Annals of Democracy, in India: She Won the Election; How’s She Doing?

By Patricia Lee Sharpe

For some reason or another, India seldom gets credit for doing anything right or even half right.   No other “developing” country seems to suffer from the curse of such high expectations.  Imagine the chorus of negativity if the same standards were applied to China.

India was expected to fall apart shortly after Independence.  That didn’t happen.  Modern India began as a democracy and has remained a democracy, despite a short spell of authoritarianism under Indira Gandhi, who was thrown out, by popular demand, via the ballot box.  For six decades, in fact, India has achieved peaceful transfers of power through elections considered remarkably honest.  Where else, with the exception of North America, Europe, Japan and Israel has any democracy endured more than a few years, and under the same Constitution, at that?

A Newbie Wins

Speaking of peaceful transfers of power, just last fall an upstart party by the name of the Trinamul Congress managed to terminate the three decade-long rule of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in West Bengal.  It was a fiercely contested campaign in which four parties vied for control of  the State Assembly: Trinamul, CPI(M), the Indian National Congress and the Bhartiya Janata Party.  When the votes were counted, the results were accepted by all concerned, and Mamata Banerjee, the founder of the Trinamul, became Chief Minister. 

In this world of greedy entrenched elites, Mamata’s triumph underscores another characteristic of Indian democracy.  Although India has its share of political dynasties, people with no birthright political entitlement may rise to the top, sometimes from the lowest socio-economic echelons, as in the case of Mayawati, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.  What’s more, as these examples prove, there’s room at the top for ambitious women who make it on their own.

The Political Game

At any rate, having chronicled the election of Mamata two months ago, I thought it might be interesting to see what she’s done with her power. 

At times, as she fought for power, Mamata was accused of demagoguery and the kind of populism that is more self-serving than compassionate.  There's continuity here.  When the central government raised the cost of  LPG or liquified petroleum gas recently, Mamata’s Cabinet announced that the state government would reduce the state cess by an amount equal to about 33% of the increase.  Middle class families will be grateful for a less steep increase in the price of an essential commodity.  The gesture certainly won’t hurt Mamata when she next faces the polls, but whether or not the state can afford the loss of revenue is another question altogether.

Maybe it can.  More likely it can’t.  These days Mamata is warning the party faithful that she may not be able to fulfill all her promises because the treasury isn’t exactly overflowing.   Employment programs, for example, need funds that don’t exist.  “The coffers are quite empty,” according to a party source, because “the previous Left Front government” has left “unpaid bills in most government departments.”  This is probably true, but it also would probably have been suspected if not quite known when the election promises were being made.  Mamata is clearly no tyro when it comes to having her cake and eating it politically.  But Indian voters are pretty savvy, too.  Hollow promises aren’t vote getters over the long run.

Making History, Maybe

However, Mamata may have a major accomplishment to crow about when she faces the voters again. For years the idyllic Himalayan foothills comprising the area of Darjeeling—think tea plantations, Kalimpong and Kurseong have been the scene of sometimes violent unrest.  Tourism, a critical industry in these parts, has been negatively affected. Very often there are radical ethnic discontinuities between the people of the plains and the people of the hills, and that is the case here.  On July 18 the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, the West Bengal government and the central government in New Delhi signed a tripartite agreement allowing for the formation of a new autonomous elected hill council, the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, with far more powers than were delegated during previous attempts to placate the restive locals.  The very use of the name Gorkhaland is something of a triumph, but there are some who will continue to agitate for an expansion of the territory’s boundaries, while others will hold out for full statehood or even independence à la Bhutan—and not all Bengalis are happy to see Darjeeling as part of what may evolve into a separate state.  However, if peace comes to the hills, this will be a major accomplishment, and most will learn to live with it.

So this is politics India style, a combination of the pragmatic, the idealistic and plain old pandering.  And, yes, probably some corruption scandals will surface from time to time.  But democracy works in India.  If you think I’ve lost all sense of proportion, look at Pakistan.  Look at the Middle East. Look at China—without the rose-colored glasses.