From speaking engagements to dinner with friends, one question continues to be asked: Why isn’t corruption going away? The question baffles the educated middle classes. Why is a reasonable, universal and noble demand for an honest society so difficult to achieve in a democracy?
The despair increased after the results of the Karnataka assembly elections. The Congress went to the polls right during the double whammy of the Coalgate-CBI-Supreme Court fiasco and the railway scam. In most parts of the civilised world, such scams at election time would render the party untouchable. And yet, the Congress won.
Some experts argue Karnataka is an exception. They say the election was less a Congress victory and more the BJP`s loss, whatever that means. People voted against the BJP`s corruption, said analysts. Yes, but why the Congress? After all, there was a third and fourth alternative. Also, the BJP had severed ties with the corruption-tainted Yeddyurappa. He made his own party and took some votes.
So did corruption do the BJP in, or did removing the corrupt guy actually hurt the BJP? Such contradictions can be a topic of perpetual discussion. However, one thing is clear. Both the Cong-ress and Yeddy were mired in corruption scandals. Both managed to take a large number of votes. One of them actually won a majority.
Frustrated, the educated middle class comes up with elitist theories like “90% of Indians are stupid” or “most voters are dumb”. None of this is true. The Indian voter is rational. However, he is rational within his own framework. It is important to grasp the demographics and social context of Indian voters.
Sure, at one level everybody wants to remove corruption. Every Indian would like a clean society. However, not every Indian feels it is the number one priority. For a lot of Indians, corruption doesn`t determine their voting behaviour. Removing corruption is important to them. However, it is not as important as, say, one or more of these three motives: a) asserting themselves and their identity, b) feeling safe in society, c) obtaining some instant gratification from politicians at voting time.
Clever politicians understand this. They work to deliver on these promises and in return, are allowed to be corrupt by the voters. This often occurs amongst the section of voters who have historically been oppressed, or see themselves as a subjugated minority.
Of course, this is an oversimplified generalisation. The situation is changing too. However, the broad undercurrents that determine our voting patterns remain. For there are Muslim voters or lower-caste voters or low-income voters who want corruption removed more than anything else. However, a lot of Muslims also vote to feel safe (hence they may avoid voting BJP). Many low-income voters would rather have ‘bird-in-hand freebies’ at election time (as later on the politician will forget them, a completely rational view). Similarly, many lower-caste voters may feel happy to see their community’s candidate in power, as it makes life seem a little fairer after generations of oppression.
With such conflicting agendas, the issue of corruption gets clouded. Voting patterns do show corruption as a variable (hence ministers step down). However, it is not the top influencer yet. Thus, a corrupt party can enjoy power as long as it keeps the oppressed classes happy, and can play Robin Hood to them. Every party knows this, thus every party is corrupt to varying degrees.
In some ways, the stickiness of corruption is the revenge of the oppressed. It is we, the educated, usually upper-class, upper-caste Hindus, who are empowered enough to have higher order needs of an honest and fair society. The oppressed won’t let us have it just yet. They do want to remove corruption, but they want certain injustices fixed and other scores settled. For this, they send agents to power, who might loot the nation, but protect them and even share the booty through the occasional handout.
It isn’t fair to the present generation of youth, who want a corruption-free India to maximise opportunities above anything else. However, there were centuries of unfairness the oppressed had to bear too.
Will it ever change? Well, yes. It has to change because the current plunder and redistribution is a highly inefficient model for societal fairness. We are a poor country. There isn’t much to plunder anyway. The solution lies in setting aside differences for a while. The upper-caste, upper-class Hindus have to let go of their bigotry and prejudice. The oppressed have to let go of their justified, but expensive urge for revenge and retribution. All over the world, the oppressed have only risen through self-empowerment — look at the Jews and the Parsis. Oppressed community voters are realising many of their current representatives have harmed the nation, filled their own pockets and done little for them.
We are not a nation of stupid voters. We are simply a nation where people want different things, and that’s okay. However, removing corruption will require it to be made the number one priority for all Indians. It is a secular issue, and removing it will help everyone. When the roof of the house is leaky, you need to fix the roof first rather than fight family feuds. We do become one during cricket matches, and we have won the World Cup. If we can become one on this issue of fighting corruption, we will be able to win against it as well. Game for it?