The crisis of legitimacy

Across the ideological spectrum, ruling political outfits in India's north and east are in trouble. If the Congress party is struggling to recover from a string of electoral setbacks in Punjab and Uttarakhand states, the Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is staring at defeat in the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh (slated to begin the first week of April). More strikingly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has been in power for the last three decades in West Bengal, is facing its toughest test yet, with the controversy over the setting up of Special Economic Zones on farmland, and the latest mass killing of protestors by the state police – egged on, allegedly, by party cadre. These are disparate and seemingly unconnected events, which can be explained away as part of the rough-and-tumble nature of popular politics. But there is a common thread here, as well – the legitimacy deficit faced by political parties in India, which are increasingly out of touch with the needs of the masses.

The loss of the Congress party in the state assembly elections, party leaders claim, can be explained by widespread 'anti-incumbency' sentiment. The Congress had been in power in both Punjab and Uttarakhand for its full tenure; the party is rife with in-fighting and factionalism, which have had implications on the provision of basic services, and led to poor governance. Incumbents have more often than not lost elections in recent years due to increasing public resentment. What this trend really reflects is the increasing disillusionment with the party in power. Rising expectations from elected representatives also seem to have played a role, and the failure to meet the expectations of the populace indicates an acute crisis of 'performance legitimacy'.

This same crisis will, in all likelihood, lead to UP strongman Mulayam Singh Yadav's defeat in the upcoming polls in his state. While at the time of writing the campaign is picking up steam – and, in the past, Yadav has shown an ability to bounce back – signs from UP indicate that the Lucknow administration has failed rather dramatically in its primary task of providing law and order, let alone performing other functions. In addition, Yadav has been accused of promoting the politician-criminal nexus, and making the state bureaucracy partisan. Several social groups within UP feel excluded from governance. The possible beneficiary of this situation is expected to be the Bhaujan Samaj Party, led by the Dalit leader Mayawati, who has not had a particularly bright record in office but is carving out a unique Brahmin-Dalit social coalition in the state. If Yadav does indeed lose, as opinion polls predict, he will only have to look back at his own tenure in government to understand why.

Ignoring inflation
While the failure to perform needs to inspire some serious introspection within parties, there is another alarming trend currently overtaking Indian politics. Powerful political groups do not seem to have learned any lesson from the National Democratic Alliance's disastrous 'India Shining' poll plank from 2004. Despite promises to cater to the aam aadmi (common person), the Congress has allowed its single-minded pursuit of high growth figures to have negative implications for inflation – which has now reached a high of 6.5 percent. This is hurting the common citizen. There is no doubt that India has gained enormously from a high growth trajectory, which hopefully will be sustained. But the costs must be recognised; in the face of increasing demand, supply-side constraints have resulted in the sharp rise in the price of basic commodities. The incumbent state governments – not to mention the central government – are vulnerable to the public disenchantment linked to inflation.

But if there is one instance in which parties have gone all out to woo big business at the cost of lives and livelihoods, it is by encouraging the creation of mini enclaves – Special Economic Zones (SEZs) – where corporates can exercise near-sovereign control, and enjoy 'friendly' labour laws and massive tax cuts, among other provisions. Land for this purpose, in most cases, is being forcibly appropriated from marginal farmers and landless labourers. And for those who thought that the mainstream left would provide alternative models in such an economic context, the CPI (M) has been in the forefront of this initiative in West Bengal.

This magazine recognises the complexities involved in economic policymaking – there is a need to woo foreign and private capital, which helps in creating infrastructure and generating employment. In a competitive environment, states and countries have to offer the best possible deal to investors. But this can never be the pretext for the state to forcibly acquire land from the poor, to refuse to engage in dialogue with the discontented, to offer dismal relief and rehabilitation packages, or (if dissent grows) to permit the massacre of protestors. The Left Front government has followed exactly this course – first in Singur, and now in Nandigram, where it did not hesitate to kill the common folk. Only after large-scale opposition and national outrage has the West Bengal government agreed not to extend its SEZ plans – for the time being.

Electoral ups and downs are natural in a polity. There are certain issues that will galvanise the opposition, even in a state where there is virtual one-party dominance. In addition, state security forces will occasionally overstep their brief. But what is happening in many parts of India at present reflects the increasing disconnect between people's expectations and the performance of parties – a worrying trend in any democracy. It also shows signs of a rise in illiberal politics and a tendency of ruling parties to side with powerful vested interests, rather than to accommodate them alongside the concerns of the marginalised.