Democratic elections commentary

The similarities between India and the U.S. continue to startle me.
I believe I’ve written before of the vitality of this democracy – despite the incredible challenges of poverty and overpopulation, voting is universally accepted and reasonably fair. The news media often uncover stories of attempted vote-buying and intimidation in certain places, but the election commission is widely regarded as fair. And the election commission has remarkable power. During the current state elections in Uttar Pradesh – one of the more populous and corrupt states – the commission prohibited billboards and even liquor sales before the election.

Politicking is confused by a cacophony of regional and interest-group parties. But the two major parties have counterparts in the U.S. Democratic / Republican split. Ronald Reagan’s slogan “It’s Morning in America” fit nicely with the BJP’s slogan “India Shining”; they share similar attitudes about the unique religious foundation of the nation, hold similar public links to their conservative religious counterparts, and hint broadly that “the others” are not really full citizens.
Recently I have noticed the flag-waving jingoism that I thought was unique to true red-blooded Americans is not so unique. India has rather stringent flag-desecration acts on the books, and each political party is eager to wrap itself in the flag, both literally and figuratively. Chris and Cole witnessed an impromptu flag ceremony last October at the border crossing between India and Pakistan.


The main opposition party, the BJP, roughly corresponding to the Republican Party in the U.S., recently filed a court brief claiming that key government offices could only be held by native-born candidates. This was apparently part of their ongoing attempt to discredit Rajiv Gandhi’s widow Sonia, who was Italian-born but now speaks better Hindi than most Indians. The (Indian) Supreme Court fortunately noted that the constitution makes no reference to birthplace requirements for any office.

Elections in UttarAkhand state

Our state recently held parliamentary elections in which the ruling National Democratic Alliance lost significantly, apparently due to inflation worries and anti-incumbency feeling. This was despite some rather blatant pandering – they even changed the name of the state from UttarAnchal to UttarAkhand, a more Hindu-traditional name. In a more generic attempt to appease the middle-class, the ruling party announced a reduction in the price of gasoline, a week before the election! Gas prices are fixed by the national government, with gas, diesel, LPG and kerosene prices all controlled. The prices are supposedly subsidized, though regular gasoline now costs $4.50/gallon; and that is at direct exchange rates (As we have noted before, lower average salaries make this doubly expensive compared to the U.S.)!
Just as in the U.S., one touchstone of electoral politics is the price of gasoline.
The two main political parties are the NDA and the BJP, roughly equivalent to our Democratic and Republican parties, respectively.
Democracy is vibrant in this country, though politicians are quite under-esteemed, because of the remnants of the patronage of the old socialist economy and widespread cronyism and corruption. Interestingly, the judicial system, and more specifically, the supreme court of each state, has become the most respected institution. And the Electoral Commissions of each state are seen as defenders of democracy, with surprisingly effective powers. The campaign poster shown here is for an independent candidate in Mussoorie. He lost, to the NDA candidate.