Swarajya, October 1, 1960
A vested interest has grown for the ruling party in the ballot box and in the servility of people which can be exploited through the tentacles of the 'welfare State'. The conditions of government now brought into existence, viz., all-embracing controls and regulations of all kinds over the business community, and the issue of subsidies of all kinds to influential groups in the rural area, make the ballot box, together with general ignorance and cupidity, into a vicious and gigantic vested interest for the Congress Party.
Once put in power, the economic controls, licences and monopolies, which it has in its power to give and take away, furnish it with the means of perpetuation for all time. The party collects funds from the big companies that are under its power, and make any opposition practically impossible.
It is the same evil genius that leads them to say that they will not allow a caretaker government to rule during election. 'There is no precedent for this in Western democracies," they say. And there are people who still think the Congress is the only party that can rule, though this belief is growing less and less every day.
John Stuart Mill wrote in his book on Representative Government:
(Good government in India can be attained through) far wider political conceptions than merely English or European practice can supply, and through a much more profound study of Indian experience and of the conditions of Indian government, than either English politicians or those who supply the English public with opinions have hitherto shown any willingness to undertake.
These words were written long ago when British statesmen were considering reforms. But the truth seen by the insight of great men, like John Stuart Mill, was not only for the occasion they wrote for, but valid for all time. We have seen the working of the ballot box in India. A vested interest has grown for the ruling party in the ballot box and in the servility of people which can be exploited through the tentacles of the 'welfare State'. The conditions of government now brought into existence, viz., all-embracing controls and regulations of all kinds over the business community, and the issue of subsidies of all kinds to influential groups in the rural area, make the ballot box, together with general ignorance and cupidity, into a vicious and gigantic vested interest for the Congress Party.
Once put in power, the economic controls, licences and monopolies, which it has in its power to give and take away, furnish it with the means of perpetuation for all time. The party collects funds from the big companies that are under its power, and make any opposition practically impossible. When this is pointed out by those interested in creating an Opposition party against this Leviathan, it is made into an argument in its own favour. "Ha! See they confess they can never win. Therefore, vote for us who will surely be the winning party." Wrong doing cannot, however, go on for ever. Nemesis is awaiting. There is a natural law that brings Evil's downfall by its own weight. It is this that led the Congress, in spite of the glaring immorality of the Opposition, to oppose the amendment to prohibit company funds being donated to it by managements depending on the favours and the goodwill of the Government. It is the same evil genius that leads. them to say that they will not allow a caretaker government to rule during election. 'There is no precedent for this in Western democracies," they say. There is no precedent for all that the Congress Party is doing to perpetuate its own power through the opportunities enjoyed when holding office, particularly through the Planning programme which gives it a long-term mortgage over the will of the voter "We must have the money; we must have government in our hands; otherwise how can we win?' ask the Congress bosses. And there are people who still think the Congress is the only party that can rule, though this belief is growing less and less every day.
