Inaugurating a seminar on 'Electoral Reforms' organised to observe CPI leader Indrajit Gupta's birth centenary, retired Supreme Court judge Jasti Chelameswar on Thursday said in a country which had parliamentarians like him, the level of democratic discourse now leaves much to be desired.
Remembering Gupta, who served as Union Home Minister in the United Front governments of prime ministers H D Deve Gowda and I K Gujral between 1996 and 1998, Chelameswar said the CPI leader was considered as one of the "gentlemen politicians" of that era.
"Unfortunately that breed is slowly getting extinguished. These days, it's lung power and not the power of the mind. It's the numbers which matter and not the quality of debate. This is not a good sign for democracy. I don't know who is to be blamed for this. Whether the people or the leaders," the retired Supreme Court judge said.
"In a country which produced parliamentarians like Indrajit Gupta and many others, the level of democratic discourse now leaves much to be desired," he said.
Chelameswar said that money power plays a major role in the electoral process of the country and none is happy about it.
"Certain parties are individual-centric. Everything depends on that individual's decision. In that process, such leaders choose candidates who have access to enormous funds for the purpose of electioneering. It's a fact which all of us have been watching in our country," he said.
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Discussing defection of lawmakers, Chelameswar said defection will not be a problem for legislators in case the political parties decide to merge.
"On a lighter vein, if my friends don't mind, if some members of CPI merge with CPI(M) it will be defection. But if CPI and CPI(M) decide to merge as one, then those members will not be affected," he said.
He also said the split the CPI was way back in 1964 and maybe one day they can get together as they are "siblings who disagreed on certain issues".
Kerala unit chiefs of CPI and CPI(M) Kanam Rajendran and Kodiyeri Balakrishnan respectively were present on the stage.
Chelameswar suggested presidential form of government to curb money power in election process, but said the flip side is that popularity in electoral process need not always necessarily depend upon the rational thinking.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said the 'one country, one election' proposal of the Centre sounds harmless but eventually it would "destroy" the parliamentary form of government and the federal system of the country.
"Twenty-one parties have opposed this move. One country, one vote is part of the 'one country, one tax' and would eventually lead to 'one country, one culture', 'one country, one religion', 'one country, one party' and so on," he said.
Balakrishnan said poor people fall for the money offered by rich political parties.
"Its not democracy but 'moneycracy'. Votes are purchased. This trend is affecting the Left parties in the country. When we organise a programme or a protest people's turnout is huge. But when it comes to elections, its the other way round," he said.
He also claimed that only the CPI and the CPI(M) decided not to raise funds through electoral bonds.
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