Ordinance to protect convicted

Growth with justice should be on top of the voter's agenda

My respected banker friend and his equally qualified wife recently asked me over a heated discussion on Narendra Modi, what the minimum expectation from a government should be? My answer was justice. While growth has captured our imagination, justice is something that cannot be divested from the government’s responsibility.

Growth with justice would certainly be my true expectation from the government if it can qualify in the bracket of “minimum expectation”.   

But today, with the Union Cabinet reversing the Supreme Court judgement to disqualify convicted MPs and MLAs, I believe that political parties better understand the expectations of voters. This is true in the sense that barring the Communist Party of India and Biju Janta Dal, all other parties supported the ordinance.

The immediate impact is that there will be no bar on RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav from contesting elections even if he is convicted in the fodder scam case of 1996 (the judgement is due at the end of this month). 

The quantum of punishment of Congress MP Rashid Masood in a 23-year-old medical seat scam is also expected to be out on October 1. He will also be able to contest elections.  

And remember convicted politicians will again contest to become lawmakers and I am confident that people will queue up to ensure that they are back, may it be in the name of caste, religion or money, as each of these have an obvious role in our elections. Or they will vote in the name of growth as Congress boasts of the same.

What are we, as voters, asking for from elections? Or rather what should we be asking for from elections? Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed the agenda of elections to growth from Congress’ eternal poverty eradication slogan. And this worked well as it brought desired result. 

But why is justice not an agenda in the minds of voters? Why are Indians happy getting justice only for the rarest of rare cases? And is growth sustainable without justice?  These are some of the question voters need to ponder. Because at the end of day, you get only what you expect. And remember injustice is only apparently selective. If you think it will never affect you, then think again.