Year-end lists conventionally are a compilation of high achievers who made a major impact. But 2023 is better reflected not by winners, but the losers who defined the year. Three institutions come to mind, whose below-par performance has wider implications for the country.
Parliament
This year, we got a new parliament building. Its architecture was designed more to segregate our MPs from the people they represent. Far more disturbing than the structure itself, however, was what went on inside the building. It suggests that those at the helm today have a different concept of what a parliamentary democracy ought to be. The founding fathers believed that while the government must eventually have its way, the Opposition must be first allowed its say. This winter session, an unprecedented 146 MPs were suspended. As Parliament turned into an echo chamber, 17 Bills were passed at lightning speed, including far-reaching amendments to Colonial-era civil and criminal codes.
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The BJP measures parliamentary performance in terms of the speed with which Bills are passed without disruption and proudly measures its achievements by announcing productivity levels such as 87%, 95% and even 135%. It ignores that an equally important function of Parliament is as a forum for discussion, debate and attempts at consensus building between the ruling party and the Opposition. That is the difference between a parliamentary democracy and an elected autocracy.
The Home Minister’s refusal to speak on the security breach in Parliament, even though the House was in session, demonstrated a refusal to accept the principle of accountability. The BJP’s complaint, that the Opposition’s indiscipline does not not augur well for parliamentary democracy, pales in comparison to the polarised and partisan manner in which Parliament is often conducted in recent times.
Opposition
A major reason for the ruling party’s seeming invincibility is the failure of the Opposition to forge an inspiring alternative. In particular, the inability to project a charismatic face that can counter Narendra Modi’s extraordinary mass appeal. The INDIA alliance, formed in July, was buoyed by the enthusiastic response to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Congress victory in Telangana. By the end of the year, the optimism evaporated after the BJP’s sweeping victories in all three Hindi heartland states and the inability of the INDIA bloc to get its act together. There was no visible consensus on seat-sharing or projecting a common prime ministerial candidate either. Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal’s mischievous suggestion of Mallikarjun Kharge as INDIA’s prime ministerial candidate was instantaneously shot down by his own party, which believes that only Gandhi is entitled to that post. The BJP would be only too happy to have Gandhi as Modi’s direct challenger. At best a part-time politician, Gandhi’s woolly-headed idealism and elite upbringing are no match for a driven and street-smart Modi, who has climbed up the greasy pole of realpolitik.
The Opposition lacks the hunger for power, determination and commitment of its main rival. The BJP’s election machine is a 24/7 juggernaut. This was demonstrated in the recent Madhya Pradesh polls. A few months back, all poll surveys indicated the BJP was on the back foot due to incumbency. Amit Shah left no stone unturned to turn the tables, even as a laid-back Kamal Nath assumed that he was a shoo-in for CM. The BJP’s formidable army campaigned relentlessly, publicising Modi’s beneficiary schemes. A Modi guarantee, they assured voters, was as good as a bank promissory note.
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Media
Another institution that lost its sheen further this year was the mainstream media. Constricted budgets, conditioned advertising by state and Central government bodies and legal impediments took a toll on unbiased journalism in newspapers, digital media and TV channels. Indira Gandhi had silenced the media during the Emergency with one swift draconian declaration of censorship. Today’s fetters are more insidious. For instance, access of newspersons has been drastically curtailed to Parliament, government offices, press briefings and even official trips. For the younger generation, a new category of “influencer” scribes has emerged to challenge the role and sway of conventional journalism. Some influencers have been remarkably successful in attracting followers in mind-boggling numbers through easy-to-relate imagery and slick presentations. Much of the old media, meanwhile, thankfully not The Indian Express, is failing to reinvent itself.
Year-end lists conventionally are a compilation of high achievers who made a major impact. But 2023 is better reflected not by winners, but the losers who defined the year. Three institutions come to mind, whose below-par performance has wider implications for the country.
Parliament
This year, we got a new parliament building. Its architecture was designed more to segregate our MPs from the people they represent. Far more disturbing than the structure itself, however, was what went on inside the building. It suggests that those at the helm today have a different concept of what a parliamentary democracy ought to be. The founding fathers believed that while the government must eventually have its way, the Opposition must be first allowed its say. This winter session, an unprecedented 146 MPs were suspended. As Parliament turned into an echo chamber, 17 Bills were passed at lightning speed, including far-reaching amendments to Colonial-era civil and criminal codes.
The BJP measures parliamentary performance in terms of the speed with which Bills are passed without disruption and proudly measures its achievements by announcing productivity levels such as 87%, 95% and even 135%. It ignores that an equally important function of Parliament is as a forum for discussion, debate and attempts at consensus building between the ruling party and the Opposition. That is the difference between a parliamentary democracy and an elected autocracy.
The Home Minister’s refusal to speak on the security breach in Parliament, even though the House was in session, demonstrated a refusal to accept the principle of accountability. The BJP’s complaint, that the Opposition’s indiscipline does not not augur well for parliamentary democracy, pales in comparison to the polarised and partisan manner in which Parliament is often conducted in recent times.
Opposition
A major reason for the ruling party’s seeming invincibility is the failure of the Opposition to forge an inspiring alternative. In particular, the inability to project a charismatic face that can counter Narendra Modi’s extraordinary mass appeal. The INDIA alliance, formed in July, was buoyed by the enthusiastic response to Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and Congress victory in Telangana. By the end of the year, the optimism evaporated after the BJP’s sweeping victories in all three Hindi heartland states and the inability of the INDIA bloc to get its act together. There was no visible consensus on seat-sharing or projecting a common prime ministerial candidate either. Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal’s mischievous suggestion of Mallikarjun Kharge as INDIA’s prime ministerial candidate was instantaneously shot down by his own party, which believes that only Gandhi is entitled to that post. The BJP would be only too happy to have Gandhi as Modi’s direct challenger. At best a part-time politician, Gandhi’s woolly-headed idealism and elite upbringing are no match for a driven and street-smart Modi, who has climbed up the greasy pole of realpolitik.
The Opposition lacks the hunger for power, determination and commitment of its main rival. The BJP’s election machine is a 24/7 juggernaut. This was demonstrated in the recent Madhya Pradesh polls. A few months back, all poll surveys indicated the BJP was on the back foot due to incumbency. Amit Shah left no stone unturned to turn the tables, even as a laid-back Kamal Nath assumed that he was a shoo-in for CM. The BJP’s formidable army campaigned relentlessly, publicising Modi’s beneficiary schemes. A Modi guarantee, they assured voters, was as good as a bank promissory note.
Media
Another institution that lost its sheen further this year was the mainstream media. Constricted budgets, conditioned advertising by state and Central government bodies and legal impediments took a toll on unbiased journalism in newspapers, digital media and TV channels. Indira Gandhi had silenced the media during the Emergency with one swift draconian declaration of censorship. Today’s fetters are more insidious. For instance, access of newspersons has been drastically curtailed to Parliament, government offices, press briefings and even official trips. For the younger generation, a new category of “influencer” scribes has emerged to challenge the role and sway of conventional journalism. Some influencers have been remarkably successful in attracting followers in mind-boggling numbers through easy-to-relate imagery and slick presentations. Much of the old media, meanwhile, thankfully not The Indian Express, is failing to reinvent itself.
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