Citizens into supplicants

Parties promise goods, without assuring functioning public institutions and equality of opportunity

‘World’s biggest exercise’: Media in China focuses on scale of Indian elections — In their pronouncements, Congress and BJP face the challenge of performing an economic balancing act — of creating wealth and also alleviating poverty.

The major political parties have all released their manifestos for the parliamentary elections. Each manifesto represents the political angst of the parties — the repentant tone of the Congress, the assertive stance of the BJP, the negotiated compromise of the SP as it aligns with the BSP and RLD, the hesitant political ideology of the CPM, and the brash declarations of the TMC. Amid long declarations of intent that range from foreign policy to the rights of children, each party promises governance that seeks to alleviate all our national problems. What none of the parties tells us is how they would themselves subscribe to the norms of democracy — how would they uphold the rule of law, and check the ongoing spread of the culture of impunity?