In spite of a valiant fight put up by the INDIA coalition in the 2024 general elections, Prime Minister Modi ascended the throne for a historic third consecutive term. Notwithstanding the 63-seat loss, Modi’s BJP was able to cobble up the support it needed from NDA allies to get past the 272 mark.
Even though the mandate was nuanced and in a way a rebuke of the authoritarian regime that rules the roost for 10 years since 2014, the newly minted Union government is nothing but a continuation of Modi style governance with a virtually unchanged cabinet when it comes to key portfolios. Much to the chagrin of opposition, even the Speaker Mr Birla got his tenure renewed.
If this is the result after a never before seen unification of diverse political forces across the country in the name of INDIA coalition and after a 10-year misrule flush with anti-people policies such as demonetisation, poor management of the COVID pandemic, anti-farmer farm bills, complete nonchalance towards the Manipur mayhem, GST that swallowed many small and independent businesses, then any thoughtful individual would have to wonder if our democracy is functional and capable of springing up new alternatives.
This would be a ripe time to expand our imagination beyond the current form of democracy. At the outset, in many past elections over several decades and even during the supposedly hugely popular last three elections including the just concluded 2024 hustings, the ruling party (or coalition) has garnered only less than 50% of the total polled votes.
For instance, the current NDA coalition was able to romp home only with 42.5 % of votes. At it’s best, even in 2019, Modi’s NDA polled only 45% of the vote. Thus, the majority of votes were cast against Modi not only now but also in the past two elections.
Yet, given the flaws that we have in our democracy, winner takes it all and the millions of votes cast in opposition are as good as trash with no say in governance at all. While we may toot our horn as the world’s largest democracy, elections thus have paradoxically become slayers of democratic spirit.
Furthermore, the nationwide vote percentage stands only at about 66%. In other words, a third of eligible voters are not even casting their ballots. While there may be umpteen reasons for this, one profound reason is the apathy that voting does not really matter to them and that their true choice is not represented in governance.
A significant section of voters, thus, have already given up on the idea of democracy. While these aggregate numbers might be better than some other countries, there are several urban constituencies in the country that recorded less than 50% voting, a thorough testament to the failure of our current democratic system.
It may be considered a form of dissent by those eligible voters that feel that their voice doesn’t matter because the choices on the ballot are undeserving of their efforts.
Another significant drawback of the current democratic system is its lopsided representation of the demography of this inexorably diverse landmass. While it is a minor relief to know that the OBC share among elected MPs has gone up this time to match the privileged “upper” castes at 26% (subject to better analysis as there have been reports that some privileged regional castes of South India were counted as OBCs in these reports), this is still a far cry from the actual numbers of OBCs in the population.
Notably, this rise in OBC representation is attributable to the most part to states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where Mandal politics have revolutionised the landscape for the past few decades and continue to spring up new assertive outfits that are able to cater to their constituents and force bigger parties to rely on them for political one-upmanship.
It is a shame that there are still hundreds of castes and tribes in the country that are yet to be represented in Lok Sabha despite all these years of democratic elections. Thanks to constitutional guarantees, scheduled castes and tribes are able to enter Lok Sabha without having to rely on any largesse from political parties that would otherwise usurp their rights in a blink.
However, we are still eons away from a day when SCs, STs and OBCs are able to compete with privileged “upper” castes in general seats and make their way to the People’s house. INDIA coalition’s caste census promise would have been a decisive step in this direction to first highlight the problem of demographic misrepresentation that is rampant in our democracy.
Keeping all these issues in mind, if there is one thing that the INDIA coalition can do with its significantly increased number in the opposition benches this time, it would be to bring up the demand for an alternative political system. Only that would be a formidable force that can checkmate the authoritarian regime that shows no signs of waning despite electoral losses.
Every vote cast in the election should have a say in governance rather than the first past the post system that we currently have. A proportional representation model that takes into account the “losing party’s” votes is the need of the hour. Proportional representation has the power to bring more marginalised groups in to the ambit of democracy.
Sections of society be it the uninterested voters that have given up on the system or the numerical minorities that are relegated to oblivion in the current system will then have something to seek for in a proportional representation model. They would be encouraged to participate in the democratic process more willingly and openly rather than to pilfer their votes to parties that only see them as tools in their power-mongering.
It has the potential to create new political parties and interest groups that can take their concerns to the people’s house themselves. While this may seem a distant utopia today, proportional representation in lieu of “winner-takes-all” system definitely deserves a thorough consideration at this juncture in our democracy.
G. Naveen is a physician by profession, and has been writing articles on politics with special social justice for over 20 years.
