Why Haryana Hurricane’s Countrymen Aren’t Welcome in Politics

A plethora of factors is making entry into electoral politics extremely challenging, writes Mayank Mishra.

For once, the legendary Kapil Dev had to take evasive action. Ever known for his aggressive all-round performance on the cricket pitch, he clearly looked defensive when asked about his reluctance to join politics.

Sitting beside another legendary cricketer, and now a successful politician, Imran Khan, at a recent function in Delhi, Kapil Dev offered the standard answer that politics was not his cup of tea. The country’s finest all-rounder is perhaps aware of the fact that to gain entry and survive in the rough and tumble of politics is becoming increasingly difficult.

The entry barrier indeed is very high. And it has gone up several notches following the decision to include education up to a certain level to contest panchayat elections. Add the already existing factors such as money and muscle power and a candidate’s lineage and one gets the impression that democratic India’s politics is increasingly becoming exclusive rather than inclusive.

Changing Political Demography

• Data with respect to elected candidates indicates that preference for rich candidates is rising faster even in relatively underdeveloped states
  
• Unlike other countries like US, UK, Canada, the hold of dynasty politics is at an alarmingly high level in states in India
  
• Another barrier in the form of law passed by Haryana assembly barring illiterate from contesting panchayat polls may hit vulnerable sections like dalits and women
  
• The new rule effectively shuts the door on upward mobility through the political route
  

Donations To And Expenses Of Parties Soar

Referring to the growing influence of money power in politics, B R Ambedkar had reportedly said way back in 1943 that “money is taking the field as an organised power.”

Money, which was suspected to take the field then, has captured it fully now. The latest report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) says donations to political parties has jumped a whopping 151 per cent in the last one year. And according to yet another ADR report, the expenditure incurred by national parties during Lok Sabha elections has soared by a mind-boggling 386 per cent in the last ten years.

But these are just declared figures and actual expenses of parties during elections are estimated to be many times more than this. Who will bring so much money to the table? Obviously rich candidates. They spend more as they are more likely to win elections compared to others.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, for instance, the possibility of rich candidates getting elected was 10 times more than others. To put it in other words, one in five candidates having worth of more than Rs 1 crore won against one in 50 for those with the net worth of less than a crore.

What is alarming is that the preference for rich candidates is rising faster even in relatively underdeveloped states. In the November 2013 assembly elections, the chances of winning for candidates with financial assets of at least Rs 1 crore in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh stood at 46 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.

This is one of the stiffest of barriers any aspiring politician must climb to enter politics. It is by all means the only one. Even as our democracy has matured, the hold of dynasty too has increased.

Political Family Advantage

The current Lok Sabha has as many as 21 per cent members who have followed their relatives to elected offices. The number, though slightly down from 29 per cent in the previous Lok Sabha, is way too high compared to mature democracies like the US, the UK, Norway, Belgium and Canada. The level of dynasticism is less than or equal to 10 per cent in these countries. Political scientist Kanchan Chandra’s research shows that the hold of dynasty politics is at alarmingly high level in states.

As if these barriers, and we know there are many more, were not enough, a new barrier is about to be erected. Haryana assembly passed an act in September prescribing minimum qualification for candidates contesting local bodies elections. It mandated that pending payment of power bills and default in loan payment would result in disqualification of candidature. The apex court upheld the order last week.

Upward Mobility Not Allowed

The Haryana law has barred at least 25 per cent of people from contesting elections. It will hit the vulnerable sections like dalits and women even harder as women’s literacy rate is abysmally low in the state. Rich Haryana incidentally has the worst gender ratio in the country and if a large section of women is barred from contesting local elections, the situation is bound to become worse.

The new rule effectively shuts the door on upward mobility through the political route. The idea of having educated representatives is fine. But to use it as an excuse to deny entry to the deprived sections does not make sense at all.

A thriving democracy is the biggest achievement of independent India and universal adult franchise is what has made it possible. Democracy, by its very definition, needs to be inclusive – participative, in other words.

By adding elements of exclusivity in it, aren’t we running the risk of weakening it? Given the existence of factors that have made politics insular, could Haryana hurricane Kapil Dev have given a different answer to the question asked to him? Perhaps not. And it should worry us.

(The writer is a Delhi-based senior journalist)