Simultaneous poll : A BJP gimmick ...?

By Atul Cowshish

It appears that the Bharatiya Janata Party has many 'bright ideas' about countering its opponents-- but very few that will lead to a perceptible improvement in the lot of the poor majority in the country or save it from being pushed into the medieval ages. Its latest 'bright idea' is to take the country back to the days of simultaneous Lok Sabha and State Assembly polls.

It is a clever 'bright idea' floated by the BJP as nearly every political party---supporters as well as opponents of the BJP----has welcomed it 'in principle'. It was left to the no nonsense chief election commissioner, JM Lyngdoh, to point out that in the present circumstances synchronized polls will be unconstitutional.

One of the great merits of the simultaneous polls theory is the belief that it will cut down election expenses. But as Lyngdoh said the more important thing was to keep democracy alive. Given the political tricks that the BJP likes to unleash on unsuspecting audiences, one should have smelt a rat the moment the 'Lauh Purush' L K Advani expanded on the simultaneous polls idea which was reportedly propounded by the Vice President and for long Rajasthan's lone BJP pillar, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.

Having ruled at the Centre for more than five years, the BJP finds it galling that as many as 15 (now 14) states are run by its betenoire, the Congress. In fact, the BJP tally in the states is a paltry two- Gujarat and Goa. The BJP is, therefore, desperate, to increase this tally by any means it can.

Look at some of the developments. The BJP has made inroads in the North east, the least likely place for BJP penetration, given the wide influence of Christianity and the practice of beef eating in the region. Even though the BJP has established units in the region, some of the prominent Parivar leaders like Togadia, Ashok Singhal and Giriraj Kishore will find it extremely difficult to get receptive audiences in most of the North Eastern states. But this does not prevent the BJP from flirting almost openly with some suspected organisations, once actively engaged in insurgency, to seek a share in the power equation in the tribal dominated states in the North East.

In Arunachal Pradesh it has just succeeded in engineering wholesale defection of Congress members to a new outfit. The central leadership of the BJP denies that it had a hand in the ouster of the Mithi (Congress) Government in Arunachal Pradesh. But a BJP leader from Nagaland, Capt (retd) Hekiye Sema, told a Zonal meeting of the BJP in Shillong on August 5 that the changes in Arunachal Pradesh were brought about by 'hectic backdoor support of the BJP'.

The simultaneous polls idea suits the BJP in many ways. It will begin with the dissolution of state assemblies most of which, as stated, are not in the hands of the BJP. These assemblies will have to forgo a good part of their five-year term, guaranteed to them by constitution. The State Government on their own are unlikely to recommend premature dissolution of their assemblies.

But the BJP sees some other advantages too. If polls are held all across the country at the same time, it can press the services of its two mascots, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, particularly the former, all across the country, shifting focus from local and development issues to personalities.

The BJP's Hindutva-oriented agenda can be unleashed in full fury, sweeping aside other issues. The issue of 'foreign vs Indian' leader can be magnified several times, from north to south and east to west. Perhaps, the ' bonus' for the BJP will be elections in states like West Bengal and Kerala. Two of its biggest political enemies, the Congress and the Left parties, will have to lock horns in these states and thus generate some hope for the BJP which has found the going rather tough for itself in these two 'progressive'states.

The talk about saving money by holding elections all over the country at the same time cannot be taken seriously from a Government which has done virtually nothing to cut down wasteful expenditures. The BJP-led Government's fiscal and economic policies come with the convenience of 'roll back' that entails more losses than gains. Besides, it is well-known that the major chunk of poll expenses come from the hidden sources- the black money. There has been a spate of elections in recent years. But as far as one knows there is study to back up the belief that that had a deleterious effect on the economy.

Still, it is easy see why so many people have supported the 'simultaneous polls' idea. It is quite obvious that holding one round of elections will be decidely cheaper that holding a continuous round of elections. But there are considerations in a democracy which outweigh the advanages of tight-fisted policies. Lyngdoh says that it is 'the aspect of democracy' that is more important than saving money. But he also referred to a very genuine logistic conduct elections all over the country simultaneously. Today even synchronised polls will have to be staggered, he has pointed out.

Advani should know well that till early 1970s elections were held in a 'different' India which was more at peace with itself than it is now. It was possible to hold simultaneous elections with much less resources than are needed now and the nexus between criminals and politicians that rears its ugliest head at poll time was still to dominate the political scene.Except in pockets in the North East, there was no insurgency movement in the country. The law and order situation in the country was many times better than it is today. Terrorists, home grown or Pak-trained, were unknown and so the services of security forces could be utilised simultaneously across the country. There was no mushrooming of political parties and electoral malpractices were still in the incubating stage and so on.

The country may not be falling apart despite all the turmoil it has been since those days. But can anyone deny that a much larger presence of security forces is required for conducting elections in states like UP, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, the North East, and now Gujarat too, than was the case till 1971? Is the Election Commission equipped to deal with the problems that will arise from simultaneous elections in all parts of the country?

Those who advocate the 'merit' of holding simultaneous polls need to be reminded that the aim behind such suggestions by the BJP always looks suspicious. It had appointed a constitution review committee, overruling objections from many quarters. But the report of the committee has been more or less confined to the cold storage. The party wants the country to debate issues like ban on cow slaughter and uniform civil code both of which it knows are unlikely to be enforced.

The BJP suggests and many approve that the contentious Ayodhya issue should be settled by negotiations between the two main contending communities. But before anyone gives it a thought, the BJP leadership harps on 'national sentiments' to declare that a Ram temple has to be built at all costs to negate the previous suggestion.

Clearly the 'bright ideas' of the BJP are meant to divert attention from its many sins of omission and commission now that five states are going to the polls in a few weeks' time and the all important Lok Sabha election is due next year. The BJP is not sure if the non-stop of Ram temple will ensure it dividends at the hustings. It has to show that it has the capacity to float some temporal 'ideas' too.

(Syndicate Features)

Defence deals need utmost transparency

By NK Pant

The Public Accounts Committee report over Kargil defence purchases and charges against the Defence Minister George Fernandes of hiding Central Vigilance Commission’s report from the PAC was one of the overriding factors of the Congress led Opposition’s now defeated ‘No Confidence Motion’ in the Parliament. The aim apparently was to embarrass the BJP led NDA Government by highlighting the alleged cases of corruption in the MoD’s procurement deals hurriedly concluded during the limited war with the entrenched Pakistani forces in Kargil.

Defence purchases have always offered easy bait to the avaricious politicians, bureaucrats and armed forces brass. Money by the way of kickbacks in arms deals has a basic attraction since the arms deals are negotiated confidentially away from the public glare. The major global armament companies have either opened their liaison offices in the country or appointed representatives in order to hawk their latest weaponry and allied systems to the armed forces. In not so distant past, bizarre reports appeared in one of the national dailies alleging self styled god man Chandraswamy teaming up with international arms dealers for procuring the British advanced jet trainer (AJT) aircraft Hawk which had been short listed for procurement by the Indian Air Force. Another report revealed that British Aerospace Systems which also supplied Hawk trainer to South Africa was suspected by that country’s auditor-general to have paid bribes to win a three billion pound sterling contract.

The history of defence scams in India can be traced to later half of 1950s when Mr. VK Krishna Menon was the Defence Minister. His name was allegedly associated with ‘jeep scandal’ relating to large scale purchase of jeeps for the Indian army from the UK. The allegation had created ripples in the Parliament and the press as well. During the short lived Janata Dal rule of the post emergency days of the late 1970s, acquisition and subsequent assembly by the HAL of Jaguars, the deep penetration strike aircraft (DPSA) were negotiated with the UK and the contract was finalised. Though the deal did not create any tremors but fingers were raised at Mr. Jagjiwan Ram, the then Defence Minister in the Morarji Desai regime putting question marks on the fairness of the deal.

Curiously, the decade of 1980s under Congress rule in New Delhi witnessed many large hurried deals. Besides Bofor guns and HDW submarines, the major acquisitions included MiG-27 and MiG-29 fighters, MI-17, MI-25, MI-35 helicopters and EKM class submarines from the erstwhile Soviet Union. Similarly Mirage-2000 multi role combat aircraft from France and aircraft carrier INS Viraat with the accompaniment of Sea Harrier jump jets and Sea King naval helicopters were purchased from the United Kingdom. Mysteriously, under the Congress Governments when all these deals were pushed through, most of the time the Prime Ministers also functioned as Defence Ministers.

The credit or discredit of initially negotiating the mammoth SU-30 deals with Moscow goes to the last Congress Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Though the deal subsequently received final approval by the Janata Dal PM Deve Gowda’s cabinet, Rao’s decision to release an advance payment of Rs 500 crore to the Russians in April, 1996 before demitting office had come in for sharp criticism from the opposition parties of that time. Two years back, Rear Admiral Suhas Purohit in his writ petition before the Delhi High Court had presented a list of spare parts to the court bought by the Navy at exorbitant prices.

Despite the fact that there existed an official ban in the ministry of defence on the arms agents, the former Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav had once stated that about 50 to 60 power brokers were trying to pressurise him in matter of defence contracts. A committee headed by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the then scientific advisor to the defence minister was also set up to chalk out guidelines on defence purchases and explore ways to eliminate middlemen.

Though George Fernandes had to quit as Defense Minister in the midst of the intense political turmoil, he had definitely played a positive role in getting the Augean stables of the MoD cleaned by requesting the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) to probe defence deals since 1985 and involvement of the middlemen therein. Last year, the CVC had reportedly issued a directive to the Ministry of Defence advising it to carry out a thorough review of existing ban on arms dealers who act as agents in brokering lucrative armament deals for the Indian armed forces. The CVC was of the view that embargo on the arms agents has not only been a failure but also happens to be the source of corruption. Similarly, the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) was also requested to conduct a special audit of emergency purchases of weapons and ammunition during the Kargil war last year.

Now that the No Confidence Motion that also included a defence and national security issues has been defeated on the floor of Parliament, the Government will have to bring in transparency in defence purchases and simplify the existing complex procedures for procurement of weapons. Moreover, foolproof checks and balances will also need to be institutionalized without bringing in the element of delay in procurement process. Should not the eminent personalities especially from the field of science and technology and the retired service chiefs also be associated with weapon purchases for the armed forces? But no system, however foolproof, will deter the greedy and dishonest from devising new methods of seeking gratification. So long India does not achieve self-sufficiency and depends on the foreign sources for its defence needs, there will always be unscrupulous officials in the MoD and the armed forces inventing ingenious ways to receive the kickbacks.