Laloo as thermostat

There are few things more dangerous for democracy than politicians who acquire a sense of impunity. Laloo Prasad Yadav’s attempts to distribute hundred rupee notes may not be monetarily or politically significant. It is probably impossible to measure the impact such gestures have on Bihar’s complicated voting arithmetic. And if voters can be so easily bribed, they ought to at least be blamed as much as those who bribe them.

But there is little doubt that this was another instance of Laloo Prasad Yadav’s I-dare-you attitude towards state institutions. The fact that he could engage in such gestures and even create an apprehension that trains were to be diverted to serve the cause of the RJD, just days after the Election Commission’s code of conduct came into effect, suggests that he is on the verge of convincing himself that he can cross any line and push any convention. But it appears, at least this time, the EC will hold him to account. But then such tussles with state institutions are not new for him. Like many other politicians he has, for close to a decade, survived investigations by the CBI and strictures from the judiciary. He has an astonishing capacity to convert his controversial stances into palpable electoral advantage. The fact that the RJD has postponed its proposed rally in Patna, so as not to invite more wrath from the EC, merely reinforces his political message. This move, it appears, is not an act of deference towards the EC. On the contrary. Laloo Prasad Yadav appears to be making the claim that the EC itself is politically motivated and acting under NDA pressure. The Bihar supremo with the mantle of democratic populism will, in appearing to prudently comply with the rule of law, mock it again.

This episode raises enduringly difficult questions about the nature and character of Indian democracy. If compliance with sensible rules of conduct during elections can be secured only by intervention from the EC, how secure will democracy remain in the long run? We are in a situation where politician’s bait institutions and pull back just before the point where there might be in an irrevocable confrontation with them. As, the RJD’s cancellation of the rally indicates, such formal deference will continue. But is the point near where some major political force will openly defy these institutions and precipitate a crisis? If such defiance comes, any institutional resolution will not be easy. For we have to admit that leaders like Laloo Prasad Yadav still carry significant popular constituencies behind them. For the moment, the EC’s writ continues to run. But we ought to wonder how many more storms Indian democracy will have to weather.