Poll: Common man wants accountable leaders

Even after 60 years of democracy, there seems to be a general apathy towards politics and politicians. The political fraternity is seen as corrupt and indifferent towards the people who they are supposed to represent. The year 2009 will see our democracy tested like never before, with the upcoming General Elections.

The seventh wave of the State of the Nation Survey conducted by the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in partnership with CNN-IBN seeks to gauge public opinion on issues related to politics and democracy.

Though a political career is clearly low on peoples' aspirations, there is a bag of mixed expectations from the neta. On the one hand the politician is expected to be a Mr Clean, but at the same time be smart enough to get peoples' work done in the corridors of power.

The apathy towards netas is extended to the state institutions they run directly or indirectly. They are deemed as corrupt and inefficient and the there seems to be a general feeling of distrust among people when it comes to governmental institutions.

On the panel to debate the findings of the survey were Congress leader Salman Khurshid; Director Science and Environment Sunita Narain; eminent theatre director Aamir Raza Hussain; senior journalist Swapan Dasgupta; and historian Ram Guha.

Is The Common Man Alienated From Politics?

Salman Khurshid said that such hatred and contempt for politicians means there is a big problem in India. He said that for some strange reason, the politicians were the bulls that needed to be slaughtered in the country and that this kind of sentiment was terrible for a democracy.

"We may be bad people and some of us may not be living up to the standards of our people but I think it is terrible to have this kind of sentiment in the country," he stated.

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Guha said that he agreed with Khurshid when the latter said that it was dangerous to hate leaders so in a democracy. "I think a democracy needs mutual trust between leaders and citizens. Leaders are freely elected. However, at the same time, there must be room for some instrospection among politicians. I think there is a great deal of arrogance among the politicians. The only time they vote peacefully in Parliament are when they are voting for higher salaries and more security for themselves. I think the arrogance, insolence, corruption and apathy which characterises sections of our political class must end," he stated.

Sunita Narain said that while she agreed with Ram Guha's analysis, it was also important to note that Indians were frustrated because they needed things to be done. "We want drinking water, we want functioning roads, we want public transport systems in our cities, we want good health care, we want cheap education, we want jobs - in shor we want the basics. We are personalising this frustration to politicians."

However, she added that it was folly to compare politicians to successful people in other fields. "We must ask them why is the system not functioning," she stated.

Aamir Raza Hussain joined the debate at this point saying, "When you have corruption, blatant disregard for rules, caste politics, goonda raj - how do you like them then," he asked.

Swapan Dasgupta stated that he thought the real problem was that there was no consensus in India as to what an ideal politician should be like. "Do we want politicians who can argue cases in Parliament, who are the pride of a certain caste and thus purely symbolic - I think there is no consensus as to what is the role and function of a politician in India. As a result you get a multiplicity of voices - there are some politicians who are idolised and deified. Mayawati is seen as an icon by some as well as rotten by others. This is called the chaos of a democracy and is healthy. This ambivalence is a sign of the vibrancy of 0ur republic."

Sunita Narain said that it was the system which was rotten and there was nothing to be gained from vilifying politicians.

Hussain interrupted her at this point saying that he did not agree with her at all. "We need a basic courtesy from them in the shape of honesty and integrity. They have to be true to the people they represent and not divide the country on the basis of caste, they have to develop an atmosphere where there is economic growth - these are just the basics which they are failing to give us."

Khurshid candidly stated that it was the people who decided which politician should be successful and which not - indirectly blaming the voters.

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Dasgupta said that there were politicians and then there were politicians and that it was not possible to lump them all under one heading. "At the end of the day, every politician is accountable after five years. If India does not like them, you have the right to reject them. To my mind, that is the inherent inbuilt cleansing process that exists in our society."

Do We Have Faith In Democracy?

Ram Guha said he thought it was important to have a democracy in India. "Democracy is not simply voting every five years. I think that having someone from a lower caste as a politician is certainly an upliftment for them. But what happens between one election and the other? That's when the delivery of promises happens. The fact is that we are getting captivated by dynasties and families ruling parties so if there is no democracy within parties, then there will be no democracy on a regular basis in between elections."

When asked, the audience said that they would love for India to become a Singapore-like country but that they were not willing to give up their democracy for that.

Sunita Narain summed up the audiences' feeling saying, "We don't like what is happening, we definitely deserve better, but we don't want an easy option which is to have one person to fix things. I think that's a very mature response."

"We want this very system to be responsive to our needs - we don't want a different system, a dictatorship or anything," Hussain stated emphatically. Dasgupta agreed saying that the need of the hour was a structured, decisive leadership with honesty and integrity.

Salman Khurshid said that there was an inherent problem in India. "We have recreated the feudal system and the caste system. We wanted to empower people who were disadvantaged, but now it has become about vested interests. We vote for the caste, religion, language, region and that is what is disturbing us. When Nelson Mandela was asked whether he wanted a black or a white country, he said that they would not be like India and that the idea was to live together."

Dasguta interrupted at this point saying that it was not as if India's founding fathers had made a gigantic mistake while choosing a system for the country. He said that the representation in Parliament now was much better than it was earlier.

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Dasgupta was in turn cut by Hussain who said that representation or not, the idea was to have the rule of the competent, not the rule of the complete imbecile.

Do We Have Trust Our Public Institutions?

How Easy Is It To Get Work Done In A Government Office?

Sunita Narain said that this is exactly where the problem was and this is where we needed to focus. "We are broken as a nation. We want basics, but we are not getting them. The politician is maybe totally helpless in getting these to us. Why don't we have any governance and administrative reforms in this country?"

Ram Guha said the problem was that every party when in power put its favourite police officers in positions of authority. "I think we must insulate the bureaucracy, civil services, judiciary and other parts of the administrative system from unwanted political interference. Elections without delivering is psephology not a democracy."

Dasgupta said that over the past many years, we had created a bloated state, a state which was getting into areas which it had no business getting into - getting into hotels, incompetent telephone services etc. "So targeted governance is the need of the hour," he said.

"The point is," said Sunita Narain, "is that we have learnt to cope without the system. We have not bothered to repair the system. We have to focus our anger and frustration on repairing the system."

Are Educated Indians Ready To Join Public Life?

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Sunita Narain stated that politics was much more than about politicians. "It is about changing things in our daily lives and being part of a change and insisting on it." Swapan Dasgupta added saying the reform of political parties was equally important at this point.

Is There A Systemic Problem in India?

The political system that we are living in is not allowing us to produce leaders. Salman Khurshid said that many of the audience thought it took money to come into politics and they were right, but that it was not the kind of money that they were talking about.

"We need good people and we need to support them and throw out the people who are not accountable, not good enough. It's your country, your politics, your leaders and your life. Please take hold of it," he said.

The election of Shiela Dikshit, Shivraj Chouhan, Nitish Kumar and Raman Singh in the Assembly elections that have just gone by give some hope as they are leaders who are seen as working, who are not flamboyant but deliver on key issues.

Guha said that these people were fine, low-key politicians and that gave him hope. "What else gives me hope is that there are people like Sunita Narain fighting for a cause and that there are young people who I meet who want to join politics and fight for the country. So the situation is not entirely despairing."

Sunita Narain added her two bits here saying that she was amazed at the maturity and clarity of the audience. She also said that the more she travelled in rural areas, the more education she saw these days. "I see young, educated sarpanchs who are talking about issues like water, electricity because they know if they don't, beyond a point they will be voted out. We have to become like these people."

We need to get over identity politics. Sixty years after we became a Republic, it is time that the people of India became catalysts and change agents.