Indian election system needs reforms. The present system is adequate when a party gets decisive mandate. But it is found wanting when there a situation arises with no clear verdict by the electorate. The anti-defection law has largely been able to prevent the individual elected representatives from crossing the floors at will. But is has failed to provide any safeguard when a party refuses to honour its promise. Thus in case of a hung house, we often witness a lot of backroom maneuvering which are not good signs for a democracy. It serves personal interests more than the democratic system followed by the country. It is time now to put an end to such practices.
The problem gets further compounded as there lies some ambiguities in our constitution too. Indian constitution has not clearly stated which party will be called to form the government in case of a hung house. It simply states that the President or the Governor should invite a person, whom he believes can provide a stable government. It is also mandatory for that government to prove its majority in the house. So to attain the majority, the parties indulge in twisting the mandate in their favour. The party with maximum number of seats in the house or with maximum share of votes often finds itself out of power as opposing parties enter in to an unholy alliance to keep it at bay.
Indian democracy has witnessed such scenarios many a times. Among the most notable incidents one should mention that former Prime Minister Chowdhury Charan Singh did not face Parliament even for a day as the Congress which promised to support his government from outside decided otherwise on the eve of trust vote. The Atal Bihari Vajpayee led government at the Centre had to resign within 13 days of coming to power as it failed to prove its majority in Lok Sabha in 1996. The fall of Chowdhury Charan Singh government forced the country to hold mid-term poll. A more interesting situation was created when Mr. Vajpayee resigned. The parties which fought elections against each other joined hands to form a government. As expected, the hotchpotch government, where even a party with a single representative in the house became part of the government and the single largest party was forced to sit in the opposition, did not last long. Very recently in Karnataka the parties which fought in the elections against each other came together to form the government to keep the single largest party in opposition. Here also the so called coalition government did not last long.
If two warring parties in the elections come together, the alliance is neither creditable, nor sustainable. It is clear miscarriage of democracy. Many may suggest that in-order to avoid such a situation, fresh election is the only way out. But elections can’t be held every year. Not only will it put unnecessary burden on the state’s exchequer, but it will also hamper development process. One idea which the political parties can indulge is the formation of an all-party government when the mandate is not decisive. In that case, ministries will be allocated to the parties in proportion to their respective strengths in the house. Only by adopting such a measure we can avoid polls before schedule, as well as prevent injuring our democracy. Give it a thought.
