Political competition, greed hindering participation in our multi-party democracy

By Harasankar Adhikari
People’s participation is the absolute method to ensure the progress of people by the people. Democracy and democratic rules are being enacted in India for this specific purpose. In India, democratic rights (mainly within the limit of only voters’ rights) have been established to form a democratic government by the elected representatives of a multi-party political system. The enactment of the Panchayat Raj Act has ensured people’s participation at the grass-root. The strengthening of local self-government is a major instrument. Is this enough for a democratic nation? Is it an effective measure to honour people? Locals serve as stooges for various political leaders in various hierarchies. They have no right to say the truth. When they want to speak out against malpractice or corruption, they are silenced or threatened by democratic leaders and their administration. Sometimes, they have fitted themselves within the system of corruption or malpractice.
What does "participation" mean? It is the voluntary contribution by people to projects, but without their taking part in the decision-making process; it is the sensitization of people to increase their receptivity and ability to respond to development projects; it is an active process – fostering a dialogue between the local people and policy planners; it is the voluntary involvement of people in self-determined change; and it is involvement in people’s development of themselves, their lives, and their environment. Participation has two folds – instrumental participation (when participation is viewed as a way of achieving certain specific targets, and transformational participation (when participation is viewed as an object in and of itself, and as a means of achieving some higher objectives such as self-help and/or sustainability.
Unfortunately, political competition and the greed of political leaders divert our true sense of participation in our multi-party democracy. Participation is color-based or political party-centric. Corruption has had an impact on all aspects of democracy. of implementation of development and relief activities of the government witnesses the same. Here, the selection of beneficiaries of different schemes, i.e. BPL card, MGNEGRA – job cards, old age pension, and relief during disasters, is according to the will of the political party and its leaders. It is a sincere technique to make people dominant and dependent on a particular political party. People are either corrupted or made silent in their corruption. Their participation is threatened or feared.
Recently, corruption has been reported as rampant (in West Bengal). Corruption has spread over all wings in every sphere of daily life. Development and corruption are now synonymous. The ruling government of West Bengal claims that Bengal is "floating with development". Now they are making an effort to see Bengal as "Viswa Bangla". Of course, it is limited only to publicity with a logo. There are several development activities (full corruption). Corruption is being officialised. People are mostly silent spectators. They see nothing, they speak nothing, but they know everything. It is a matter of hope that the judiciary has taken an active role in ending it.
Charlie Chaplin once remarked, ‘the misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed- the bitterness of men who fear the way of progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people, will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.’
Will we look to the future? Or we have to join our hands to save ourselves.

Comments

Plastic burning in homes threatens food, water and air across Global South: Study

By Jag Jivan In a groundbreaking study spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma* As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Economic superpower’s social failure? Inequality, malnutrition and crisis of India's democracy

By Vikas Meshram India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor* A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

The greatest threat to our food system: The aggressive push for GM crops

By Bharat Dogra Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today.

History, culture and literature of Fatehpur, UP, from where Maulana Hasrat Mohani hailed

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* Maulana Hasrat Mohani was a member of the Constituent Assembly and an extremely important leader of our freedom movement. Born in Unnao district of Uttar Pradesh, Hasrat Mohani's relationship with nearby district of Fatehpur is interesting and not explored much by biographers and historians. Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri has written a book on Maulana Hasrat Mohani and Fatehpur. The book is in Urdu. He has just come out with another important book, 'Hindi kee Pratham Rachna: Chandayan' authored by Mulla Daud Dalmai.' During my recent visit to Fatehpur town, I had an opportunity to meet Dr Mohammad Ismail Azad Fatehpuri and recorded a conversation with him on issues of history, culture and literature of Fatehpur. Sharing this conversation here with you. Kindly click this link. --- *Human rights defender. Facebook https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat , X @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat

Transgender Bill testimony of Govt of India's ‘contempt’ for marginalized community

Counterview Desk India’s civil society network, National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM)* has said that the controversial transgender Bill, passed in the Rajya Sabha on November 26, which happened to be the 70th anniversary of the Indian Constitution, is a reflection on the way the Government of India looks at the marginalized community with utter contempt.

Search This Blog