The party whip – Bane of Indian politics

On Saturday I attended the ‘Meet Your Candidates’ session organised by AGNI. Only Priya Dutt (Cong) and Mahesh Jethmalani (BJP) turned up. Jethmalani sure outshined Priya Dutt in answering questions and giving his perspective on issues. He had the advantage of being a lawyer, a good orator and being the newcomer without any baggage of past unfulfilled promises. Also, his party is not in power either in the State or Center. So he could go on laying the blame for everything on the Congress. But his stand on terror was dubious. While he went on harping about 26/11 as a failure he wasn’t able to give a convincing answer on state-sponsored terrorism in Kandhamal. And was totally silent about Gujarat. Priya Dutt wasn’t asked about her stand on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots accused either.

I found the meet flawed in one sense – it was focused totally on what the candidate promises to do. Now, this is fine in a democracy like USA where the elected reps are not bound by the party’s stand. In the US there is cross-voting on all important bills. But in India, if an elected rep takes a stand different from the party, he is punished. An Indian rep has to follow the party whip. So what confidence can I have in what either candidate promises? Finally, it will be the party stand that he/she will vote for. So what I should be considering is whether I consider the BJP or the Congress as the better party. My candidate’s suitability will matter only on certain issues like getting funds/ projects allocated to Mumbai city. Does this override the party factor? I don’t think so. In all probability I will end up voting for Priya Dutt or rather against Jethmalani. For me, he is the right man in the wrong party. And my decisions will continue to be governed by the ‘Party Factor’ until Indian democracy matures enough to make my elected rep reasonably independent of the party.