The Hindu Business Line : The morning after

SO, the elections to the 14th Lok Sabha are over at last and, curiously, there is the distinct feeling that life has returned to normal. Indeed, to feel this way is to underscore the fact that election time is a different ball game altogether, even if that "time" is spread over a number of phases lasting weeks.

At one level, it may be said that there is nothing unusual in this because elections are a time when there is hectic political activity, spurring even the most inhibited of politicians (a contradiction in terms?) into action. Such is the flurry of activity that, as an average voter, one gets to see totally unknown faces in the streets who look at you with a smile and folded hands, a gesture which can be interpreted as "hello, I am so and so" or, equally convincingly, "please give me your vote".

All this is to be expected because candidates are supposed to work hard to get votes, and one way of doing so is to meet as many voters as possible in one's constituency — a chore which becomes physically daunting if the time of the year is a searing summer. From the voter's point of view, the tragedy is of course the fact that this is perhaps the only time he gets to see his or her candidate for, once the elections are over, life returns to normal — and one aspect of normality is the disappearance of one's representative in the legislative assembly, be it at the State level or the Lok Sabha.

At another level, however, the entire exercise of an election — even if it is not always free or fair — is an extremely precious phenomenon from a society's point of view for two main reasons. First, it establishes, even though imperfectly, a link between the "ruled" and the "ruler" where the latter is beholden to the former; and secondly, it establishes, again imperfectly, the negation of the corollary, namely, the absence of any link between the ruled and the ruler, which is the negation of democracy and freedom.

For the citizens of India, this negation of the absence of any link between the ruled and the ruler is a birthright framed by the Constitution of the Republic, its roots, ironically, going back to the establishment of British rule in the subcontinent, which itself was the result of a clash of arms and rapacious trading instincts.

From the middle of the 19th Century onwards, British rule imperceptibly ingrained in the subcontinent's intelligentsia the ideals of personal liberty and representative government (the first attempts regarding which were made at the local level in cities like Kolkata), which, inevitably, took the shape it has in the Republic's Constitution.

When one looks around and tries to evaluate the political experience of different societies, one realises how precious is the birthright one is talking about — even if rigging of polls has been elevated to the status of a science in various parts of the country.

Clearly, therefore, election time cannot but be imbued with a special significance for citizens of the Republic because, in its essence, this is the time when every single individual who is invested with the right to cast his vote has his say on the performance of established politicians and on the promises made by those who want to enter the fray. Perhaps this is why every citizen becomes a "thinking citizen" during election time, some sorting out the pros and cons of parties and politicians in their own minds with others having recourse to discussion and conversation in an effort to come to a decision.

This interregnum is now over and a return to the state of debilitating normality that is the staple of Indian political life is on the cards. Clearly, this is bad for the governance of the country mainly because of the impression the rulers get that they can do whatever they like and get away with it — till the next elections.

But as of now nothing much can be done about this because of the declining level of Indian politics generally. Improving that level is a very difficult task if for no other reason than the fact that politics reflects society and bringing about social change is a different ball game altogether.