Time to give Indians power to dethrone leaders?

Karnataka-BJP crisis, rebel MLAs, state governments' failure - continual instances call for change in Indian democracy. Is it time to give voters the complete power and introduce the provision for recall referendums?



The political drama that unfolded over the past week in Karnataka is a perfect example of legislators gone wild. In a fall-out of a cabinet re-shuffle, as many as 20 MLAs threatening to withdraw support to the BS Yeddyurappa government.

With this, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the southern state, famous for scandals and scams, yet again plunged into a state of chaos.

The rebels took off to camp in Goa where BJP tried to woo them with parleys while the party's political rival, Janata Dal (Secular) tried to capitalize on the issue and buy their votes.

The JD(S) hoped that it could dethrone the BJP government and come into power by stitching up an alliance with the Congress before the floor test.

However, an altering twist came when the Assembly Speaker K G Bopaiah disqualified 16 dissident MLAs paving way for BJP to retain power. On Monday, Oct the BJP government won the trust vote with support from 106 members.

The latest crisis of the Karnataka broke out even when the memory of the previous crisis was still fresh in people's minds. The BSY government was brought to its knees in Nov 2009 also by the Reddy brothers, who were determined to oust the Chief Minister.

The 2009 crisis came in a time when the state had been battered by rains and floods leaving several villages devastated. The Reddy rebellion and Yeddy's fight made people wonder why the government could not even come together even in the time of need.

BSY, back then, was forced to shed tears on television seeking apology of the people for the whole ordeal.

On the similar lines, the power struggle in Jharkhand also put the state under president's rule for a period of three months. At a time when drought, Maoist-menance among other issues were plaguing the state, parties such as Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to come together to stitch up an alliance to form the government.

These instances speak volumes on the state of democracy in India. The representative democracy has been reduced into business of votes and political strategy, instead of being a system where the voters are truly represented by a set of elected representatives.

There comes a time, when every country is forced to rethink and review its systems and practices with respect to the current situations.

The elected representatives' shameless behaviour besides the barter of votes and betrayal of trust bestowed on them by the voters while in power is, no doubt, one such instance that tells that it is time for a change.

Is this the time to give Indians powers to dethrone representatives and leaders as well?

In direct democracy, a provision called recall referendum allows the electorate to decide on recall of an elected official. Referendums are used in countries such as Australia, United States, Canada, Iraq, United Kingdom and more for various purposes.

If recall referendum is introduced in India, the decision whether a representative or a leader would lie in the votes of the people. This means that there will be no place for mudslinging, and political games. Additionally, the voters will not be constantly vexed by the fact that they are helpless after they have cast their vote during the polls.

A recall referendum is filed once a group or party collect enough signatures to reflect that a large portion of the voters want the same. The number of the signatures needed is prescribed in the constitutions of the countries already practicing this. Following this, an election process just as any other is formulated. Based on the people's mandate, the person or the authority will retain the post or leave.

Last Monday, Oct 5, a recall referendum was filed against Nagoya assembly following the clashes between Kawamura, a former Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, and the assembly. A civic group supporting Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura filed a petition with more than 460,000 signatures, showing that the people wanted the assembly to start over.

The biggest of the recall referendums of the recent times was filed in Aug 2004 in Venezuela to assess if Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela, should be recalled from office. The referendum came after the opposition succeeded in collecting the number of signatures required.

Change is never easy, but is vital for the all-round progress of the nation. A demand for provision like this would definitely hit roadblocks especially from the political sphere. But the important questions is - Is India ready for the change and are Indians ready to fight for that change?

An afterthought:
The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart.
                                                                                                       - Mohandas Gandhi

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