Political innovation in India can stop future revolution

Guest essay by Ram Konduri.

The Indian political framework built after independence is losing its relevance to govern a complex and diverse country. Six and a half decades of democratic exercise have generated more hypocrites than true leaders.

Voters have become consumers for political parties, to be lured and deceived with various schemes before and after every election. Impatience, philosophical attitude, and hope are driving voters to move from one situation to the other for a better nation.

Present: The electoral results of 2014 proved the mindset of voters and their hope in a credible leader to deliver. Mr. Narendra Modi was given the mandate to lead the nation. The change was triggered by voters realizing their lives will not change, no matter which party is in power. The educated middle class and lower sections of society had a new ray of hope in AAP, but those hopes were busted in a very short time.

All political parties have diminished to anarchism. These anarchists have ruined the institution to a great extent. Competent leaders cannot grow in an anarchist-controlled atmosphere. The situation is the same in all parties.

Politicians are scrambling over issues like fake certificates and forgetting major issues: population, poverty, malnutrition, resource management, air pollution, education, law and order, health care, corruption, and social harmony. Most representatives do not understand the issues, and expecting them to address them is a foolish dream. Do these people deserve salaries plus benefits from the taxpayer?

India's last hope is PM Narendra Modi. This Herculean task — to clean up the filth and offer a better future for India — is extremely challenging. But these major problems are in the process of turning into monsters and could lead to a revolution. Do politicians understand how to cooperate?

Problem: Multi-party democracy adopted by the Indian constitution allows a party with the highest number of elected representatives — with a majority or with external support — to form a government. But how the majority can be formulated is not well defined. The majority can be of any combination, defying people's voice, with elected representatives or party men switching sides based on personal interest.

This is the biggest joke on the democratic process. This flexible process has given regional groups the opportunity to form political parties. These groups garner votes based on religion, caste, and muscle power.

Solution: This is my idea. India should move from a multi-party to a "no party democracy." Representatives will be of two categories: (1) Representatives (Ministry) — qualified to head a ministry or institution; (2) Representatives (General) — to address people's issues. Under Supreme Court and High Court observation, there will be two phases of screening, both for central and state governments. The standards and screening process will be decided by experts to qualify a representative to contest. All representatives must go through Phase I.

Phase II is for ministry eligibility; the screening process is more rigorous, related to a ministry, subject matter, and administration. Phase III screening will be for the post of PM/CM: 5 representatives will be qualified to contest for this role. For each constituency, 5 representatives will be qualified to contest. Based on the screening results and public debates, people will vote to elect the PM/CM plus constituency representatives. The elected PM/CM has the authority to select and fire his or her cabinet members from the elected representatives. It is very important to limit the period for which a representative may occupy a constitutional post.

Advantages: This solution will eliminate anarchism, political fights, communal violence, incompetent leaders, horse-trading, misdeeds of representatives on governments, wastage of parliament time and resources, compromising of institutions, political crimes, corruption, and political slavery. I dream about India's bright future. Nothing more.

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