Traversty of democracy - The Pioneer

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The crisis that has engulfed the BJP government in
Gujarat has once again underlined how much politics has
become a game of rough and tumble. Faced with a
concerted move by expelled dissident leader Shankarsinh
Vaghela to destablise his government, the state Chief
Minister Suresh Mehta had swiftly called for a trial of
strength on the floor of the legislative assembly in a
bid to quell the rebellion amongst party legislators.
What he had not anticipated was the partisan role played
by the Deputy Speaker Chandubhai Dabhi who belongs to the
Congress party. Mr Dabhi taking advantage of the
Speaker's hospitalisation because of a serious brain
ailment has used his delegated powers to help the
dissidents turn the tables on the Mehta government. On
Tuesday morning, hours before the Gujarat assembly could
meet for the trial of strength, the Deputy Speaker in a
dramatic move accepted the dissident claim of having 46
legislators and recognised them as a separate group
although the Speaker had earlier rejected a similar
claim, He then went on to adjourn the House sine die
before the Chief Minister could prove his strength. With
the Mehta ministry thus reduced to a minority in the
assembly, the ball is now in the court of the state
Governor Krishanpal Singh whose conduct would be under
public spotlight considering that he was an appointee of
the previous Congress government.

If indeed the Mehta government is dismissed without
giving the Chief Minister an opportunity to prove his
strength on the floor of the House, it would be a blatant
violation of democratic norms. There are already
unfortunate precedents in the past of the Speaker as well
as the Governor departing from the strict impartiality
which their prestigious posts require and behaving in a
partisan manner. The basic precepts. of democracy demand
that the majority of an elected government be judged
solely on the basis of the number of elected
representatives extending it support. Any departure from
this practice would militate against both the letter and
spirit of the Constitution. However, the BJP is hardly
in a position to seize the moral high ground on this
issue considering that the party not so long ago
enthusiastically participated in a similar deception to
deny the then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh
Yadav a chance to prove his Majority on the floor of the
House.

Indeed, the seeming ease with which Constitutional norms
are being sacrificed for petty political gains nowadays
raise disturbing questions on the future of democracy in
this country. The fiasco in the Gujarat assembly on
Tuesday as it was convened and adjourned again and again
and rival legislators played tug of was with the
Speaker's chair is symptomatic of a malaise that could
ultimately negate the entire democratic process.
Regardless of who wins the no-holds-barred political
tussle in Gujarat, the system itself could end up being
the biggest loser.

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