I should be celebrating my party’s unprecedented electoral
victory. I am not saying I was
disappointed, don’t get me wrong. I am thrilled that the BJP took the Congress
Party to the cleaners. I am thrilled
that Narendra Modi whipped Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi. I raised a cheer or too. I welled up watching my leader being sworn in
as Prime Minister. I had my euphoric
moment. But now is now, euphoric moment
has passed and the morning after has dawned.
I would be lying if I said I expected to be made a
minister. There are so many of us and
even if we had a bigger cabinet, I would have been surprised if I was one of
the chosen few. Still, there’s a tinge
of sadness even if I resolve to be reasonable about it. For once, my nationalism took a step back and
I looked wistfully at non-Indian realities. My gaze, in particular, shifted
from Narendraji’s face to that of one of the guests, Mahinda Rajapaksa. My thoughts left Delhi and landed in Colombo.
I closed my eyes and started comparing and contrasting. That cabinet and this, that constitution and
ours. If only I was a member of the Sri
Lankan Parliament!
People might compare our 45 minister with the dozens and
dozens of ministers in Sri Lanka, but they should also divide the number of MPs
by the number of ministers. That would
show that we have a tiny cabinet which might fit one of the drawers in Sri
Lanka’s massive ministerial chest. If
only I was a politician in Sri Lanka, I can’t help thinking.
After the ceremony I went home and did some research. I figured out why Sri Lanka has so many
ministers. It’s about the constitution,
the electoral system and about a landmark decision of the Supreme Court that
helped MPs cross from one party to another. I should qualify the last: it’s
about one-way traffic – from Opposition ranks to those of the Government.
The proportional representation system, I found it, made it
virtually impossible for any party to get an outright majority on its own at
any general election. Coalitions were necessary. Coalition agreements naturally included
pledges of ministerial portfolios. It
gets even better after elections.
Governments that want to consolidate can move from a simple majority to
enjoying a decisive advantage in numbers, even to the point of having a
two-thirds majority. All they have to do
is to coax some opposition MPs to cross-over.
That’s on the surface. I found
out that the carrots offered are unbelievable, that they are rich in and of themselves
and also have the potential to generate many more benefits.
I found that the President can appoint a minister from any
party represented in Parliament. In other words any MP is up for grabs, subject
of course to the particular MP being willing. Well, who would be unwilling if the offer made
is tailored to stated requirement? Heck
it doesn’t even matter which party one contests from. That political heaven, folks. There’s always a good chance of being offered
a place in Ministerial Paradise in Sri Lanka.
Small is beautiful for many reasons, I’ve concluded. India is just too big a monster. Sri Lanka is perfect. I don’t know the name of the judge but the
man who sanctioned a pathway to a destination called ‘Minister’ ought to be
called the Patron Saint of Politicians.
I am in India. I feel
underprivileged, all of a sudden.
*In a parallel universe of course
1 comments:
Funny! But let us not forget that India is made up of several Federal states and each state has its own very powerful Ministers. SO-altogether many more than 44! I dont think any of them would want to transfer to Sri Lanka.
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