Noted sociologist Salvatore Babones has said that the outcome of the 2024 general elections has been positive from the standpoint of Indian democracy as it has put the apprehension about the sanctity of elections in the country to rest.
“Everything looks very positive from the standpoint of Indian democracy. There has been very little violence reported at the polls, outside of one state i.e. West Bengal. All the accusations of Election Commission bias seem to have fallen flat, there is very little evidence on anything along those lines,” Babones told Moneycontrol.
He said there have been very minor incidents of stoking communal tensions, which were the lowest when compared to previous elections.
Babones also spoke about a series of apprehensions and litigation initiated against the Election Commission of India (ECI) before and after the commencement of elections. Two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) filed in the Supreme Court raised serious apprehensions about the sanctity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the data provided by the poll body on voter turnout.
Both the cases were filed by a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) called Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR). The first petition questioned the sanctity of EVMs and also sought directions to revert to paper ballots. The plea sought directions for a 100 percent cross-verification of EVM votes with the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT). The Supreme Court junked the plea and also raised questions on the bona fides of ADR.
The second plea sought for booth-wise voter turnout data, but the apex court refused to pass any such orders.
Babones said, “From the standpoint of economic growth it makes very little difference as to who wins the elections. I know it makes a lot of difference for Indians, but it doesn’t make a lot of difference for India’s institutions which are robust and which have shone through this election process.”
Congress’ performance in polls a concern
According to Babones, “The biggest concern is the relatively poor performance of the Congress party. I know Congress has roughly doubled its representation in the Lok Sabha versus the last two elections. But if Rahul Gandhi’s grandmother heard that Congress was going to win 100 seats in an election, she would be rolling in her urn.”
The Congress party, which led the INDIA bloc, is the second largest party in terms of Lok Sabha seats after BJP. In the 2024 elections, Congress won 99 Lok Sabha seats, which is a marked increase from the 52 and 44 seats the party had won in 2019 and 2014 elections.
He said, “This is not a sufficiently strong opposition party to maintain a two-party system in India going forward. What India needs most of all is a robust, coherent opposition. The fact that a collection of opposition parties has given the BJP a run for its money is nothing wrong, but we are not yet seeing a really robust two-party system emerge in India.”
Babones said the Congress must pivot from a family run party to an organised bureaucracy to begin making a mark in elections and the current electoral results may only delay these reforms. “They have to turn into a modern bureaucracy instead of a family run organisation. Look at all the major democracies in the world, you don’t see any family run parties being major parties. India still has that. It’s a legacy of its colonial heritage. BJP functions like a bureaucracy, when Modi retires someone will come in his place, “ he said.
The renowned sociologist also noted that many mature democracies around the world do not have family run parties at the helm and Congress should learn from this.
Coalition not unusual in democracies
He noted that coalitions are routine in democracies around the world and this election indicates that India is moving towards a different kind of system at the national level. He said, “Any coalition led by Narendra Modi will not be like the old Vajpayee led coalition. It will be fundamentally a BJP government that works with some minor parties.”
He said independents and minor parties cannot bring down the government, adding that India is rapidly moving towards a more mature two-party system.
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