HVK Archives: Gowda's poll plans
Gowda's poll plans - The Indian Express
Editorial
()
4 September 1996
Title : Gowda's poll plans
Avoiding Lok Sabha will be politically harmful
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Indian Express
Date : September 4, 1996
The Prime Minister is doing his reputation no good by
allowing the impression to gain ground that he may choose
the Rajya Sabha route instead of contesting a Lok Sabha
seat to become an MP. There is no legal bar, of course,
to a Prime Minister belonging to the Upper House, but it
will be a major departure from convention considering
that all heads of government at the Centre have
represented the Lok Sabha-apart from Indira Gandhi in the
brief period between 1966 and 1967. And as Jawaharlal
Nehru said about the convention of the President not
standing for more than two terms, it is as necessary in
democracy for conventions to evolve and to be followed as
written rules. From this standpoint, H. D. Deve Gowda
will be setting an unhealthy precedent if he avoids
standing for the Lok Sabha within the stipulated six-
month period and opts to be elected to the Rajya Sabha.
Any such step would in fact denote a kind of political
defeat for him which his opponents within and outside the
ruling alliance will not hesitate to exploit.
What makes the proposed election to the Rajya Sabha all
the more unacceptable is that it is quite unnecessary for
Deve Gowda to take such a precaution. As in virtually
all countries, new Prime Ministers usually pass through a
honeymoon period with the electorate. In Deve Gowda's
case, although neither his party nor his government is a
model of unity, there is no indication yet that the
public is totally disillusioned with him. No one may
expect the United Front to last its full term in office,
but neither is its fall imminent. It can be safely
predicted, therefore, that Deve Gowda will have little
difficulty in winning the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat promised
to him by the Orissa Janata Dal or even from Nandyal
vacated by P. V. Narasimha Rao, despite the Almatti
controversy. Just as the Indian voter can be merciless
in his rejection, as scores of politicians including
Jayalalitha have discovered,'he is also broad-minded
enough to allow a Prime Minister a grace period.
If astrologers have indeed advised the Prime Minister
against standing for the Lok Sabha, they have read the
stellar signs wrong. Any "bad phase" that they have
detected probably indicates the Government's functioning
and perhaps even the condition of the political class as
a whole, whose reputation is currently not of the highest
given all the scams and scandals. But so far as the
Prime Minister's transition from being a member of the
Karnataka Legislative Assembly to Parliament is
concerned, it is actually any hint of playing safe which
may usher in the less the propitious phase. Given the
circumstances in which he assumed office and
notwithstanding his choice of individuals for offering
condolences, Deve Gowda has not fared too badly as Prime
Minister so far. What has evidently stood him in good
stead is his innate shrewdness and a certain openness
which does not seem forced. He should allow these
qualities to guide him to the obvious next step.
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