In Indian history, we have seen various systems of governance, from national level to the local level, and the issue of how to regulate power is something that we in India have dwelled upon, and has been an eternal subject of discussion throughout human society and human history. One is always looking for ways of how to regulate powers better!
In India some of the PM have held tremendous amount of power, while others have had little power.
What is the UPA Model for Power?
- Lately Congress has developed a model in which power resides in the Family which is seen by all in the Congress as the only means of cohesion of the platform and thus the only means for provision of power of the various individual power centers.
- The Family has extended this model to outside the party, where Congress is then seen as the necessary glue for the cohesion of various disparate parties based on individual charisma of their leaders. For this model to work, Congress naturally has to produce the biggest chunk of power in Parliament in order to build a coalition around it.
- The Family has developed a unique form of power - Power through Renunciation of Power. Sonia Gandhi had her moment on May 17, 2004 when she declined the position of PM. Rahul Gandhi had his moment lately in AICC Chintan Shivir in Jaipur on Jan 30, 2013 when he pronounced "Power is Poison". It means finding a person to sit as PM who owns his position exclusively to the Family, who acts as the Face of Power for the People of India but where all the power-holders know that real power lies with the Family. Thus one has all the power and no responsibility. If the PM becomes unpopular one day, he can be replaced easily with another "Responsible Technocrat" without any own power base.
So what they are renouncing is not Power, but rather only the Face of Power and thus Responsibility. - What is that then what the Family provides to all its power centers? Mostly it is freedom from persecution on real or trumped up charges by the various "intelligence agencies" IB, CBI, etc. which they control. Secondly the Congress allows these power centers to not come in the cross-fire from media, again an institution which is controlled by Family's hangers on. Thirdly it provides access to funds, by being in power - i.e. corruption. So even if corruption is exposed, and some power centers have to take the brunt of public ire, and new power centers arising from this would again have to turn to the Family in order to avail of the resources of the country, naturally for a cut.
- Another spoke of power is actually by entering into a trade of power with other world powers and their power elites. On the one side this has to do with keeping all other powers happy, so that none targets the Family, e.g. for assassination or malignment/defamation. Secondly it has to do with foreign powers being able to provide channels for washing black money generated through corruption, as well as hoarding of looted cash.
- Still another form of power which the Family has started to use is that of providing ever more access to foreign missionaries to the the population. We have seen the Family warm up to the Saudis, where we had Al Sudais visiting Deoband. We have Christians missionaries trying to wean away Dalits to Christianity. Basically it is a strategy of putting the religious leadership of various communities in the firm hands of outsiders, so that through the Family's dealings with these outsiders, the outsiders can then through their religious management of various communities in India ensure vote banks for the Congress.
Power would always reside with those who crave for power and know how to translate that craving and there will always be a multitude of such people. One can't really stop that. That is how it is.
Our effort should be directed at
- The Face of Power should be the Center of Power as far as possible.
- This Power should have a very concrete enduring responsibility: to the people, to society, to Rashtra and to Civilization (PSRC)
- There should be a system in place which can truthfully assesses what are the current challenges to PSRC and how well this power has implemented its enduring responsibility and faced these challenges.
- The system should allow the survival and emergence of Multiple Candidates for Center of Power.
- There should be a system in place which allows a different Center of Power to be chosen from among the Candidates if PSRC are not satisfied.