The debate about the nature of India’s current regime has been raging for some time now. On the one hand, there is an argument that the personalisation of authority and the corrosion of institutions, combined with an exclusivist social and cultural agenda, have made India a nominal electoral democracy. On the other hand, supporters of the regime tend to rely on the popularity of the Prime Minister and the electoral victories emerging out of bitter campaigns and high turnouts as proof of its democratic credentials — not just meeting the minimal standards of democracy but making India’s democracy a vibrant affair.
In this backdrop, the arrest of a popular chief minister presents credible direction on where the regime is headed. Without going into the merits of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) claim, the timing and the audacity of arresting Kejriwal signify two things: That the BJP government doesn’t worry about the possible fallout of this arrest and that it doesn’t care about so-called democratic credentials.
After a decade in politics and despite the Kejriwal phenomenon getting somewhat stale, Kejriwal remains popular in the National Capital Territory and retains at least a limited image recognition. To arrest a sitting chief minister with these credentials requires serious inquiry into what it means. Kejriwal is not the only chief minister (though he is the first sitting CM) or Opposition leader to be arrested — Hemant Soren of Jharkhand is in jail — and it is not confined to CMs alone. More recently, K Kavitha of BRS has also been arrested. In other words, the BJP has sent out a message that it is not afraid of consequences.
The BJP will adopt two strategies in the coming weeks: First, it will raise the pitch about some other issue so that the obliging media will shift its focus and the arrests will lose political significance. In fact, the inability to obtain bail may automatically sidetrack the issue. In the case of Soren, the judiciary has conveniently set aside its oft-repeated dictum of “bail-not-jail” and this has enormously helped in the matter getting sidetracked. The BJP is likely to also make appropriate noises about its anti-corruption crusade in order to convince the public that actions such as these are part of its drive to cleanse politics. But above all, the BJP government keeps arresting Opposition leaders because of its rather bloated confidence that nothing it does is likely to have any adverse consequences for it.
Only time will tell us if this is misplaced or if the BJP has indeed been able to vitiate public discourse to the extent that the people draw a vicarious satisfaction from brazen actions against opponents of the government. For now, it seems that the BJP will portray everything it does as part of its efforts at national reconstruction and, therefore, questions of procedure are irrelevant. Democracy no longer means norms but results — contributing to an imaginary national selfhood.
The arrest of Kejriwal needs to be seen as part of a larger process of consigning democracy to the dustbin of sham formality. Without going to the extent of driving out Opposition parties from the electoral fray, the Opposition is being denied fair play. We are witnessing many apparently unconnected developments that together present a dangerous pattern: With two chief ministers being arrested, all Opposition chief ministers and ex-chief ministers are on notice. They can be put behind bars the moment they become a threat that the ruling party cannot neutralise through ordinary political manipulations. The hanging sword of ED will apply to any other political leader who may be perceived as recalcitrant by the ruling party. This has nothing to do with electoral prospects — there is an element of vendetta and deep-rooted disdain for anyone to whom the regime takes a dislike.
With arrests, raids and freezing of bank accounts, it is futile to ask how there can be a so-called level playing field. Then there are less punitive but equally hate-filled constitutional immoralities being indulged in by governors in various states. These intrigues make it impossible for governments run by Opposition parties to function effectively and take on the ruling party at the Centre. Only the silent and the obedient like the BJD have a chance to survive.
To go back to the debate we mentioned at the beginning: How does one describe the current regime? How does one make sense of the contemporary moment?
Some time ago, scholars complained that India is becoming an “electoral-only” democracy. Subsequently, the regime was named an electoral autocracy. However, the resource asymmetry and misuse of official machinery on the eve of elections has cast a dark shadow on these rather circumspect descriptions. It begs the question whether taming the Opposition qualifies the current regime as democratic. Countries that go to elections with a consistent record of suppressing opposition and dissent hardly qualify as democracies.
But the conscience of our constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission of India or the courts is not stirred by this mockery of democracy. The conscience of our media and opinion makers is hardly troubled by sustained erosion of rule of law and fair play. As India goes to polls, a popular — albeit controversial — chief minister is arrested and now the discussion will be about his persona and politics, about legal formalities and about — ironically for Kejriwal — “clean politics”.
Above all, this development brings forth a deeper transformation in the way the public is made to understand the meaning of democracy. A regime that has systematically dismantled the edifice of democracy is busy shaping a new public sensibility about what democracy means. In this new understanding, a visionary leader can get away with anything and all opposition is characterised as seditious. Getting elected is proof of democracy, irrespective of the gory details that constitute the underbelly of an election victory.
With all his faults and limitations, Kejriwal (like Soren, KCR, Kavitha and others) carved out a politics of his own opposed to the regime and is paying for that. Even in normal times, the arrest of a chief minister should become a matter of debate about democracy — about the relationship between the government and the Opposition, between the Centre and the states and about the autonomy of investigating agencies. When that happens on the eve of elections, it is a clear signal that the regime is outgrowing the Constitution and principles of democracy.
With its manifest intolerance and a determined policy of Opposition-mukt elections, the questions about the nature and nomenclature of India’s current regime hardly need any discussion.
The writer, based in Pune, taught political science
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In this new understanding, a leader can get away with anything & all opposition is characterised as seditious
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25.03.2024
The debate about the nature of India’s current regime has been raging for some time now. On the one hand, there is an argument that the personalisation of authority and the corrosion of institutions, combined with an exclusivist social and cultural agenda, have made India a nominal electoral democracy. On the other hand, supporters of the regime tend to rely on the popularity of the Prime Minister and the electoral victories emerging out of bitter campaigns and high turnouts as proof of its democratic credentials — not just meeting the minimal standards of democracy but making India’s democracy a vibrant affair.
In this backdrop, the arrest of a popular chief minister presents credible direction on where the regime is headed. Without going into the merits of the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) claim, the timing and the audacity of arresting Kejriwal signify two things: That the BJP government doesn’t worry about the possible fallout of this arrest and that it doesn’t care about so-called democratic credentials.
After a decade in politics and despite the Kejriwal phenomenon getting somewhat stale, Kejriwal remains popular in the National Capital Territory and retains at least a limited image recognition. To arrest a sitting chief minister with these credentials requires serious inquiry into what it means. Kejriwal is not the only chief minister (though he is the first sitting CM) or Opposition leader to be arrested — Hemant Soren of Jharkhand is in jail — and it is not confined to CMs alone. More recently, K Kavitha of BRS has also been arrested. In other words, the BJP has sent out a message that it is not afraid of consequences.
The BJP will adopt two strategies in the coming weeks: First, it will raise the pitch about some other issue so that the obliging media will shift its focus and the arrests........
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