As the general elections of 2014
move closer to the largest democracy of the world, India; the debates,
discussions and deliberations on how should be the leader of this country is
gaining momentum. Going by the constitution of India, the leader of the largest
party (coalition) becomes the Prime Minister of the nation. Once the elections
are held and the results are declared, the elected representatives of the
largest/coalition decide on their Prime Ministerial candidate. Unlike the US,
where President is elected by voters, India has no system of direct election of
the Prime Minister. Keeping the context of the rule books, and knowing that at
the end of the day party high commands has a veto power, is it appropriate to
debate publicly on the Prime Ministerial candidate? Should parties reveal their
Prime Ministerial candidates before the elections? What kind of Prime Minster
will the country like to be see?
Some of the questions that affect
a normal observer would be difficult to answer. Public who know the political
history of this nation know that many dark horses have emerged as Prime
Ministers even at the surprise at the top level leaderships of their own parties.
H D Devegowda, IK Gujaral, MM Singh are recent examples of Prime Ministers who
emerged out of the post-election, post-results political context. Does this
mean there is no need to discuss on Prime Ministerial candidate before the
election results are out? Well, the answer will vary from political party to
political party.
At present, the leadership of Indian
National Congress means Sonia and Rahul Gandhi. Gandhi family, in fact, has
been acting as the most string fulcrum and many would say the single fulcrum of
the party. Most of the voters of the party would accept any leader supported by
the Gandhis as their Prime Minister. The party won’t bother much after its
experiment in 2004 where MS Singh emerged from nowhere; still the party managed
garner support of its voters to strengthen its position in 2009. MS Singh, both
the times, preferred to get elected to the upper house of the parliament, thus
avoiding a direct election by the mass. Even for 2014, it seems Congress seems
to have decided to fight the elections under the Gandhis without declaring a PM
candidate.
In the contrary, the largest
opposition the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fought last few elections under
the leadership of a declared Prime Ministerial candidate- Atal Behari Vajpayee
in 1996, 1999 and 2004 followed by Lal Krishna Advani in 2009. However, 2014
appears as a distinct challenge for the party as one among the second
generation leaders has to be projected as a Prime Minister. Names of Narendra
Modi, Sushma Swaraj and Rajnath Singh are in the air. Though the party feels
Narendra Modi is a clear front runner in the race of popular choice, his acceptability
among the minorities and coalition partner has refrained it from declaring his
name.
Prime Minister being head of the
Government has a vital role to play in the national affairs. Thus, the voters
of India have every time to deliberate on the person they want to see leading
them, drafting national policies. The political debate on the Prime Ministerial
candidate can’t be put under the carpet with the flimsy reason of constitutional
provisions. However, the debate on the candidate must on lose focus on the key
issues and personality traits that the nation would like to see.
Faith in the Constitution
Faith in the constitution of
India means the leader must abide by the basic tenets of the constitution.
Almost all political candidates would pass in these parameters.
Vision
As the leader of the nation, the
Prime Ministerial candidate needs to have a vision for the country. A vision
for which he has the zeal to work and the people have faith in the vision.
Extremely broad level terms like social inclusion, elimination of poverty etc. would
not suffice to be part of the vision without a time-bound definitive roadmap
for them.
Decision Making
In a political environment
characterised by confusion, drastic change in socioeconomic conditions,
transformation of policies; the leader has to decide on the basis of the best
information available. He has to empower the right kind of people and stand by
them. Lack of decision making could lead to policy paralysis affecting the
country very hard.
Communication Skills
Unless a leader communicates,
there is no point in following. People will have questions, doubts and
complains. It is the responsibility of the leader to come forward and address
the concerns people have. These are the opportunities to connect with the people,
and a good Prime Minister will have to answerable to the people
Integrity
From a Prime Ministerial
candidate personal and professional integrity is beyond keeping oneself out of
unethical, immoral and corrupt practice. It is the responsibility of the Prime
Minister to ensure that the government as a whole is pro-people and free from
corrupt practices.
Though a large section of the
intellectuals will put lots of importance to flexibility, secular credentials, administrative
experience and tons of other factors; No doubt, the country will not like to
see lack of straight forwardness in the name of flexibility in matters of
national importance. Whoever has seen, read or heard about Sikh riots of early
19802, Mumbai riots of early 1990s, Godhra riots of early 2000s, Assam riots in
early 2010s understands that secular credentials in India is a misnomer in this
country. Administrative experience though could provide an edge, is not that
important for a leader whose primary job would be not only to manage and administer
but to lead.
Hope as the time of election
approaches to this subcontinent, debates on leadership shifts from filthy and
less important issues to matters that would shape the future of this
underdeveloped (a few prefer to call it developing or emerging) nation.
