Democracy in the country, touted as the largest in the world, appears to be oscillating from order that was in the initial years to disorder after seven-plus decades, going by the media portrayal of the people’s representatives elected to various Legislative bodies in successive polls. The renowned academician, a two-time ambassador of the United States of America to India during 1950s, Prof. John Kenneth Galbraith has been quoted saying India’s Democracy is a functioning anarchy. One cannot be faulted to place more emphasis on the second term of the diplomat’s expression (anarchy), although the set-up appears to be functioning, thanks to the presence of some able elected representatives in the Government at the top, marked by the recently happening sequence in which persons with proven calibre are departing. Not sending representatives to any of the Legislative bodies with the necessary credentials to first debate on issues as befits Democracy cannot be blamed on the electorate at large for the simple reason of persons of straw are the choice of the political parties to contest in the polls.
The think tank that authored the land’s Constitution may very well have missed envisioning the shape of things in later years with respect to precisely spelling out the credentials of those aspiring to represent people, except prescribing minimum age and to be of sound mind. Expecting the present crop of vote-mongers to right that wrong amounts to asking for the moon.
