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India's Political Take-Off: Rajni Kothari
India's Political Take-Off: Rajni Kothari
historical
and
institutional conditions.
Two
In the first place, the highly organised independence movement ensured that the Government to whom
power was transferred could count on a fairly long period of uninterrupted rule.
In the second place, however, it had to and to all appearances it wanted to function under a
political system in which success in elections was essential for political survival,
The first factor the stability of the Government led to an excessive
issues and a disregard by all parties of the practical problems of organisation.
missionary and romanticist fervour to build up an independent, strong and modern
the ideal of a 'continuous revolution, born during the movement for independence.
of what may be termed 'romantic polities'.
The second condition - the need to work within the framework of a democratic constitution led,
on the other hand, to a gradual change in the political climate to shifts in power and to a struggle for political ascendancy, which gained momentum with every election. The near-monopoly of power of the Congress
party, meant that this struggle for power was waged, for the most part, within the ruling party the
other parties exercising at best, a marginal influence on the changing fortunes of factions within the Congress.
The net result of this complex of interactions was a gradual widening of the gulf between the politics
of ideology
conducted at the higher ranks of the party; and the Politics of action conducted in the
'field'.
For a time' the 'bickerings' within the party were concealed behind the ideological smokescreen.
Hut now on the eve of the third General Elections, the struggle promises to come out into the open.
An attempt has been made here to indicate the emerging
possible direction it might take in the coming crucial decade.
THE tasks of n a t i o n - b u i l d i n g that
faced
I n d i a on
Independence
ere indeed f o r m i d a b l e . T h e maner in w h i c h the national leadership
approached the problems of consolidation and of preserving the u n i t y
the nation evoked a d m i r a l ion
from all quarters. T h e next task was
consider the aims and purposes
the new State was to pursue and the
i n s t i t u t i o n a l set-up required f o r full l i n g them.
T h i s task was also
performed in a t h o r o u g h
manner,
the a d o p t i o n of a federal-democratic
political structure and the setting up
If the P l a n n i n g
Commission were
consonance w i t h the purposes set
i n the C o n s t i t u t i o n , They p r o vided a workable f o r m a l apparatus
with w h i c h the social, economic
and p o l i t i c a l changes necessary for
driving out a m o d e r n State f r o m a
a d i t i o n a l society could be worked
at. A l l that was needed was orgatsation and d r i v e to give content to
t h e constitutional forms b y b u i l d '
up an institutional continuum
that w o u l d lay the basis of a free
pattern
of
political
development
and
the
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II
State of the Ruling P a r t y
This phase of development needs
closer examination. The p e r i o d was
marked by the quasi-monopolistic
position of the Congress. The trad i t i o n a l attitudes to political author i t y and the l i n g e r i n g p u b l i c image
of the Congress created d u r i n g the
freedom movement
buttressed its
position
further.
Secondly,
the
needs of centralised
p l a n n i n g and
ideology of a welfare State enabled
the r u l i n g p a r t y to control all avenues of power, not
s i m p l y in the
p o l i t i c a l sphere but in society as a
whole.
Its net of patronage was
cast far and wide. T h i r d l y , the
near-unanimity among most t h i n k i n g men, at home and abroad, on
the type of programme on w h i c h an
under-developed
country
should
launch made the r u l i n g p a r t y appear
to be the most i m p o r t a n t vehicle of
progress.
Such a situation bad two i m p o r t ant consequences.
As noted above,
lack of a real threat to the Congress
party's power led to concentration
on the goals to w h i c h the country
should move;
detached f r o m the
grim
considerations of power, the
orientation of politics became ideological. B u t since the ideology was
based less on a study of the society
in w h i c h it was to be practised and
more on i n t u i t i o n and abstract reasoning, and often u n c r i t i c a l i m i t a t i o n , politics became more and more
r o m a n t i c ; the missionary zeal of
the nationalist leadership gave w a y
to wishful t h i n k i n g .
Ill
Emerging P a t t e r n of P a r t y
Politics
The character of this struggle
needs investigation. To describe it
merely in terms of a r u r a l - u r b a n
cleavage w o u l d be an over-simplification. T h e cleavage is not simp l y one of o r i g i n or orientation 2 .
2
v o l u n t a r y agencies w i l l become no
less attractive t h a n legislative and
even governmental positions to a
p o l i t i c i a n . A l r e a d y d u r i n g the last
five years, Congressmen have beg u n to realise t h a t real power is
i n the
party
organisation and
other institutions, not in the legislature. T h i s feeling is l i k e l y to
spread.
A Parallel Bureaucracy ?
This has two i m p o r t a n t implicationsW h a t is commonly understood as transfer of power f r o m
higher to the lower levels is really
a transfer of power f r o m officials
to non-officials. It is taking away
power f r o m the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and
h a n d i n g it over to the p o l i t i c i a n .
T h i s can have serious consequences.
There w i l l rise "a parallel bureaucracy, one that is based on a different system of recruitment, really
on a Spoils system'. The r i v a l r y
between the two
can
undermine
both the efficiency and the morale
of the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . Second, there
is the question of
co-ordination.
F r o m what is k n o w n , not enough
thought has been given to how the
functions handed over to the panchayat hierarchy and the functions
retained by the bureaucracy are to
be coordinated f o r the efficient execution of policies. Here the danger
is of fragmentation of governmental
power.
rendering
administration
disjointed and inefficient and confusing the citizen by m a k i n g h i m
submit to so many authorities. The
upshot w i l l be a drastic change i n
the relationship between administ r a t i o n and politics.
The other i m p l i c a t i o n is equally
ominous. The spoils available at a l l
these levels can solve the problem
of
dissensions in the
Congress;
those who are not given the ticket
can be given charge of other organs
of
power'
Spheres of influence
can be carved out. p o l i t i c a l skills
specialised and the party's
sway
over society widened. Some such
adjustments are evident at the moment w i t h i n the Congress. If they
increase sufficiently in scope, we
w i l l have a m o n o l i t h i c p a r t y , comm a n d i n g all vantage positions of
social and economic power, in effect
becoming a State
w i t h i n a State
and the end of progress towards a
democratic p a r t y system.
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THE
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