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The Lok Sabha 2009 elections are over and the UPA government is back into office. Comparisons between the 2009 results with the 2004 elections do not show major shifts in the thinking of the Indian voter.
• At a macro level the National parties combined together did not lose too many seats to regional and unrecognized parties.
• There was no major shift in the number of shifts of the state/regional parties, unrecognized parties and Independents.
What do the 2009 LS elections indicate ?
| National Parties |
LS 2009 |
%age |
LS 2004 |
%age |
| Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) |
21 |
|
19 |
|
| Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) |
116 |
|
138 |
|
| Communist Party of India |
4 |
|
10 |
|
| Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
16 |
|
43 |
|
| Indian National Congress |
206 |
|
145 |
|
| Nationalist Congress Party |
9 |
|
9 |
|
| Rashtriya Janata Dal |
4 |
|
|
|
| Total |
376 |
69% |
364 |
67% |
| State and Regional Parties |
146 |
27% |
159 |
29% |
| Unrecognized Parties |
12 |
2% |
15 |
3% |
| Independents |
9 |
2% |
5 |
1% |
| Grand Total |
543 |
|
543 |
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The results in favour of the UPA coalition is a clear indicator that the citizens of India wanted stability especially in the light of divergent stance taken by the UPA and the Left front on many issues of National importance like the Indo-US nuclear deal, disinvestment of PSUs and many others.
The bigger question to ask is that as a nation do we want only stability from our Government or better governance ?
Geriatric Politics
Based on our experience and observation we know that our MPs are too old and should pave a way for the younger generation. After all half of India is less than 27 years old.
See the chart below.
* During the 1st Lok Sabha 80% of our MPs were 55 years and below –
surely the right age and experience mix to govern the country.
* In the 14th Lok Sabha only 55% of the MPs are 55 years and below.
Surely not an adequate representation of the youth of our country.
* The number of MPs in the age bracket of 71-100has been steadily increasing
from 0% in the Ist Lok Sabha to nearly 8% in the 14th Lok Sabha.
Guess the saying of “Once an MP always an MP” would certainly be appropriate.
Criminalisation of Politics
|
|
2004 |
2009 |
Increase |
% Increase |
|
MPs with criminal records |
128 |
161 |
33 |
25.78% |
|
Total Pending Criminal cases |
429 |
512 |
83 |
19.35% |
|
MPs with pending serious criminal charges |
55 |
75 |
20 |
36.36% |
|
Serious charges |
302 |
272 |
-30 |
-9.93% |
Source : Association of Democratic Reforms. www.adrindia.org
We all knew that many a politician has a criminal background. What we did not expect is that these numbers would only increase. 161 MPs in the 2009 Lok Sabha have criminal records out of which 75 have serious criminal charges.
With all the media publicity as well as work done many an NGO to raise awareness of “No criminals in politics” this situation is only getting from bad to worse.
Does this mean that our judicial system cannot dispose of these criminals behind bars quickly enough or as voters we shut a blind eye to the politician’s criminal background ? Or is it both ?
Does Parliament debate Issues Enough ?
Source : Annual report 2008-09, Government of India, Ministry of Parliamentary affairs.
The total time spent on debating the various bills presented in Parliament is only 236 hours. This translates to only about 30 days of debate over a period of approximately 156 days when Parliament is in session.
Is this enough ? Are the debates also carried out in a non-partisan, enlivening and enriching manner ?
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