaries of welfare programmes,MNREGA,midday meals for schoolchildren and the soon-to-be implemented food security Bill. Add to this other handouts named after some member or the other of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and you should be able to spot quite easily why Sonia Gandhi is so keen to continue being seen as the Lady Bountiful of economics even if it takes India down.
Since 2009,she has put her imprint firmly on economic policies and so changed the mood that even Indian investors seek friendlier climes. Along with huge government expenditure,the licence raj has returned through tax measures that apply retrospectively,through an Environment Ministry that blocks projects in which investments have been made and through a new land Bill that could make it almost impossible for land to be acquired to build a highway or a power plant. Unsurprisingly,private investors are in a blue funk and are no longer creating new jobs.
If things carry on this way,you can be sure that the only jobs left will be those that the government can create in its already overstaffed offices and in its profitless public sector factories. You can also be certain that the astounding growth of the middle classes that resulted from the abolition of the licence raj will grind to a halt. All this will be very bad for India but will without question be excellent for demagogues who like to see their political legacy embodied in the form of one of their children.
Our misfortune is that the disease of demagoguery has had a terrifying trickle-down effect,so it is not unusual these days to arrive in an Indian village and see that the sarpanch has started to behave like a mini-demagogue by grooming some relative or other to replace him because politics means big money today. Our hope lies entirely in the hands of middle-class Indians. This is why it is so sad that the political party spawned by Anna Hazares movement has an economic worldview that is deeply statist. If the Aam Aadmi Party ever comes to power,it will put a quick end to what is left of our battered private sector through an inspector raj.
After having painted such a gloomy picture,do I believe that the future of Indian democracy is bright? Yes. As long as the middle classes continue to grow and continue to aggressively demand governance and not government,political leaders and not demagogues.
Follow Tavleen Singh on Twitter @ tavleens
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