Events & Issues

New Delhi, 20 April 2009

Farooq’s LS Quest

MAKING MOCKERY OF POLL SYSTEM

By Sant Kumar Sharma

By deciding to contest the Lok Sabha from the Srinagar constituency, former Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister, Dr Farooq Abdullah, is making a mockery of the electoral system. This is his fourth election in as many months, beginning with the elections to the State Legislative Assembly in December 2008. In fact, he contested from two constituencies, Sonawar and Hazratbal, and emerged victorious in both.

Since a legislator can represent only one constituency, Farooq chose to give up the Sonawar seat but retained his membership of the legislature from Hazratbal. As a result Sonawar seat fell vacant and the Election Commission had to start making arrangements for a by-election in the constituency, within a month of holding the election.

Soon thereafter, Abdullah decided to enter the Rajya Sabha when the terms of all four sitting members from the State expired. Again, he was able to ensure a victory for himself with the help of the Congress. His victory here too again led to a situation where he had to either give up his seat in the Legislative Assembly or the Rajya Sabha. He chose to resign as MLA from Hazratbal and the seat fell vacant, forcing the Election Commission to hold a by-election in the constituency.

Farooq’s action of jumping into the electoral fray from Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency is pregnant with many possibilities. His victory will mean that this time around he would give up his membership from the House of Elders. In that case, he will necessitate a by-election to the Rajya Sabha seat from J&K.

The other scenario could be that after winning the Lok Sabha seat, Farooq chooses to vacate it, preferring to remain a member of the Rajya Sabha. What then? Elections to the Srinagar seat will need to be held again!

All this brings us to the moot question: What does it amount to? Well, the holding of elections, particularly in a State like J&K, is a tedious, dangerous and costly affair. The Government spends crores of rupees in deploying security forces to ensure peace, through area domination, and heightened vigil. All candidates are provided adequate security, including vehicles, by the exchequer for the entire duration of the campaign and even for some time thereafter. It means a lot of money. Individuals contesting the polls simply don’t have to foot this bill.

If now Abdullah wins the Lok Sabha seat and then vacates it, he will be clearly responsible for necessitating a subsequent by-election. Does he care? He will not have to bear any costs as these can be imposed on the nation. How does one then define Abdullah’s repeated forays into electoral arena? Use, misuse or abuse of his position?

Farooq started his political career by virtue of being the son of Sher-e-Kashmir Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. The lion of Kashmir had empowered the downtrodden peasantry of the State by introducing far-reaching agrarian reforms which cut into the roots of feudal, undemocratic and despotic practices then prevalent in the State. Are Farooq’s repeated forays into the electoral arena (s) not reflective of being against everything his father stood for? Do they not show how little, if any, regard he has for the legislative bodies for which he has contested or is contesting?

Another former Chief Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, too has followed a somewhat similar trajectory. In 2008, he contested the Assembly elections from Bhaderwah constituency and won the seat with a handsome margin. Subsequently, he failed to become the Chief Minister as his party did not bag enough seats and decided to leave State politics and got elected to the Rajya Sabha from J&K. The senior Congress leader then chose to resign his Bhaderwah seat and necessitated a by-election.

After becoming the Chief Minister of J&K in November 2005, Azad had asked his cousin, Mohammed Sharif Niaz, to vacate the Bhaderwah Assembly seat and that necessitated a by-election. Azad won and Niaz got elected to the Legislative Council. Niaz is now again in the fray as the Bhaderwah Assembly seat is again vacant and a by-election necessitated.

Both Abdullah and Azad are not only products of an electoral system but the respect they command in the public arena is because of it. Yet, the manner in which they treat the system appears to be nothing short of contempt and disdain.

A word about yet another former Chief Minister of the State, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, would be in order. In 1983, Mufti then in the Congress contested from south Kashmir but lost to the National Conference, which swept the valley under the leadership, the first, of Farooq Abdullah. However, as the Congress had won in over dozen constituencies of the Jammu region, the then Congress leader late Indira Gandhi decided to make Mufti the leader of the State Congress Legislature Party. But for doing so, Janak Raj Gupta, who had won from the R S Pura constituency, was made to vacate his seat and a by-election held. Mufti got elected and became the CLP leader, much to both the chagrin and anger of veteran Congress legislators from Jammu. 

The question to be considered is: Was late Indira Gandhi’s action of appointing Mufti as the CLP leader a democratic step? Did it also not betray an anti-Jammu bias, wherein not a single MLA from there was considered worthy of heading the CLP in the State? But that is another story.

Of late, we are seeing campaigns both in the electronic and print media urging voters to cast their votes in large numbers. And, there is an ongoing public debate on need for more electoral reforms, particularly of having a provision to give voters a ``Right to Recall’’ their representatives.

Importantly, perhaps it is time we also start talking about the number of elections a person can be allowed to contest in a specific period of time. One can easily understand the imperative of losing candidates entering the poll arena, again and again, hoping to win some day. But the action of senior politicians like Farooq and Azad brings us to the question of winning candidates looking for greener pastures.

Shouldn’t they be asked to pay the costs of the by-election they necessitate by vacating their seats? The least we can do in a democracy is to debate the merits and demerits of such actions, both dispassionately and passionately. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)