On board the President’s aircraft: Indian political parties do learn lessons from the people’s mandate and do a mid-course correction as was evident from the fact that the country has seen stable governments for the past decade and a half despite fractured mandates, said President Pranab Mukherjee, during an informal chat with reporters on his return from Allahabad on Wednesday
“There is an unwritten understanding among parties since 1999 that stability in governance should not be disturbed,” he said.
The President shared his views on wide ranging issues like the strength of Indian democracy, the lessons people teach to political parties, simplicity of elected representatives, the changing trends in elections, advent of social media and the power of language and art in uniting people.
Asked whether the people of Andhra Pradesh would be relieved of uncertainty in the new year, the President replied diplomatically: “As I said, in our democracy, people and political parties address and resolve all issues.”
Referring to the country facing elections five times between 1989 and 1999 instead of three, the President said a section of people, including the media, strongly advocated Constitutional changes to ensure stability.
The President averred that several Chief Ministers and ministers had practised the highest levels of austerity and simplicity in the past. They lived in two-bed room flats and ran the administration for a long time. Even election expenditure was kept to a minimum.
“All that the candidates did was to follow a designated party worker in a car sent by the party and address people wherever they were told to,” he recalled.
The President’s observations gained significance in the backdrop of Aam Admi Party making big news out of its leader Aravind Kejriwal refusing official bungalows for him and his ministers.
Asked how he is preparing for an eventful year ahead when the country goes in for a general election, Mukherjee said he believes democracy will always win in the end.
“Some political parties may win and some may lose but it is always democracy that stands winner. In the latest round of elections in Chhattisgarh, people voted in large numbers despite Maoists giving a boycott call,” he said.
The President has also found a welcoming development in the increasing vote percentage, which he says is a reflection of people’s faith in the system.
About one per cent of voters exercising the ‘none of the above’ option in the latest elections, he said, “It is one form of expression and I am sure political parties will learn lessons from it and change accordingly.”
