The knowledge and understanding of the past and the fundamental of democratic practice do not put any constraints on political parties to declare their prime ministerial choices. It is not mandatory.
An issue, currently being debated among the political circles, is about whether political parties or existing or emerging alliances or fronts should declare their respective prime ministerial candidates or not?
There cannot be two opinions that the coming general election is going to be Modi-centric. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to be the central issue. While the BJP and its allies are going to talk about the excellent performance of the Modi government, opposition parties are going to attack him for his wrong doings. Contours of the battle are emerging in public domain.
BJP leaders, including the Prime Minister, are faulting opposition parties for failing to name a prime ministerial candidate among them who could then challenge him in the coming general elections and the electorate could compare the BJP’s incumbent Prime Minister with that of the challenger.
A very valid demand from the BJP, but it is also patently wrong since the Indian political system is a parliamentary form of democracy and not a presidential form of government. The ruling party may love to turn the battle in its favour by making such demands, but it cannot be justified on principles.
It is true that in the presidential form of government, political parties field their respective candidates for the country’s top post. After candidates have been nominated by their respective party, electorate begins to assess these candidates. People vote for them based on their understanding of the person and his or her policies and programmes. Candidates enter into debate on issues, policy and performances.
In the French presidential form of government, in the first round of polling, people make their choices on more than two candidates since there are multiple parties in France. The top two candidates in the first round go to the second round of polling and that candidate is declared elected who gets the maximum number of votes. People know enough about their candidates and vote according to their assessment.
In the US, two main parties — the Republican and the Democratic Party — first elect their candidates through the primaries in which party members exercise their option. The winners of the primaries enter the electoral fray and they debate on TV shows empowering people to make their choices.
In parliamentary form of the government, parties elect their leader after the election results. Parties need not declare their prime ministerial faces though parties do announce as part of their electoral strategy or tactics to influence the voter. While some parties declare their prime ministerial leader, others do not announce as part of their strategy. Both are legitimate tools of the political battle.
Since each election is different, election planners strategise differently each time. Political parties prepare their strategies according to the prevailing ground realities, challenges and issues. Tactics and political strategy change from one elections to the other.
Even if one had to judge the BJP’s demand on standards of popular expectations, then one would have to ask about the advantages and disadvantages of such a proposition. Looking at the past, one would have to draw the latest example. Former Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was declared the BJP’s prime ministerial face in 2013 and he was found the most deserving too. People voted on his name and image overwhelmingly. Has he delivered or has he stood out on popular expectations? Answer may be a mix of yes and no, but many may also be saying that Modi failed him.
Now, let us look at the 2004 general elections. That time, it was a foregone conclusion that the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee would return to power. But electoral results threw up the Congress as the single largest party. It was a common expectation that the then Congress chief Sonia Gandhi would be the automatic choice of the prime minister. The turn of events sprang a surprise, catapulting Dr. Manmohan Singh on the prime ministerial chair.
Manmohan Singh remained the country’s prime minister for 10 years. If an honest assessment of his performance was to be made, then he would now pass both the popular as well as experts’ test with reasonably good marks.
Let us go back a little more to the year 1989 when Vishwanath Pratap Singh was the prime ministerial face of many opposition parties that had merged into the Janata Dal. The Janata Dal became the single largest party after the general elections held in December 1989 and thus was invited to form the government. Both the Left as well as the BJP extended support to the Janata Dal government. And V.P. Singh became the eighth Prime Minister of the country, with soaring popular expectations. His government, however, lasted only 11 months. A fair and honest assessment of his government is in all possibility might be negative. He miserably failed on popular expectations as well as in the scrutiny of experts.
In the 1984 general elections, held after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, who had become the prime minister, was the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress. People voted for him knowing enough about him. People rejected him in the 1989 general elections. Judging his five years rule, there may be a split verdict of the jury. Some may approve while others may express disappointment.
The knowledge and understanding of the past and the fundamental of democratic practice do not put any constraints on political parties to declare their prime ministerial choices. It is not mandatory.
So, it would be fair to leave the judgement and wisdom to announce the prime ministerial candidate or not to individual parties or to the collective leadership of an alliance. Let people be the final judge.
The views expressed above belong to the author(s). ORF research and analyses now available on Telegram! Click here to access our curated content — blogs, longforms and interviews.
Satish Misra was Senior Fellow at ORF. He has been a journalist for many years. He has a PhD in International Affairs from Humboldt University ...
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