The recent goings-on in Karnataka only remind us how deep the rot in the system is. The institutions of the Governor, speaker and legislator are in a total shambles — and there is little hope in the offing, since almost the entire political class appears to be in cahoots with this system.
How can one control the untrammelled abuse and misuse of power by constitutional functionaries? Let us first take the position of the Governor. The Governor was supposed to be an eminent person who played a constitutional role, representing the Centre in the state and providing sage counsel and guidance to the ministry. But now it has become, in many cases, a move to accommodate a political hack or a time server.
The fault here lies with our first prime minister. Nehru appointed Harekrishna Mahatab Governor of Bombay state. Mahatab had been chief minister of Orissa and a Union minister before his appointment as Governor — and a Union minister after he ceased to be Governor of Bombay! But an aberration has now become almost accepted practice. The post of Governor has become debased. As Governors look forward to bigger and better assignments, they have become agents of the Centre. They are not, in the words of Indira Gandhi, “forward looking”; they are, more appropriately, in the words of Nani Palkhivala, “looking forward”.
With some very honourable exceptions, primarily those with civil service and military backgrounds, Governors have not covered themselves with glory. Some recent examples: Shivraj Patil, who slept through 26/11, was rewarded with the governorship of Punjab. S M Krishna was asked to “rest” as the Governor of Maharashtra. The current Maharashtra Governor was reportedly asked whether he would prefer to return to active politics and his answer was, “Yes.” Is this the kind of person we want in the Governor’s chair? The Founders promised us independent, intellectual giants. Instead, we got Buta Singh. Is that fair?
The Sarkaria Commission made a number of recommendations about the kind of persons who ought to occupy the Governor’s chair, but these have been blithely ignored. We are fated to have (normally) third-rate politicians as our Governors, so how can we minimise the damage they do? By taking away the two powers that they currently enjoy.
First, the power to invite a person to form a government after he has paraded his backers. This power should be moved to the legislature. Let the legislature elect its own leader, as is done in the German Bundestag, where the Chancellor is elected on the floor of the House — and not anointed by the Governor, with bags of money in the background.
Secondly, the power to dissolve the legislature, which currently vests in the Governor and has been abused times without number. This needs to be moved to the Election Commission or, even better, to the higher judiciary. Let Governors stay in the Raj Bhavans, which cost us a small fortune, but let them not cause any more damage to the constitutional fabric.
Speakers, in general, are no better — recall the disgraceful scenes in the UP Assembly some years ago? How often has a Speaker ruled on an important matter against the government? Not too frequently. Here is another lot of “looking forward” persons. There is little chance that a person elected Speaker will resign from the political party that has nominated him, as happens in Britain. Rather, many of them want to graduate to being ministers — even chief ministers!
Can we expect fair play from them? Obviously not. And when do they cause the maximum damage? At times when there are votes of confidence — by expelling members or preventing them from voting. The Administrative Reforms Commission suggested that expulsions should be decided upon by the Governor on the advice of the Election Commission. Why get in the discredited and biased governor who can probably ignore the advice? Let the Election Commission or the higher judiciary take this call.
Now we come to the members of our legislatures. There is a small number of incredibly dedicated members. However, for a large number of them, the membership is just a meal ticket, as is borne out by the recent shenanigans of legislators in Karnataka. Except perhaps for the Left parties, most members of all parties appear to be addicted to the culture of pillage of the public exchequer.
Now, we find that even the provisions of the Anti Defection Law do not deter them from resigning, on matters of high principles, of course. The Anti Defection Law needs to be amended to ensure that anyone who defects is barred from contesting electoral office for five or 10 years. In addition, the person should be barred from accepting any assignment where the Central or state government or any public authority (such as a municipality) has any connection, however tenuous. Of course, we shall not be able to stop the wives and children of these men of principle from fighting the same seats — until we move to a “list” system.
The Founding Fathers gifted us a wonderful constitution. Our leaders have spent 60 years subverting it. Let us not kid ourselves — things are not getting better; they are clearly getting worse. There are still some well-meaning leaders in all our political parties. Let us hope they wake up before we degenerate into a second-rate kleptocracy, so that the dreams of the Founding Fathers are not totally ground into the dust.
