Day 60 – Case Study Q 1.
1. Your home state just witnessed a bitterly fought election. The main contending parties competed tooth and nail to come to power. The election campaign saw rival politicians make serious allegations against each other. Money and muscle power played prominent roles in the election. However, the results surprised the electorate as the final count of votes suggested a hung assembly. In this scenario, the party having the least number of seats became the most powerful player in the political dynamics of the state. It negotiated a grand bargain with the second placed party and decided to form an alliance to deny the single largest party a chance to form the government. In return, the chair of the Chief Minister would go to the leader of that party. While this alliance took place, you started wondering whether what was happening was ethical. The parties which were so bitterly opposed to each other had now come together to form the government. Even the single largest party made many attempts to induce defections and make the elected MLAs of the opposition parties change loyalties in order to have a shot at forming the government, but to no avail. The dance of democracy had taken an ugly turn as no party in reality had the absolute mandate to govern. The tendency to cling to power had blinded the political parties and all of them had tried everything possible to come to power.
Now, on the basis of your reading of the preceding two paragraphs, answer the following questions:
- Can politics be all about power? If no, then what would remain as the driving force for someone to enter politics?
- Is it ethical for elected representatives to shift loyalties after getting elected?
- Had you been the leader of the second largest party, would your conscience have allowed you to enter into an alliance to form the government?
