VP Dhankhar calls for national debate to address shift from democracy to ‘emotion driven policies’
Mumbai, March 6 (IANS) Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday called for a national debate on the shift from democracy to ‘emotion-driven policies, emotion-driven debates’ discourses that threaten good governance.
“Historically, populism is bad economics. And once a leader gets attached to populism, it is difficult to get out of the crisis. The central factor must be the good of the people, the largest good of the people, the lasting good of the people. Empower people to empower themselves rather than empower them momentarily because that affects their productivity,” he said in his inaugural address at the first ‘Murli Deora Memorial Dialogues’ on the theme ‘Leadership and Governance’ in Mumbai.
He expressed deep concern over the emergence of appeasement politics and placatory strategies across the political spectrum.
“There is emergence of a new strategy, and the strategy is of appeasement or being placatory. If there is excessive spending on electoral promises, then the state’s ability to invest in infrastructure is correspondingly reduced. This is detrimental to the growth scenario. The election is important in democracy but not the end of it. I would call upon the leadership of all political parties in the interest of democratic values to generate a consensus that engaging in such electoral promises, which can be performed only at the cost of CAPEX expenditure of the state, must be reviewed. Some governments that took recourse to this appeasement and placatory mechanisms are finding it very difficult to sustain in power,” he said.
He clarified that affirmative action for marginalised communities is distinct from appeasement politics.
He further said: “I should not be misunderstood, ladies and gentlemen, because while the Indian Constitution has given us the right of equality, it does provide in Article 14, 15, and 16 an acceptable category of affirmative governance—affirmative action, the reservation for SC, ST, for those who are in the economically weaker section. That is sanctified. There are exceptional situations for rural India, for the farmer, where affirmative steps are required to be taken. But this is very distinct from the other aspects I was talking about. This is not placatory or appeasing. It is justifiable economic policy. And therefore, it is good leadership that can take a call on where to draw the line in the fiscal sense in the matter of political foresight and leadership spine.”
Highlighting demographic challenges and illegal migration, the Vice President said: “The Nation houses millions of illegal migrants causing a demographic upheaval. Millions of illegal migrants are in this country making a huge demand on our health services, and education services. They are depriving our people of employment opportunities. Such elements have alarmingly secured electoral relevance in some areas and their securing electoral relevance is shaping the essence of our democracy. Emerging dangers can be evaluated through historical reference where nations were swept of their ethnic identity by similar demographic invasions.”
–IANS
sj/dan
