Voting in the 2014 Indian elections began on April 7 with results expected on May 16. With 814 million voters, Indian is the world’s largest democracy and the election has generated attention worldwide.
This attention is well deserved, as the elections come at a critical time for the Indian economy and foreign policy. 2014 election sees an ailing centrist party (Congress) pitted against a Hindu nationalist competitor (BJP). Perhaps most interestingly, a debutant party, Aam Admi Party (AAP) formed out of a civil society alliance against corruption, has injected new life into the political theater that is Indian elections.
The School of Public Policy held a public panel discussion on April 24 with a range of scholars discussing this important election, the state of Indian democracy and the broader socio-political context. The panelists were SPP Visiting Professor and Research Director at the Institute for Development and Communication, Rainuka Dagar, Sanjay Kumar of CEU’s Center for Academic Writing and Convener, South and South East Asian Studies (SASEAS) research group, and Sejal Parmar of CEU’s Department of Legal Studies. SPP Assistant Professor Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick moderated the discussion.
The discussion began with a breakdown of the logistics of running such an enormous election. Dagar explained: “There are 814 million eligible voters, which is more than the population of the U.S. and Europe combined, and there is a very large proportion of younger voters. There are 543 constituencies being fought for and you need a majority of 272 to rule the house. These are spread across 29 states and six union territories, with the smallest state having four seats and the largest state having 80 seats in Parliament."
“You have six national parties, about 47 regional parties, and 1300 registered parties. The number of candidates is also huge and the list is still being compiled as the election is held over six weeks. There is a huge electoral machinery which has to be put in to process with about 11 million officers of the election commission, about 3 million of whom are security forces who will be transported around the country on 120 special trains.”
While the security forces will be in place to ensure safety at the polling stations, an army of 2,000 observers and 20,000 macro-observers are also being employed to ensure the fairness of the election. The cost of the elections is over $5bn, second only to those of the United States.
Dagar went on to point out the diversity of candidates, from Rahul Gandhi, who hails from a political dynasty, to Narendra Modi, who started as a tea seller on the railway platform. Dagar also explained the diversity of campaigning styles from the traditional forums for discussion in local tearooms to online campaigning through social media, and televised public rallies with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance. Such diversity aside, Dagar was of the belief that the main parties are offering very little in terms of alternative economic development policies with the manifestos of the two big parties differing only on nuances in foreign policy and offering little real change to Indian people.
Sejal Parmar spoke about the Indian diaspora and specifically how the election is viewed by some of the approximately 25 million non-resident Indians and people of Indian origin living outside India. “Obviously the diaspora community is a group that is multi-layered, multicultural, internally diverse and with a range of histories”” Parmar explained. The diaspora as a whole is very important in India though for economic and political reasons. More than 70 billion US dollars are sent back to India from around the world in 2013 and also significant business ties linking India to countries where the diaspora has settled. The diaspora community seems to be more active in this election than any other before, with many non-resident Indians volunteering for political parties, returning home for the campaigning period or contributing their expertise from abroad.
While significant sections of the Indian diaspora appear to support Narendra Modi in his bid to become India’s Prime Minister, Parmar emphasized that Modi is “actually a polarizing figure within the diaspora because of his role in the violence in Gujarat in 2002 which resulted in the deaths of 2,000 Muslims and for which there is still no accountability”. Apart from Modi’s irrefutable ties with far-right wing Hindu networks, there are other reasons to be concerned about the prospect of a Modi government. Parmar cautioned: “a Modi administration is not likely to promote human rights in domestic policy, through the much-needed legislative decriminalization of homosexuality for instance, or in foreign policy, through say a stronger stance on country-specific resolutions at the Human Rights Council”.
Indian political parties have recognized the power of the diaspora, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (one of the country’s two biggest parties along with the Indian National Congress) in particular rallying support amongst diaspora groups who provide both large numbers of volunteers and access to skills that are not readily available in India. This is despite the fact that no system for postal or online voting from diaspora members exists. Reasons for the strong interest in the Indian elections from the diaspora range from altruistic patriotism to a vested interest in the economy from those who wish to return to India at some stage in their lives.
“A new language has been emerging in Indian politics,” according to Sanjay Kumar, “through the new Aam Admi Party(AAP) which has been challenging the ideas of who can take part in politics. You don’t have to be an academic; you don’t have to be an expert. Anybody can be a part of politics.” Many political commentators in India and abroad have highlighted the significance of AAP as a refreshing element that has successfully tried to engage the hitherto apolitical urban educated middle class Indian youth into the whirlpool of Indian political discourse.
Some like Amit Chauduri have praised AAP for decoupling the category of politician with a corrupt individual and subvert the stereotypes. Many others have pointed out that through unconventional modes of campaigning and a very effective use of social media, AAP made their spectacular debut and electoral success in Delhi in December 2013. They are indeed a force to reckon with in Indian politics seems to be the majority opinion of most political observers. In the General Elections being held now, AAP has taken on the BJP and Narendra Modi head on and also made its ideological position more clear as anti-fascist party. This has endeared them to many critics on the political Left who had earlier criticized the apparent lack of any coherent political ideology in AAP.
Kumar explained how ‘talking’ politics, as much as actively participating in it (i.e., casting one’s vote, standing for elections etc) has often been frowned upon in many parts of urban middle class India but the Aam Admi Party has been working toward a more inclusive way of discussing politics and getting previously non-political people involved with 80% of the party workers having no previous political affiliation. “What the Aam Admi Party has now done is to show that a debutante party can take on the grand old parties of Indian politics.” While the AAP does not claim to be capable of taking power, it believes that it can be successful simply by opposing the old, and often corrupt, establishment of Indian politics.
The realization which the AAP has brought to many ordinary people that they can take part in politics and have an effect on the future of their country is, Kumar believes, the most important contribution that has been made during the current elections and to Indian politics in general. AAP has supporters from diverse and varied backgrounds of age, gender, class, caste and education. This has potently pitted them against a well-entrenched system of political patronage based on class, caste and religious affiliations. This is also a notable change, however, the scale and impact of these perceived changes can be gauged only when we know the results, Kumar concluded.