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matter what’s happening. Let me be on the winning side, right? Maybe some
of the example, as the result, is from Bhutan. It illustrated that as well. We
want to be on the winning side, people make compromises, and give up on
fighting for constitution and other democratic rights. And that is a matter of
concern because if everyone says this leader is going to get us elected, so we
will say goodbye to other constitution and democratic proprieties. Then it’s not
going well for the overall democracy.
But the biggest concern I have is with the cost of democracy. This is
something that we’ve not ever come face to face with. Politics is a full time
job. Who are the people, who are going to participate in this process?
The lucky ones are those who earn the salary as member of the parliament, as
I do currently. But it took years and effort to be in the freight before that.
Where are you drawing these people from? Who can afford to play in the
political arena? What does it imply for halting, move, going forward?
So, what’s happened in the Indian politics in recent years is that it has
become extremely costly. It has resulted in a situation where only extremely
rich people are able to take part in the system. You also find that very
powerful, often criminal, tugs are able to break into the system. So, basically,
when we file our nomination papers. One of the… you are asked to file your
name, your education, your assets and liabilities, and a statement on what is
your criminal record, right? And many of my colleagues in parliament, I’m sorry
to say, are guilt… or whatever, are charged with crimes that are not… unlawful
assembly, or something like that, but crimes related to murder, attempted
murder. I mean, this is a kind of situation that we face as democracy.
So, I have been arguing for an element to public funding, for various
ways in which you can level the playing field, allow clean and sort of
committed candidate to go in there and make a difference, otherwise, the way
the system is valuing today is hurting the sainted favoring the tainted.
The basic thing is, going forward, how will we ensure that the electoral
processes, the money that involved will not cut up the entire system. Because,
ultimately, what’s going on today is that to raise the funds, people… every
contract that are kicked backs… from top to bottom, there is corruption. When
there is corruption when nobody sees that something is right and not legitimate,
you lose faith in the entire process. The people of India have voted with hope,
every time, there’s a lot of effort, and I would say that we have been lucky
that one institute or the other comes to rescue of the system and ensures that ²£ ´£²¢¡¸¡¡Á¥°£°ª²£l²h²£°À¨
balance is restored, and the people often vote out those who are not doing
very well for the country’s democracy.
