‘Dynasty’ & ‘One-Man Shows’: India’s Netas are Allergic to Inner Party Democracy

Video Producer: Mayank Chawla

Video Editor: Prajjwal Kumar

Yeh Jo India Hai Na, Sorry Aaj India Nahi, Aaj Yeh Jo England Hai Na, it has a lesson for all of us in India, and for India’s political parties – for the BJP, the Congress, and all the others too. It's all about these three words – INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY. Yaani, what just happened in England.

The ruling Conservative Party first smoothly pushed the sitting PM Boris Johnson out, and then transparently, democratically, and smoothly, from out of 8 candidates, picked a new leader, Liz Truss, who will now be the new Prime Minister.

It sounds simple, even natural. Aakhir, yahi toh hona chahiye. But, for this to happen in India, it would be a MIRACLE! 'An-ho-nee!'

LESSONS FOR INDIA

Let me explain.

• Miracle #1 – That a sitting Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, actually exited without kicking, resisting, or fighting his own party’s wishes. In India, where the party is the leader, and the leader is the party, we know this is simply not possible, not even imaginable.

• Miracle #2 – That the election for their new Conservative party leader happened transparently. Which major Indian political party respects the idea of transparency? None. Not one.

• Miracle #3 – That the election for this new party leader happened democratically. Which major Indian political party respects the idea of inner party democracy today? When it comes to party leadership, let's accept the answer. None of them. Not one.

• Miracle #4 – That the eight candidates for the Conservative Party leadership came from a level playing field, no hidden or larger power cherry-picked them and these eight candidates truly represented the diversity of England today. They got it right in terms of gender too. Of the eight candidates – 4 were women, there were just 2 white men, one was a Kurdish Iraqi, one woman was of Indian-Goan origin and also a practising Buddhist, one woman was of Nigerian origin, there were 2 white women, and then, of course, there was Rishi Sunak who came a good second in the race.

Compare this amazing sense of representation with the BJP, that today has 400 MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, of whom, not ONE is a Muslim. Not even one Muslim MP, let alone a Muslim dreaming of leading a national party in a country that is supposed to be secular.

NEED OF INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY IN INDIA

Yeh Jo India Hai Na, until we demand that our major political parties adopt genuine INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY, we cannot expect genuine democracy in government or public life, we cannot expect democratic values to drive key institutions like our police, our enforcement agencies, our judiciary, or even our media. And naturally, this affects our lives.

Could you and I question our leaders during Covid’s 2nd wave, on why we were so unprepared, why no oxygen, why not enough vaccines, and why so many lives were needlessly lost? Today in Bengaluru, can ordinary citizens ask their government why the city’s infrastructure has failed to cope with the floods? Today, in the absence of real representation, who do minorities turn to as their homes and shops are illegally demolished by bulldozers by their state governments?

So, what’s the point we are making? Here it is – that India’s political parties, from BJP to Congress, to all the rest – all need to grow up, get mature, get truly democratic internally, or pay the price of not doing so.

DYNASTY RULE IN CONGRESS

So, first, Congress. Like several senior Congress leaders who see the light only when they exit the party, Ghulam Nabi Azad’s criticisms are correct. Congress is struggling. Dynasty stays unchallenged.

The Gandhis are not accessible, especially Rahul. There are coteries and favourites. There is no inner party democracy, no introspection, no aatma-chintan. New talent, even old talent hits a glass ceiling and stagnates.

Exercises like ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ come and go, there is no real plan for the party to recover and take on the BJP. Down to 40 seats in Lok Sabha, ruling just 2 states, out of power for decades in many states. Yet, no search for fresh leadership.

The upcoming Congress president elections are likely to be another sham. A non-Gandhi president is unlikely to have real power. This is not what we want from India’s main national opposition party. The sad part is, yeh saari baatein kahin ja chuki hain, the illness, the diagnosis, is all known. Yet, no change.

THE PROBLEM WITH BJP

OK, Congress ka discussion ho gaya. Let's come to the BJP. You may well say, yahan dynasty kahan hai? Yes, dynasty nahi hai. Lekin kya Inner Party Democracy hai? We are not so sure.

Some years ago, the BJP was the principal opposition party. Hungry for power. They dug deep for talent. And found it – Shivraj Chauhan in MP, Raman Singh in Chattisgarh, and of course, Narendra Modi in Gujarat.

These dynamic chief ministers were fully empowered by their political mentors in Delhi, and they delivered, election after election.

At the centre too, there was a line-up of talent right after Vajpayee and Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Yashwant Sinha, and others, all of them empowered, all with a stake in BJP’s future. The party was not stuck on dynasty or seniority.

And Modi is the best example and the biggest beneficiary of this. From CM to star campaigner to PM candidate, he leap-frogged over his seniors because that was what the party needed.

Yes, Modi is their most popular leader, with Amit Shah by his side but where is that broad, empowered second rung?

Recently,

• Nitin Gadkari, former BJP president was dropped from the BJP Parliamentary Board. Six years younger than Modi, a clear challenger for the party’s leadership, he is now sidelined.

• Similarly, four-time Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan, another tall leader, 8 years younger than Modi, was also dropped from the Parliamentary board.

• Then, Devendra Fadnavis, former Maharashtra CM who brought the BJP back to power by masterminding Shiv Sena’s spectacular split. Just 52, this rising BJP star was also cut to size and was not made the Maharashtra CM again.

• Friction between Modi and Yogi Adityanath was also reported in the months before the 2022 UP Elections. The RSS had to step in and ease the tension, but an uneasy truce remains between Modi and the popular UP CM.

• In Uttarakhand and Gujarat too, BJP CMs have come and gone, and no local leader has been allowed to grow in stature.

While this may suit Modi, is this also what’s best for the party? Let's use cricket to understand it better.

So, Modi is like Virat Kohli. Delivering win after win. Scoring big himself. Super popular. But imagine, if team India hadn’t built up its second rung of KL Rahul, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, etc, and if Kohli had lost his form as he recently did, India would have been struggling badly.

CRITICS PUSHED TO THE BOUNDARY

Reports suggest that Gadkari was pushed out for being critical of his government a few times, and for speaking his mind.

In Congress too, those critical of the leadership have been targeted and sidelined.

But think about it, what you are shunned for in India it is exactly that quality of having a mind of your own, of being open to debate, that is at the core of democracy in the UK and the US.

We’ve discussed the UK. But look at the US. The Democrats and Republicans select their Presidential candidates – transparently and democratically every 4 years.

INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY IN US AND UK

Issues are debated hotly in public for months, and then party supporters vote for a candidate. A sitting US President cannot assume that he will be the candidate again. Even he has to fight it out in the open democratic akhada. And even then, no US President can serve more than 2 terms. 8 years and bye-bye.

Obama, Clinton, George Bush senior and junior, even Trump. They cannot call the shots once they are out of office, and each of them respects these traditions.

This is real INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY. And why do they believe in this, because, they know that among their millions of citizens, there are amazing individuals with the ideas and the talent to run the country. And genuine INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY is the only way such talent will rise to the top. They know that Dynasty and One-Man Shows are NOT true democracies.

DYNASTY RULE AND ONE-PERSON SHOW IN INDIA

But, Yeh Jo India Hai Na, here we are stuck between Dynasty and One-Man (and one-woman) Shows. Before we end, let's take a quick look at India’s other parties where the story is no better –

• DMK – Dynasty,

• NCP – Dynasty,

• Samajwadi Party – Dynasty,

• National Conference – Dynasty,

• TRS – Dynasty,

• Shiv Sena – Dynasty,

• RJD – Dynasty,

• Akalis – Dynasty,

• JDS – Dynasty,

• BSP – One-Woman Show,

• Trinamool – One Woman Show,

• BJD – One-Man Show,

• JDU – One-Man Show,

• AAP – One-Man Show

You get the point, right?

Yeh Jo India Hai Na, here, our netas must embrace INNER PARTY DEMOCRACY. Fresh political talent must keep coming to the top, politics must be about real issues and not about personalities trying to stay in power at all costs. Until this happens, our lives will not improve either.

Jitna peeche hamare neta chalenge, utna peeche desh chalega, aur utna hi peeche aap aur hum bhi hamesha rahenge.