Indian Political System - 2

ARE WE A SUCCESSFUL DEMOCRACY ? ?

First Past The Post System

Candidate A: 30% Candidate B: 30% Candidate C: 40%

(Rejected by 60%)
FPTP used in - Elections to Lok Sabha - Elections to Legislative Assemblies of states

56.97% Voter turn-out (2009 General Elections) Is it ELECTION or REJECTION ? ?

Representative Government!!!
MINISTER MINISTRY As % of Actual Votes Polled 43.13 39.90 59.67 52.15 As % of Total Eligible Voters 30.61 27.17 32.95 24.31

P. Chidambaram Veerappa Moily Kapil Sibal Sushilkumar Shinde

Finance Petroleum & Natural Gas Communication & IT Home Affairs

Manmohan Singh PRIME MINISTER A.K.Antony Ghulam Nabi Azad Anand Sharma Defence Health & Family Welfare Textiles

NA
NA NA NA

NA
NA NA NA

Should voting be made compulsory ? ?

Itz a Family Affair !!

Family members in 2009 Elections Sonia Gandhi Rahul Gandhi Sharad Pawar Supriya Sule

Sisir Adhikary Subendhu Adhikari

Ajit Singh Jayant Choudhary Farooq Abdullah Sachin Pilot

M K Azhagiri Dayanidhi Maran

Mulayam Singh Yadav Akhilesh Yadav

ADMINISTRATION: A hereditary skill ??

Youth in Parliament (2009 General Elections)

76 yr old Manmohan VS 81 yr old Advani Total no. of MPs below 40 yrs: 81 50 of the 81 come from political families 9 (from the remaining 31) are from student politics 22 out of the 25 young MPs from Congress have relatives in politics Every young Minister in UPA is a dynast

A common man entering politics:

POSSIBLE ? ?

Women in Parliament
15th Lok Sabha (of 2009) has the highest number of women MPs ever
Country
Sweden UK US France India % of Women Parliamentarians (Figs of 2009)
47 19.3 16.3 13.9 10.9

Time for Women-Reservation Parliament??

in

Criminalization of Politics
15th Lok Sabha Elections (2009) Total Members: 552
TYPE OF CHARGES
Criminal charges Charges of murder Attempt to murder Cheating (Sec 420) Abduction charges TOTAL

No. of MPs facing

162 14 20 11 13 About 200

One MP represents 1.8 million people

 Criteria for disqualification are listed out in Section 8 (sub-sections 1, 2 and 3) Section 8(4):

FLAWED: Representation of People Act, 1951

Notwithstanding anything [in sub-section (1), subsection (2) or sub-section (3)] a disqualification under either sub-section shall not, in the case of a person who on the date of the conviction is a member of Parliament or the Legislature of a State, take effect until three months have elapsed from that date or, if within that period an appeal or application for revision is brought in respect of the conviction or the sentence, until that appeal or application is disposed of by the court.

Section 8(4) of RP Act, 1951

If you are an elected representative, you can continue in the House even if you have been convicted. How? Just appeal to a higher court and get a stay on the sentence or the conviction Common Man: Disqualified to contest elections if convicted!! BIASED ALL THROUGH !!

UNParliamentary Behavior
Attendance of members MPLADS (Local Area Development Scheme) Behavior in the House Horse-trading (Defection) Parliamentary privileges Cash for Query

Recent Hike in Salaries of MPs 300% increase in salary

(Rs 16000 to Rs 50000) (Rs 20000 to Rs 40000)

100% increase in Constituency Expenses Advance for purchase of vehicle hiked

(Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh)

Pension (Rs 8000 to Rs 40000) Addnl Cost for Govt: Rs 103.76 cr per year

Probably the only group in India which

No. of Political Parties in India (2009 General Elections)

7 - National Parties 34 - State Parties 322 - Registered (Unrecognized Parties) TOTAL: 363 + Independents
How about a single-party system like China? US or UK ??

Age of Coalitions

Coalitions in India: The Beginning

4 failed Coalitions
Party in Power BJP (Vajpayee) May, 1996 United Front June, 1996 (HD Deve Gowda) United Front April, 1997 (I K Gujral) NDA March, 1998 (Vajpayee) Duration and Fall 13 days; Lack of numbers 10 months (Congress withdrawal) 11 months (Congress withdrawal) 13 months (AIADMK withdrawal)

Coalition politics is about getting the arithmetic right

Coalitions: Towards Stablization ? NDA & UPA-I completed full 5-yr terms
only)

UPA-II entering 5th year

Members of UPA (Congress : 204/304 seats

(271 seats NCP (national)

DMK (Tamilnadu)

required for majority !!) Rashtriya Lok Dal (UP)

Sikkim Democratic Front All India United Democratic Front (Assam) Samajwadi Party (UP) RJD (Bihar) BSP (national)

Indian Union Muslim League (Kerala) J&K National Conference Kerala Congress VCK (Tamilnadu)

India has only 6 national parties:

ADVANTAGE:

Regional Parties

Electoral Reforms
Abolish FPTP (Include a 2nd Round) State funding of elections ?? Candidates participating from multiple constituencies Declarations in election affidavits Increase security-deposits (Now Rs. 10,000) Exit polls and Opinion polls Accounting by political parties

Anti-Defection Law
10th Schedule (1985) Introduced by Rajiv Gandhi government Grounds for Disqualification - Voluntarily gives up his party membership - Violates party Whip Defection of 2/3rd is treated as MERGER

Bureaucracy and Corruption

Asian countries bureaucracy ratings
COUNTRY India Indonesia RATING 9.21 8.37

China South Korea Japan Hongkong Singapore

7.11 5.87 5.77 3.53 2.25

Higher the rating, worse is the performance !!

Reasons for high levels of Corruption

Value system Minister (NOT the bureaucrat) is accountable to Parliament Means become ends Salaries not on par with peers in Corporates Corrupt political masters (Vote-banks) Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely

Checks on Bureaucratic Corruption

Evaluation after 15 years Result Framework Document Citizens Charter Documentation of advice to Ministers File Notings included under RTI Appointing authority is President ARE THESE ENOUGH ? ?

Judiciary - Problems
3.5 Crore cases pending in Indian courts Unaffordable for the poor Lengthy proceedings Lack of efficient judicial personnel Outdated CrPC and CPC Corruption in judiciary Technical nature of cases

Judiciary - Reforms
Fast Track Courts Regional Benches of SC/HCs Tribunals for specific matters No. of judges to be raised Rural courts for cheap & speedy justice Indian Judicial Service to be created Age old CrPC and IPC to be revised Appointment of SC judges Declaration by judges Alternative modes of conflict resolution

Procedure for formation of new states

Article 3 of the Constitution Procedure: - Prior approval of President - Referring to state Legislative Assembly - Bill introduced in Parliament - Simple majority (in both Houses) - Political Will and Parliament Bill. Thats it!! STATES HAVE NO SAY AT ALL !!

ARE SMALLER STATES BETTER ?

Small States vs Larger States

Factors IN FAVOR OF smaller states
Economic backwardness of sub-regions Better governance (Administrative convenience) Better channeling of funds Similarity in developmental needs of sub-regions Better democratic participation Better use of resources Responsive to local needs

Small States vs Larger States

Factors AGAINST smaller states Threat to national unity and integrity

Bigger states ensure cohesion and stability (!!!)

Lesser access to human resources Natural resources

Easy prey for multinational companies

Politically less preferred in the age of coalitions

How have smaller states performed?

REGION UP Uttarakhand UP + Uttarakhand MP Chattisgarh MP + Chattisgarh Bihar Jharkhand Bihar + Jharkhand 1994 to 2001 3.9 % 3.1 % 3.8 % 5.1 % 1.6 % 4.1 % 4.8 % 4.6 % 4.8 % 2001 to 2009 5.8 % 9.0 % 6.1 % 4.7 % 7.9 % 5.6 % 8.5 % 8.7 % 8.6 %

Does SIZE really matter?

It is less about SIZE and more about GOVERNANCE

Centres control over States

Grants in Aid (Finance Commission) Appointment of Governor National Development Council National Budget President Rule Bills reserved for President Centres directives to states

Politics diluting Monetary Policy

RBI Formulates Monetary Policy Objective: - Regulate money-supply in the economy - To keep inflation under control How can POLITICS affect MONETARY POLICY?

Economy in Action
Governme nt disburses cash via schemes and subsidies
Aggregate Demand Increased spending Increased capital investmen t

Increased salaries More employme nt

Increased productio n

Government disrupts the cycle !!!

Section 66A of IT Act

Any person who sends by means of a computer resource or a communication device any information that is grossly offensive or has menacing character; or any information which he knows to be false, but for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience, danger, obstruction, insult, injury, criminal intimidation, enmity, hatred, or ill-will, persistently makes by making use of such computer resource or a communication device, any electronic mail or electronic mail message for the purpose of causing annoyance or inconvenience or to deceive or to mislead the addressee or recipient about the origin of such messages shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and

Sec 66A vs Fundamental Rights Introduced in 2009

Offence under Section 66A is cognisable, nonbailable, and the police have power to arrest without a warrant

Imprisonment (up to three years) is an automatic result because the courts do NOT have the power of choosing imprisonment or fine
Article 19(1)(a): guarantees freedom of speech & expression to all citizens Article 19(2): state can impose reasonable restrictions on this right in the interest of public order a hidden tool to restrict free speech in a democratic country