Election Results – Goldilocks’ Choice

The elections are over and Mr. Singh has anointed his council of ministers. The council can claim of many capable hands and the process of selection was more on merit than on horse-trading. This was possible only because one single thing; the majority that Congress got which was neither too big nor too small. ‘Just right’, as Goldilocks would murmur.

If the majority for Congress was a sweeping majority like the one Rajiv Gandhi got the hubris of many within and the complete inability of the opposition would have been too risky.

If the majority was like the last time or less, a government would have been possible only by pandering to the extremely limiting demands of many small groups and progress would have let even a snail to feel superior.

These thoughts came to my mind immediately after the results were declared. Before I called this ‘Just Right’ I decided to wait till the process of ministry formation was complete and the credibility of the process has given me the confidence to think aloud.

This election has also thrown up many surprises. The urban intellectuals had concluded that we are going to have a hung parliament. They have been so taken aback at this surprise and I could hear the conspiracy theorists asserting that the electronic voting machines were rigged.

But then, weren’t we all surprised in the last election too. Many were almost sure that the ‘India Shining’ would bring back the incumbent BJP.

Even Indira Gandhi’s coterie thought so about the election during the emergency time.

Then the other pet theory is the theory of anti-incumbency wave. Yes we have seen that in many elections. Kerala witnesses this at every alternate election.

Many of such theories seem to be oversimplification and results from the compulsion to look smart with one-line summaries.

But our electorate (in spite of the abdication of the educated middle class) seems to come with more rational choices again and again.

It showed this power when it defeated the Congress all around the country at the time of emergency. At the same time the outstanding performance of the C Achutamenon ministry in Kerala before and during the emergency ensured a total win for this coalition when the Congress was taking a hit in rest of the country.

Sheila Dixit in Delhi has been able to repeatedly overcome the so called anti-incumbency wave.

The popularity enjoyed by Nitish Kumar in Bihar and Patnaik in Orissa and Modi in Gujarat is on account of only one reason. They seem to be faring better than most when it comes to their performance in governance.

If we look at a little deep, the current election results, was supported by not just the better performance of Dr. Singh, but also by the performance issues of many state governments. Kerala, West Bengal, UP etc are some live examples.

All this goes to show that if any government demonstrates that it can perform and perform for the benefit of many and not just few, the democratic process that brings about the wisdom of the crowds will facilitate a better outcome. That is also my reason for the continuous optimism in spite of the filth, the muck, the corruption that we mostly see around.

Dr Singh has also taken a position that his focus will be on performance and results.
It is here that I repeat my call to my fellow educated middle class brethren who are happy to retire to an armchair with glass of single malt, xxx or even a lassi to give free advices to get in and participate. No need to stand for election. Even if you have not voted it doesn’t matter. You can play an active role in the process of opinion building, whistle blowing or supporting those who take active role and a lot more. Even Face book and LinkedIn are good enough tools.

Grounds for optimism

On Election Day I had written in my blog how I am feeling optimistic about the increased participation of the common man in political process; particularly the educated middle class who had gradually moved away from taking any interest in this. Later when we saw the polling percentage even this year to be not any better, many of my friends came back and questioned me on the grounds of my optimism.

So what did I see?

Did I believe that seeing the King Khans and the Queens, the third page celebrities, showing their black dotted (middle) finger the common man has decided to emulate them in mass?
Did I believe that suddenly the political parties have decided to change the profile of its candidates to have less of goons and more of leaders?

Did I believe that the educated middle class suddenly decided to be less selfish and make a difference in exercising their electoral choice?

I am too old to believe in fairy tales.

Then what do I believe? What is the ground for my optimism?

I notice that the there appears to be little more active interest among the alienated segment of the society in politics and governance.

There are a few more people, who otherwise kept away, willing to jump into the fray.

The better communication tools of emails, sms and blogs are making the process of dialogue a little more easy and a lot less time consuming.

This is enabling some more of public participation.

As Amartya Sen noted “Balloting can be seen only one of the ways- albeit a very important way – to make public discussions effective, when the opportunity to vote is combined with the opportunity to speak and listen, without fear. The reach – and effectiveness – of voting depend critically on the opportunity for open public discussion.”

My grounds for optimism is based on the increasing level of meaningful public debate and participation and how the technology plays a role in improving this process and in bringing in more transparency and more efficiency.

I am hopeful this will answer the prayer of Tagore “ Into that heaven of freedom , my father, let me country awake”

This is also an appeal to my fellows who are still remaining to be just onlookers to join and strengthen the voice of reason. Unless we are willing to participate in giving our views more voice, unless we demand and not resign to fate, unless we build up systems that bring better transparency we have no right to complain.

As Mahatma Gandhi said “We must become the change we want to seen in this world”

Feeling Optimistic on Election Day

India is a democracy. Every adult whether rich or poor, educated or not, has equal right to vote. This was a revolutionary departure from the earlier system of voting rights that was prevalent in many democracies; system in which right to vote was only for the privileged class ie; the educated or taxpaying or whites or men. In fact India’s adoption of universal adult suffrage soon after independence with a illiteracy level of 85% was, as Ramachandra Guha noted, an act of faith which many people around the world believed was an act of madness.

Even today almost 30% of our population live below poverty line and are illiterate. The economic backwardness and lack of education and exposure to the world around often make this segment easily swayable with jingoism, case loyalties and fake promises. (I don’t suggest that the wealth always leads to education and this to matured thinking. But there is definitely decent correlation between education and matured thinking)

This has become a vicious cycle. It gives perverse incentives to the political leaders to keep the poor where they are and to continue with divisive strategies fanning internal insecurities, religious fanaticism and limiting parochialism.

The Samajawady Party’s election manifesto promising to discourage use of computers and English is a typical example. I really don’t think those leaders are against either computers or English. They are just trying to be smart in appealing to a mass of people whom they think will be swayed by this.

When politics became a numbers game that can be manipulated by caste, money, muscle and populism a large segment of middle class started moving away from active participation.
Many were disgusted with the lopsided priorities. Many were upset with the choice of leaders who are there for the wrong reasons. Some floating population was too lazy or too pained to get their name included in the voters list. Many were just selfish and happy to keep their agenda family focused with limited social focus.

They felt alienated with very limited opportunities for their voices to be heard. They were too busy with their private life. They gradually moved away. A large part of this segment stopped even casting their vote. This added to the cycle of social degeneration.

But in this election I see a welcome shift. We see quite a lot of involvement from the crowd that often kept away. Some like Meera Sanayal and Shashi Tharoor are standing for election. Many more are being active participants. People like Nandan Nilekany today keep apart a significant time for the betterment of society.

The technology is playing a big role. The SMS, Blogs, face book and a wide variety of easy tools for communication for sharing of ideas and quick dissemination of differing views are helping to bring, to the ring, those who normally keep away. Their voices are being heard. In their busy schedule they are able to play a more active role with limited commitment of time.

I certainly believe that this is a trend and a welcome trend. These new tools and this better visibility will make a difference and play a larger role in political process.

There is still much that can be achieved to improve the quality of governance using technology and better processes. And these are strengths we as a country have in decent quantity. We have seen what better technology and processes can do in cleansing the system and enhancing participation.

What NSE and NSDL achieved in capital market, to make Indian capital market infrastructure from being the worst in the world to one of the best in the world, is this.

What CBDT managed with TIN and other initiatives in technology upgrade and business process re-engineering, which helped direct tax collection to overtake indirect tax, is this.

What railways manage in rail reservation is this. There are many more examples of such success stories.

There are still scope for many more such areas. Starting from strengthening the voter registration process (it is a lot better than what it used to be) to bringing transparency in government spending and corresponding outcome can and will bring about efficiency and reduce corruption.

We can hope the new government that come will see this as a priority area.

Call of Duty – Different Tunes

I wrote an article in my blog titled ‘Call of duty. It discussed the need and relevance of political participation of more mature, educated and young people with values. After reading this post, I got a variety of responses. I felt that couple of these comments and my thoughts on these are worth sharing. And hence this.

“I have no time in my busy schedule”

Availability of time depends on what priority you ascribe to an activity in relation to all the other demands on you time.

If you think it is your responsibility to make a difference to your country, try to assign a small amount of time. One hour in a day? In a week? In a month??

You can write a meaningful article, a blog, tell a friend, forward a few emails and most importantly cast your vote. All these can make a difference

Can we be a bit less selfish when we give our time? Today we give our time only where we have to highest ROI to self/ family. But not willing to make our contribution which individually make little difference but can collectively make all the difference.

“I am not talented, capable or skilled to stand for an election and win.”

Participating in politics does not essentially mean standing for election.

Just like you participate in clubs like rotary/ lions or participate in religious activity you can participate in political process too.

You can act as a research supporter for your elected representatives or help in a variety of ways in the campaign of a person you support. At the minimum forward a few SMS endorsing your support.

You can act as a whistle blower and help publish the wrongdoing of the government or an officer.
You don’t have to be a part of a political party. But you can be a part of the political process.
May be you can put together a group that influences the local party decision of whom they are fielding.

May be you can put your money and power individually or collectively to get a good candidate elected. With the way the votes are split these days, the number needed to win may not be so big.

At the least by ensuring that each of your friends cast his/ her vote.