EDITORIAL: Are We - The People - Fools?

THE LIGHT OF ANDAMANS | VOL 35 | ISSUE 16 | 14 OCT 2011


EDITORIAL
Are We - The People - Fools?

The manner in which Congress managed to engineer victory in all local body elections - Zilla Parishads in South Andaman and Madhyottar Andaman - has brought to the fore the need for a potent Anti-Defection Law. Although in both cases, BJP had only synthetic majority, without much fuss, PRIs members changed stables, putting Congress in a very comfortable position.
It seems irrational why elections are fought on party lines, when candidates after winning elections defect without a second thought. Or, the people, who repose faith on this set of politicians and cast their vote for their party irrespective of whoever the candidates are, find themselves cheated and deserted. In fact, if they leave the party, they should have the guts to go back to the electorate and seek fresh mandate. But surprisingly, the electorate too suffers from limited amnesia, forgetting and forgiving every five years.
The Member of Parliament, who won election on a BJP seat is now party-less. Recently, from Campbell Bay to Diglipur, there is a continuous defection of elected PRIs from BJP to Congress and the flow continues unabated. It reminds of the times of Nehchal Singh, who would not give tickets to anyone and ask them to come back victorious to join Congress, a simple ball game.
In fact, in every election, Congress party rebels have been winning elections and they finally land up at the party door once they fight and win elections on their own might.
The sordid state of political parties is to be blamed for this squalor. BJP, which appears to be a paper tiger recently, has been all over the media with four or five press releases daily. In fact, there is a competition inside the party in issuing press statements. When they advised the administration to save face by taking into consideration the demands of a Pradhan before the visit of its leader, Lal Krishna Advani, are they in a just position to explain the status of their party to their leader when he lands here?
Congress need not fight elections anymore. They can run the bodies default with the defectors galore, who join soon after the elections. Why do almost everyone joins Congress? Is there something which is invisible to the naked eye? The defectors might know the reason.
With BJP losing members on a daily basis, what Bishnu Pada Ray once said proves right. Sab Khotam Kar Diya… Party Ko. Is it a sign that Bishnu will be back to lift the party from the predicament it has forced itself into. He still has wellwishers inside the party.