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Articles: TP Features | Politics of the Executive
- Mr. Sreenivas YL
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The very first discussion which was held in Jubilee Hall, Hyderabad witnessed acrimonious exchanges between officials and the representatives of political parties. For the first time the state witnessed officials blatantly calling political representatives all names and making allegations after allegations. The Government instead of instructing officials not to indulge in politics in fact encouraged them to make such statements. What the government forgot was the fact that the discussions had legislative sanction and therefore, the representatives at the discussion were in fact the representatives of the legislature. The executive was expected to offer clarifications but the executive trespassed all limits and started abusing the representative of the legislature. The government kept quiet since it suited them. After this there have been scores of occasions when officials of different departments did make political statements.
In the present issue- allegations of corruptions in Sri Pada Sagar Project- the government found itself isolated on the floor of the house. The combined opposition has been demanding production of files before Hon’ble speaker. All the parties including allies have criticized the government for willfully hiding information when there are serious charges of corruption. Government realized that even the people have become suspicious of it. Finding itself isolated on the issue, the government resorted to the old game of pitching the officials against the legislators. The officials go to the extent of stating that the legislators are using fake documents. There are institutions in the democratic set up and officially established procedures to verify the veracity of the documents. Instead of following them, the executive prefers political statements in the media against the legislators. This is something that disturbs all those who believe in democracy, for if we allow the executives to
make political statements, it will have serious and damaging repercussions. Political parties henceforth will use executive to settle political scores. Further, the contractors facing charges of corruption have a right to make their position clear but they should not be allowed to comment on the legislative process. Thus, the Sri Pada Sagar issue set two wrong precedents: 1 Officials making political statements while the discussion is on in the Assembly and before the expected response of the government and 2 Contractors commenting on what happened in the Assembly
Politicization of executive is the danger that the Indian democracy currently faces. Let us hope that the politicians will foresee the dangers of such engagements, transcending their temporary political interests.
-YL Srinivas
Associate Professor
Osmania University
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