Irrespective of who retains the coveted seat in the end, the fact remains that the people of Maharashtra have lost in a big way

Henry Luis Mencken (1880-1956), a well-known American journalist and essayist, once wrote: “As democracy is perfected, the office of President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” As we sit back and watch the impeachment drama play out in the United States (US), one cannot help but marvel at Mencken’s prescience. The election of Donald Trump does seem to suggest that the American public has indeed found its inner soul. But as to whether it has really perfected democracy in the process remains questionable. Especially, more so, if it was to compare itself to what passes for democracy in India. In short order, they would then realise the distance they have yet to cover to reach true perfection.

As a matter of fact, Americans would do well to follow the power play in Maharashtra, which incidentally is only the latest manifestation of what perfection in a democracy looks like and has all the ingredients of a true Bollywood potboiler. That is the only way in which realisation would dawn on them that Mencken’s deductions were slightly awry. Invariably in perfect democracies, it is not the political leaders who are morons but the people who voted them to power. That is the fundamental reality we have been confronting ever since Independence, regardless of the political ideologies of the parties we vote into power.

Whatever the host of legal eagles, who fought the case in the Supreme Court, said to justify their arguments and regardless of the apex court’s order for a floor test in the Assembly today, which prompted Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to throw in the towel and quit, the simple truth of the matter is that for all sides concerned, Maharashtra is too important to lose.

To start with, the inability to form the Government in Maharashtra is not just a simple loss of face but utter humiliation for the BJP, and more importantly, for its mentors from Nagpur, located in the heart of the State. If they cannot control their own fiefdom, what control will they exercise tomorrow over the rest of the country, more so given that elections are due in Bihar and Jharkhand in the coming months?

Similarly for the Shiv Sena, after having openly cast aside the cloak of morality and gambled everything, including the kitchen sink, in its blatant attempt to go one up and grab the chief ministership for Balasaheb’s scion, a loss now after a defeated BJP has left the floor open for it, would spell utter disaster and lead to questions of survivability of the dynasty.

For the NCP, and especially the Pawars, being on the winning side is the only hope for redemption for past transgressions. As events have played out, it is now obvious that the younger Pawar was carried away by the brashness of youth (and is obviously bitterly regretting it now, if his resignation is anything to go by) and the fact that leadership of the party would remain just a mirage due to circumstances of birth as long as the elder Pawar has any say in the matter.

Finally, for the Congress that continues to be on the ventilator, this turn of events is an unexpected bonus, a fleeting opportunity to start again.The party has already indicated that it will ask for the Maharashtra Governor’s resignation and has also questioned the President’s role.

While each of these stakeholders had their own particular motivations for their actions, however, the most important incentive for all in this battle royal for the stewardship of the State was the simple fact that not only is Maharashtra a large State, governing which is undoubtedly prestigious, but also an extremely rich one. It doesn’t exactly require a leap of faith to suggest that whosoever controls the money controls the votes. After all, is that not the very reason that controversy dogs the issue of electoral bonds that were introduced not too long ago? Leave aside mundane issues of malfeasance, personal greed, overarching ambition and rank opportunism, what was indeed truly astounding to see was the utter lack of constitutional propriety and ethical conduct on the part of those charged with its very protection. For them to let petty loyalties and servility take precedence over self-respect and principled conduct is not just a reflection on how unworthy they are to hold such positions of eminence but, also a shameful blot on our social mores that encourage such people to claw their way up, despite lacking an iota of integrity or moral fibre.

One cannot but feel embarrassment for the President, a former advocate, who unquestioningly accepts the recommendations of a Prime Minister without the requisite Cabinet approval, justified by the use of a most inappropriate rule to cover the lapse. That such a rule can be invoked at the dead of night to swear-in a Government at dawn, in the futile hope that it would provide stability, after weeks of confusion, is indeed laughable, if it were not so tragic. Now, with these fast-paced developments, we don’t really know which way this cliffhanger is going and who will emerge the eventual winner, (the Sena-NCP-Congress combine has staked claim). But we already know who has lost. Unmistakably that has been the people of Maharashtra who were, in Mencken’s words “moronic” enough to vote these ingrates into power.

 (The writer is a military veteran and consultant with the Observer Research Foundation and a Senior Visiting Fellow with The Peninsula Foundation, Chennai)