Volume 5, No. 4, April 2004

For any discerning individual the election is a stunt show — a gigantic farce on the people of the country at huge cost. It is a tragedy that so many people fall into its trap, particularly the so-called progressives.

The farce is all the more in the current round of elections, where each party competes for the glamour of film stars to replace serious policy. Never before has the electoral process been as vulgar, degenerate and cheap as the present campaign. Immediately after the dissolving of the parliament the BJP spent Rs.400 crores in advertising lies of its "achievements" in a blatant infringement of all norms. Rs.400 crores could have fed millions of starving families for months. It is criminal that such huge public funds go to promote a political party. Now, film stars pose with politicians, and sell themselves to the criminal political mafia in return for favours. For them it is like selling another TV brand commodity — whether razor blades, Pepsi or BJP, it makes little difference to these glamour icons of the prevailing gutter culture. This of course, is over-and-above the flow of liquor, saris and crores of rupees for vote-buying that always exists.

All this, no doubt will be recovered with extra taxes after the election; together with the Rs.2,500 crores paid in the last two month to international oil cartels due to the hike in the international price of crude oil. Whichever party wins the price of petrol is set to jump by Rs.5 per litre and diesel by Rs.3 per litre after the election.

Yet, the tragedy is that many still believe this to be a genuine democratic process. In fact it is said to be the biggest democracy in the world. Many theories abound: "with whatever flaws at least there is some democracy"; "should choose the better of two evils"; "must not waste one’s vote"; etc. etc. But, in spite of these "choices" there has been little change in the lives of the people over the past 55 years, whichever party has come to power, whether right, ‘left’ or centre. Yet there is an illusion of democracy for many a progressive.

This is even more surprising when the very Chief Election Commissioner, Lyngdoh, himself stated (just prior to his retirement in an interview with the "Hard Talk" programme of the BBC on Dec.24th) that no politician is committed to democracy, and likened the politician to a "cancer" afflicting the body politic of the country. He went so far as to add that "and we have not been able to find any cure for cancer yet; so in due course if cancer is cured, we will have to find some other expression". In other words, he said there is no hope from these criminal politicians, though there may be some hope of curing cancer. Surprisingly he ended his interview saying that "anyhow in half of Chhattisgarh, Jarkhand, Bihar and parts of AP, the State belonged to somebody else" and that politicians "dare not go there". "Their (politicians) writ runs only in a small part of the territory. The rest belongs to somebody else, whoever it is, whether it is the underground or PWG or whoever — they dare not go there".

Surely the CEC should know better than anyone else the nature of Indian democracy and its politicians? But being part of the very system they, normally are the chief promoters of the farce. But when the CEC himself said this it shows to what depths the rot has reached. Yet, we have many a progressive who continues waxing eloquent about "Indian democracy".

Unfortunately this farce is given legitimacy by the ‘left’ and even a section of the so-called Maoist (like the Liberation Party) forces in the country. And now, as the last refuge of this discredited system, the NGOs have sought to put up candidates with a clean image. They ask that "honest" people be elected — once again in a bid to give credibility criminalised electoral system. Medha Patkar’s floating of the new party, the People’s Political Front, and supporting some NGO candidates, is nothing but the last ditch attempt of the establishment to maintain people’s faith in this rotten system.

Most of the issues promoted by the parties are either mundane or a set of lies. Caste and communal factors play a major role in their scheme of things. This time the main theme of the proponents is "India shining" with an admixture of Hindutva on the one side, and the hackneyed theme of "secularism" on the other. Lets take a look at both.

Neither does the BJP-led NDA stand for a shining of the Indian people nor do the opposition stand for true secularism. For the BJP if a small elite class (and themselves) makes pots of money and wealth, India is shining for all. Their "Vision" goes not beyond their small circle of extreme rich and NRIs. And as for the opposition, they never fight the Hindutva fascists at the ground level, but merely use the ‘secularism’ label as a vote-catcher.

The India Shining or the "feel-good factor" propaganda is nothing but the populist slogans to promote the policies of ‘economic reforms’ — liberalization, privatisation and globalization (LPG). These policies of LPG are supported (and implemented) by all the parliamentary parties, not just the BJP-led NDA. The Congress chief ministers of Karnataka, Mahrashtra and other states are as aggressive implementers of the LPG; so also is the CPM government in West Bengal. The difference, at best, is only in the degree or speed of implementation; not the fundamentals of the policy. Though it is true that the BJP, TDP type parties are the most servile tools of the imperialists, particularly of the US; yet the others are not far behind.

As far as the people go, it is their living standards that should be the key to any policy. In other words the economic policies are the most important as that effects their lives more than anything else. With economic reforms, not only are their lives not "shining" but it has been deteriorating. Massive unemployment, rural impoverishment and huge cuts in welfare/subsidies have devastated the lives of crores of families. The supposed 8% growth rate in the current year will only give crores more to the moneybags and the rich. There will be nothing for the poor, as jobless growth is a feature today all over the world. The high foreign exchange reserves (see other article in this issue) will only give big profits to the foreign/NRI speculators who make windfall profits through stock market manipulations and the high interest rates (compared to international standards). So also the stock-market boom is only the result of the pouring in of hedge funds amounting to billions of dollars, not a sound economy.

Even the good monsoon last year was not even throughout the country. Tamilnadu was hit by a drought last year for the third year in succession. Farmers have lost five paddy crops in a row since 2002. The rural economy is shrinking fast. Debts of small and marginal farmers have been soaring. Chennai itself faces massive water shortage with a deficit of 54% rainfall last year. Also Karnataka is in its third year of drought. Inflows into the Cauvery water reservoirs have reduced drastically. In Maharashtra, the kharif crop failed in 71 tehsils of 11 districts — was the 4th year of drought in these regions. In Kerala, Palakkad district is facing the worst drought in its history. With all the 16,000 ponds in the district gone dry and even Kerala’s biggest dam, Malampuzha, unable to provide water for the second crop, while the Pepsi and Coke plants in the district continue to guzzle up the ground water, pushing the water table lower and lower.

Though droughts are ravaging the countryside, expenditure on water management of the state governments is falling lower and lower, no matter which party is in power. For example in Maharashtra, expenditure on water management fell from 14.7% of the budget in 1995/96 to 5.1% in 2002/03. Overall, in the 29 States, water management expenditure fell from 8.5% in 1995/96 to 5.6% in 2002/03.

So the Congress’s slogan of "Agriculture First" in its manifesto is as much of a hoax as the BJP’s "Vision" statements. In "shining India" the GDP growth rates have actually dwindled under the BJP-led government. Between 1994-97, the annual average growth rate of GDP was 7.5 % but fell to 5.3 % between 1997-98 to 2002-03 and registered a low of around 4 % by 2002-03. The worst effected sector has been agriculture. Between 1997-98 to 2002-03, the average growth rate of agriculture fell to 1 %.

In "Shining India" 750 million do not have basic toilet facilities; 510 million do not have access to essential drugs; 300 million adults are illiterate; 60 million destitutes and widows are without a roof; and India has the largest population in the world that goes to bed without food, that has no clothes to wear and the largest nimber of beggars. The policies of ‘economic reforms’ has so aggravated the situation that for the first time ever, thousands are committing suicide each year — due to indebtedness in the rural areas (as institutional credit has been de facto stopped); and due to unemployment and bankruptcies in the urban areas. The shine and gloss is only in the make-believe TV/Film world and in the consumerism of a select class. The BJP, as all other parties, belongs to this world; the masses do not.

So, regarding the key issue concerning the livelihood of the masses not a single party has a policy different from the ‘economic reforms’ of the present government. And these ‘reforms’ play havoc with the lives of the masses. So what real difference is there between all the parties? Just as one has the right to vote so also one must have the right to boycott the elections and propagate the politics of boycott. But the call of boycott creates panic in the rulers, and out comes the GUN — "VOTE OR ELSE".

The BJP is no doubt aggressive about its Hindutva fascist agenda. Advani’s Rath Yatra, from March 10th is to cover 7,871 km and 121 parliamentary constituencies spread across 12 States. Though he talked "development" all the symbolism was of Ram, Ayodhya and Hindutva of so-called "resurgent nationalism". This Rath Yatra was intrinsically linked to the earlier two — the Ram Rath Yatra of 1990 and the Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra in 1997.

In fact in the changed strategy of the BJP, as Hindutva does not get large number of votes any longer, it keeps that as the continuing background theme while focusing hypocritically on people’s issues. As part of its "resurgent nationalism" theme it attacks the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, while at the same time licking the boots of all foreign capitalists. With Vajpayee’s popular rating said to be 47% (Advani’s is a mere 2% for prime ministership) it also focuses on the leadership issue, though there is a continuous power-struggle for the top post.

Besides, this time the RSS is closely involved in the BJP election strategy. Also it is well known that the Sangh Parivar continues on its Hindutva orgnisational work utilising the vast resources now available to it through its control over the central government and firm backing of US imperialism and top NRIs. Saffronisation of education, promotion of unknown Hindu festivals (as Rakshabandhan and Ganapati in the South and the hijacking of the 10-day Mahamaham festival in TamilNadu); co-option of dalits and more particularly tribals on a huge scale; and the aggressive promotion and arming of the neo-fascist bodies like the Bajrang Dal — are all an ongoing process for the Sangh mafia. Regular anti-Muslim (and to a lesser extent anti-Christian) pogroms and actions helps to maintain its tempo of hate.

In other words, imperialist-backed aggressive Hindutva fascism is the essence of BJP rule (whether alone or with allies), and so becomes the main enemy of the people and of the democratic forces of the country. So special attention would have to be paid to target the BJP and its allies, whether during the elections or after it.

But having said that what about the so-called secular forces. There is a tendency amongst progressives that seeks to vote for the opposition in the name of defeating the Hindu fascist forces, as was sought in the Gujarat elections after the horrifying pogroms. This is wishful thinking of some progressives who expect fascists to be defeated through the electoral process. But the fascist’s main focus is outside the electoral framework as seen in Sangh parivar work mentioned above. The fallacy of these progressives arises from the fact of not seeing the essence of the forces behind the Hindutva fascists and their class character, nor the farcical nature of the electoral process in semi-feudal semi-colonial countries like India.

Hindutva fascism is a necessary outcome of the vicious attack on people’s living standards due to the policies of LPG. It has got sanction from powerful imperialist forces, particularly in the post 9/11 atmosphere of anti-Islamic hysteria with the US’s "war against terrorism" and Zionism’s aggressive attacks on Palestinians. It is also backed by a sizable section of India’s big business houses, the bulk of who, for example, turned a blind eye to the most brutal pogroms of the Modi government in Gujarat, backed by the Centre.

So Hindutva fascism is a systemic need of the Indian ruling-classes and a section of the imperialists that dictate to them. It will not so easily go from the Indian scene. It can only be beaten back by a vigorous movement of the masses not by electoral semantics. Besides the folly of the argument for voting ‘secular’ against the Hindutva is enhanced by the fact that the Congress is far from secular and has, at best adopted a soft Hindutva policy, at worst it has openly supported Hindutva elements at the grass root level. This was blatantly seen in the Gujarat elections, where they were routed. It is also seen by the pro-Hindutva approach of the very Chief Ministers of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Kerala, etc. and the erstwhile Chief Ministers of MP, Chattisgarh and other places. The CPM too adopts an anti-Muslim bias in States it runs as in West Bengal and never comes out in open action against the fascists — they replace action for rhetoric; and a policy of appeasement in place of confrontation (not to mention the close liaison between the West Bengal CM and Advani).

It is in fact this total lack of support to the Muslims from any quarter that is then forcing them into the arms of the fundamentalists. Not able to get support from any, they quite naturally seek recourse from those in their own community that hit back. One cannot expect any real fight against the Hindutva fascists relying on such weak elements as the Congress, CPI/CPM, etc. and their vote machines. In fact policies of appeasement and soft Hindutva only go to whet the appetite of the Hindu fascists as it gives them much sought after legitimacy.

India being a semi-feudal country it is not even a bourgeois democracy like that which exists in capitalist countries of the world. Here the vote-machine has been merely superimposed on a highly autocratic structure — which is becoming more and more autocratic with each passing day. The passage of POTA, the ban on the right to strike, the numerous preventive detention laws, the proposed introduction of the Malimath Committee recommendations (designed for revamping the criminal justice system), etc. are reducing even the limited rights that exist. In addition it is a prison house of nations where the oppressed nationalities of Kashmir and the North East live under direct army occupation. In this scenario to talk of democracy is even more laughable.

Besides, in this semi-feudal system there is no democracy in ordinary life itself — the family is patriarchal, with women being discriminated against; the lower castes and dalits have no rights whatsoever due to domination of the higher castes and heinous practices like untouchability; in villages, autocratic feudal authority is exerted by upper-caste landed elements; the bureaucracy is highly autocratic and unaccountable to anyone; the police are a sort of mafia of their own, harassing and humiliating the ordinary citizen; the main political parties of the country are dominated by one individual or a coterie who dictate terms to all and sundry in their fold — where total servility is demanded as the price for political rewards; and even the trade unions are dominated by a small coterie of political leaders, whose word is law. In addition today, the right to strike, association and free speech is virtually non-existent, except under severe police watch and according to the rules they lay down. Added to all this, political dissent is now de facto banned (unless it is within their bounds) and a gigantic intelligence network has made even ordinary travelling and renting houses a nightmare. The planned introduction of voter-identity cards for all adult citizens is yet another attempt to keep tabs on every citizen of the country.

Under such conditions of a fascist-like reality in our daily life what does the mere vote, once every five years mean? That too a vote machine dominated by money-power, caste-alignments, booth capturing and film star gimmickry.

And as the farce of this system is getting more and more exposed, with corruption and opportunism at its peak and politicians openly crossing the floor in flocks and smashing each others heads when not given a seat — numerous attempts are being made to give it some legitimacy. Persistent propaganda on the radio and TV to cast your "precious vote", gimmicks of the Election Commission of ‘stringent action’ to give a show of authenticity, massive election coverage in the newspapers and TV and their talk-shows to create the ‘right’ atmosphere, and last but not least public statements by cricketers, film stars and other icons of the masses to come out and exercise your franchise — are the attempts of the rulers and their hangers on to somehow build people’s interest in the elections. Yet, the common refrain is "sab chor hai"; only there is no alternative visible to them.

In addition to all these attempts, legitimacy is now being given by the so-called Maoists standing for elections and the bid by NGOs to enter the electoral process — in real terms, both merely act to serve the ruling-classes by showing that the electoral arena is not just the last refuge of scoundrels but also a platform for ‘decent’ and even ‘revolutionary’ individuals.

So, the Liberation party will contest 65 Lok Sabha seats in 16 States. As its influence reduces the number of seats it stands for, increases. They claim to try and strengthen the ‘left’ forces in parliament, even when they have been ignored by the CPI/CPM despite their "best efforts". Pathetic beggars of ‘left’ unity that the Liberation are, they still do not realise the dynamics of vote-bank politics where the bigger revisionists see these upstarts as mere snatchers of their potential votes. No wonder they are ignored in spite of their "best efforts".

And now, added to this, comes the legitimacy sought to be given by the NGO lobby seeking "honest" candidates. Medha Patkar’s newly formed PPF will back Magsasay Award winner Aruna Roy and Gandhian Siddharaj Dhadha, besides others. She calls for a joint struggle against "communal, corrupt and corporatised" forces through electoral games. The PPF has also become part of the politics of ‘secularism’ saying that the winning candidate will extend support to secular parties, and see that the secular vote will not be fragmented. In other words, as there is not likely to be any constituency where there is no opposition party, the PPF candidate, at the ground level, seeks backing from all opposition forces.

Today any fight for real democracy is inconceivable without exposing the fake electoral system that exists. This is more easier done by boycotting the elections than by participating in the farce. But then what is the alternative?

It is portrayed as though those who boycott this farce are against elections and democracy. Nothing could be further from the truth. They are for genuine democracy, a peoples’ democracy, and for a transparent and proper electoral system. More than that, they are for the democratisation of entire society all relations at every level, not merely the appearance of democracy.

This is not possible in the existing set-up; so it is to be boycotted. Seeking real democracy entails smashing the present system and only then building the foundations of a genuine democratic edifice. A house with a weak and faulty foundation cannot be strengthened; it has to be raised to the ground and a new structure built. Even assuming a good candidate wins, what can he/she do when the entire bureaucracy, administration, police force, army and an economic system dominated by big business, is pitted against his/her good intentions? Either they must get co-opted, or opt out. The CPI/CPM are already co-opted; a part of the ruling classes. The others are on their way there.

Boycott of course is a negative action; it must be followed by something positive to be more meaningful. There are forces in this country that seek to build a new and genuine democratic system. Quite naturally the alternative would be to participate with these forces in building the new system; or at least lend support to them.

These forces are the revolutionary Maoists in the country leading people’s wars. Ofcourse, all violence is per se sought to be portrayed as anti-democratic. But this very ‘democratic’ state system thrives on the most brutal and inhuman forms of violence. So, building a better system unfortunately cannot be a very humane or peaceful process. Yes, a humane and peaceful society can only be built through constructing such a powerful force that can stand up to the terror of this monstrous system. So, the question of violence has no direct relation with the question of democracy. The Iraqis armed resistance against the US/British occupation is their democratic right to throw the aggressors out. In India, where similarly the sovereignty of the country is infringed upon, though indirectly, (i.e. through their stooges), the people also have the democratic right to take arms against the rulers to give genuine independence from imperialist and neo-colonial controls and for a true democracy.

How then is the question of democracy linked to the people’s wars being led by the Maoists? Take then those being led by the MCCI and the CPI(ML)(PW).

Firstly, the revolutionary Party, unlike the parliamentary parties, is not controlled by any individual or coterie, but functions on democratic centralism. This is far more democratic than the functioning of any of the parliamentary parties in the country. All Party leaders are accountable to their cadres and the entire Party is accountable to the masses. Regular criticism and self-criticisms helps the process of checking bureaucratic tendencies, and debates and two-line struggle facilitates the democratic process of consultation in decision-making.

Secondly, all feudal, autocratic relationships are strongly fought against — particularly patriarchy and all caste biases. Relations between all are built around equality; and women and dalits are specifically encouraged to take leadership roles. Discrimination in any form is severely reprimanded. Respect and authority is given on the basis of the person’s commitment to the revolution and oppressed masses and their experience, not on such feudal criteria as age, education or hierarchy. Modesty and simplicity are encouraged, not arrogance, ego and domination of others. The feudal/braminical approach of looking down on labour (the pundit mentality) is countered, with building the approach of the dignity of labour. Man-women relations are encouraged on the basis of free choice, not any other extraneous factors. Such is the democratization process taking place within the Maoist circles, which is a far cry from what is taking place in society outside — where vulgar westernization is being complimented with the consistent promotion of feudal, anti-democratic values and relations.

Thirdly, and most important of all, is the democratic process seen in the embryonic forms of the New Power being created in the areas of intense armed struggle as in Dandakaranya, Bihar-Jarkhand and parts of AP. In its full-fledged form it is more clearly seen in neighbouring Nepal, where in the Base Areas the New Power is being run. In the course of the revolutionary process the autocratic structures of the existing bureaucracy, government departments, police, judiciary, politician-business-trader-moneylender combine, etc. have already been smashed. In its place the New Power, the RPCs (Revolutionary People’s Committees), is elected in a gram sabha, which also has the right to recall the representative if found not suitable. Justice is administered through people’s courts not the bureaucratic and expensive procedure of lawyers and judges far removed from the scene. The RPCs, when able to function (where police repression is intense this is not possible), implementation of development works, education, health and welfare are their primary tasks. Women are encouraged to play an active role in the social, political and military life of the village. As the New Power is led by the agricultural labourers and poor peasants, the dalits invariably play a leading role. Caste segregation in any form whatsoever is discouraged and marriage based on the free choice of the two is encouraged (even if opposed by the elders) — thereby breaking the centuries-old caste barriers. There is no standing army or police that live as parasites off the people in the existing system, but there are the village defence committees and militias, the bulk of whom are involved in production. In all activities and relationships the social consciousness of "serving the people" is sought to be replaced with the approach of personal material incentives. This then is the New Power growing in the Guerrilla Zones and Bases under growing Maoist influence.

Compare all this to what exists today in the so-called democracy in the rest of the country. These are steps towards real and true democracy. Of course in this new system the moneylenders, landlords, bureaucrats, police, traders, politicians and businessmen will no longer have the ‘democratic right’ to fleece the people and run their lives. This will, no doubt, be curbed. They may therefore shout from the roof-tops that their ‘democratic’ right to rob and loot is being curbed, and the imperialists may look into the ‘human rights violations’ of this scum, but the majority of the masses will enjoy a genuine democracy.

Today, in the forthcoming elections, while boycotting the elections it is the incumbent duty of anyone serious of democracy to participate in (or at least support) the new democratic experiments taking place by the Maoists. Let us all exclaim in unison;

<Top>