Why General Elections Counts

As I began writing this, technically speaking elections are still underway. Election process overseen by election commission will testify that all phases in this gigantic exercise in which the largest democracy votes is not yet over. Somehow, however, during this election, even before the formal process of voting began and eventually end, it is the outcome that has an overbearing presence. Everyone felt it. The dominant impression is as if the consequence and the outcome has already occurred. We are merely dealing, figuring even coping with an outcome which had already arrived! The specter of an imminent and inevitable outcome has never stayed with us for that long, has never presented itself with such intensity and ferocity, may I dare say, around any general (national?) election in recent public memory. It is remarkable. Actual announcement of results after this process is over is less important than a formality. I believe there are good reasons for occurrence of this phenomenon this time around.

The significant issue apparently, in this election is who will become the PM? Comparison among projected, declared and not- so- declared candidates of not just two major national parties but other formations flooded public discussion. The advantages of such announcements and the costs of not being clear about the choice of their leaders were debated ad nauseam. Political right to vote means that the general civilian populace votes, if they so wish, they can put themselves as candidates and after being declared elected, they can occupy the highest public offices, these phases separated only by a nondescript age bracket. So, do you want to become the PM, dear voter? Why not? 

Considering that India still works around a representative parliamentary scheme, it is a bit strange--emphasis on who would be the PM. Voters elect representatives, who then elect their leader. Is this not our norm and practice? Or are we witnessing a change? Is this election going to push us decisively towards a presidential form of government, an unintended outcome? India is certainly not new to debates and discussion about these issues, its social hierarchies orient it towards order, rise of a leader and presidential forms of executive.

Coalition formation in last two decades and little more and its alleged compulsions, though was having a centrifugal effect within and outside the cabinet. One can plausibly argue making our arrangement more democratic at the ‘top’ level. Did we notice these undercurrents around the campaign that was unleashed on one and all? A quasi-presidential, part parliamentary form of Government, is this the deal, this time around? Stable and efficient government is of course being peddled, like always, but no one mentioned that there is going to be a shift in the structure of governance as well. Who will become the PM campaign didn’t pretend, as it were a query or arising out of curiosity. It was also difficult, during this election and before to distinguish between a campaign by a political party, from reportage, debate and discussion about the general elections. It all blended together, somehow. Especial election, indeed.

Pre-poll formations naming themselves as the third, fourth and fifth front, in terms of alternatives have been around with us in last few decades. They were missing. Whether they were not able to come together or were not allowed to come together is not the issue here. It is important to mark their absence, during this general election. A new party with an impressive start while facing its first election, preceding the general election, located largely around the capital with aspirations of national presence,registered its arrival when the campaign began, but as voting passed through its various phases, it sort of tapered off.

The process of election, in a large, diverse and complex country like India matters. A ‘national’ or ‘general’ election, in India has rarely been a national or general election, since the beginning. Local, regional, and national, in terms of spatial spread, voices and issues have always ringed within it. Throw in the community related diversity that Indian encompasses and the picture we get is so complex that it’s difficult to tell who is and who isn’t in the picture and how. On certain occasions its presence was so remarkable that it was impossible to ignore it. So may I dare notice that ‘who will become the PM mode’ gives an impression that these strands and their manifestation in the general elections will not be entertained or will be dealt out of court in other channels, behind the curtains, i.e.

Mind you this court is not any ordinary court. People’s court, a court which is summoned, when electorate votes and decides in a democracy, not some vestigial remnants of anachronistic direct democracy as radicals present peoples democracy to be. Electorate, individually and collectively might not be clear about what they are deciding and why. But the fact they vote, decides. Once the results are out in open, it’s everyone’s business to understand and figure what the decision and mandate is about. We can disagree about its content and expression, but we have the fact of its expression. Whether we agree with its interpretations or outcome is a different matter. A government may be formed, it may not be formed, but people speak, decide and it counts and matters. In a democracy once the voter has voted, no one can discount their vote. This is the essence of the process of election. Whether we see the outcome as aggregation and summation of the ‘national’ mood or look for meanings in qualitative ways is a separate issue/matter.

Local, regional and national issues and voices vie with each other for attention during the process of election, in its short span. Its impact can be more lasting. In heterogeneous country like, India this is an occasion when, at least, for the time being we get some sense about how these are placed and articulated with each other. Issues might be framed in terms that electorate considers important. This might not be the case. Voters vote nevertheless. We usually understand and figure these issues backwards or retrospectively, after the announcements of results.

 

NOTA is an institutionalized option available to voters, now, across constituencies.

In order to appear as this writing is about this general election, 2014 and not some other election; one apparently cannot ignore the M factor. Newspapers and magazines have this gentleman’s profile picture on its  front cover most number of times across individuals and issues within and beyond its election coverage. Electronic media is no different, where the 'talk' is revolving around one person. Conversation has coalesced.

State and government, whatever their bent: socialist, capitalist or semi-feudal, or some conglomerations of these features are directly affected by the fact and the expression we get with elections. Market with its presence, especially its penetration after liberalization and the period of overlapping process of globalization affects the structure of nations, no doubt. It will be naive to deny its effect on the landscape and terrain within which people live their lives. To give one example, if one speaks of franchise, and franchisee, middle class folks might think we are talking about a firm an individual owns, manages or sublets some business, operation or endeavor. Things have changed for sure.

Elections however, are still a different ball game. Elections maintain, change, modify and transform the milieu within which lives, so to speak enact themselves. In terms of outlining the contours of the social and political landscape and providing it with a definite form, with a possibility of change, continuity, contradiction and even incongruity, nothing comes close to the process of a general election and its subsequent result. Nation speaks in one voice or, alliances are formed and they may breakdown, bonds are forged or rediscovered, fissures appear or they are breached. General elections have a rich and thick gloss around it like a halo, closest approximation to what we can have of -- collectivity. It brings everything together, so to speak, in one go.