Ahead of 2019 polls, why India's democratic institutions look compromised
When the Indian Constitution was being finalised in 1949, BR Ambedkar pointed out that there were serious shortcomings.
Addressing the Constituent Assembly, he said: "On the January 26, 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality. In politics we will be recognising the principle of one man one vote and one vote one value. In our social and economic life, we shall, by reason of our social and economic structure, continue to deny the principle of one man one value."
To ensure all citizens in India enjoy social equality, the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru and S Radhakrishnan emphasised on the importance of building strong democratic institutions.
In today's India, those democratic institutions are under systematic assault. Look at the state of the judiciary. The fact that the decision of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court to hold a press conference on January 12 was termed as "unprecedented" by the legal fraternity, with some experts terming it as "shocking" while others saying there could have been some compelling reasons for such a move is proof that all is not well.
It is worrying that insinuations regarding a "compromised judiciary" are being made at a time when the Supreme Court is dealing with the contentious issue of the validity of Aadhaar cards for social security benefits and how it can seriously compromise individual data.
Another major institution under the cloud is the Election Commission of India. In 2017, the EC delayed the announcement of election dates and thus the application of the model code of conduct for the Gujarat Assembly election allegedly to give time to the BJP to announce poll sops to ensure the party gets an edge over the Congress.
AK Joti, chief election commissioner, defended the decision to announce Gujarat election's dates later, saying that factors such as snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, flood relief efforts in Gujarat and festivities played a role in the decision.
Former chief election commissioners such as TS Krishnamurthy and SY Quraishi criticised Joti's decision.
Joti's role in the delaying the announcement of dates was particularly suspect since he had served as the chief secretary of Gujarat when Modi was chief minister of the state.
And that wasn't the only incident where Joti's role came under the scanner. The EC under Joti disqualified 21 Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAs for "occupying office of profit". He did not even allow AAP MLAs a chance to be heard. His successor CEC Om Prakash Rawat also did not give AAP MLAs a hearing.
The Delhi High Court upbraided the CEC for not giving AAP MLAs a hearing, and instructed the poll body to re-examine the issue. Interestingly, Congress leader Ajay Maken welcomed the disqualification of the AAP MLAs, giving an example of opportunistic politics, at a time it is fast losing its mass base.
There are many more such cases of the undermining of institutions both by politicians and the judiciary. The media has often connived with the powers that be to legitimise this public corruption. With 2019 elections fast approaching, this does not bode well for our democratic practices that have taken root over years with sweat and blood.