THE statement by Vice President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar is truly surprising that today’s political climate in India is not favourable to democracy. Such a lop-sided statement was not at all expected from a man of his eminence. It is most unfortunate that the honourable Vice President was tempted to make a superficial observation. The reference in Mr. Dhankhar’s statement is obviously to some political elements that have been taking sort of an anti-India stand every now and then and level senseless allegations against the Government and its top functionaries just because they are on the other side of the divide. Even if we grant that there are quite many such elements of suspect ethical standards, it is not possible to accept that today’s political climate is not favourable to democracy.

 

For, is it not the national experience that democracy is quite wonderfully operational in India despite all the negativism and thoughtless Opposition to the national cause ? Is it also not the fact that the country has always had a democratically-elected Government at all levels, no matter the occasional aberrations ?Is it also not the fact that the current Narendra Modi Government has come to power for three consecutive terms despite all the Opposition -- thus pointing the reality of how firmly democracy stands established in India ? We raise these question not just for Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar but also for everybody else in the country.

 

We agree that much negativism prevails in the country’s politics and some segments are inspired by an anti-India ideology that seeks to question everything the Government does. Despite that, democracy has continued to thrive in the country. Despite that, India still harbours the world’s largest electoral eco-system that elects Government every five years with countless millions casting their vote. When the world looks at this Indian reality, its jaws drop and eyes widen in sheer amazement about the scale of India’s electoral exercise and its unshakable faith in the democratic process. Even though the common people in India are quite tired of the senseless tirades against the Government by the Opposition, the country’s thinkers and political scholars take that process as a multilateral discourse so essential to democracy -- which, according to some thinkers, is market-place of free-flowing criss-cross ideas vying for public attention and acceptance. Can such a socio-political atmosphere be described as unfavourable to democracy ?

 

Much to the contrary, when criss-cross ideas mill around and compete for popular attention, it is democracy that allows the right opinion to win in the end. No matter the flaws of the system that are visible in India, it must be stated steadfastly that democracy is very properly rooted in the country and has been delivering the goods for the past seven-plus decades. It is quite possible that Mr. Jagdeep Dhankhar had something else in mind to respond to, and got misreported in the media. If that is the case, he should clarify his stand by bringing to fore the correct version of what he wished to say at a public function at Jaipur in Rajasthan. He was reportedly responding to a statement by former Rajasthan Chief Minister Mr. Ashok Gehlot that he -- the Vice President -- was working under pressure. True, Mr. Dhankhar refuted that allegation, but then went much further to blame the political atmosphere when he possibly wanted to blame only Mr. Gehlot or his Congress party -- which was not expected. Nobody should harbour a doubt about the quality of India’s democracy which has been proved to be a throbbing, thriving system that has yielded great results for the country all along. No matter the flaws in the political atmosphere, it has not killed the spirit and structure of democracy in India.