THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

ANNUAL NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

India's Political Take-off

Rajni Kothari
In every developing political system two species of politics can be identified, the politics of ideology and
the polities of action. An analysis of the interaction between the two can throw up some of the most important
facets of the nature and direction of political change taking place in such a system.
In India this interaction has taken place under peculiar
factors need to be specially noted.

historical

and

institutional conditions.

Two

In the first place, the highly organised independence movement ensured that the Government to whom
power was transferred could count on a fairly long period of uninterrupted rule.
In the second place, however, it had to and to all appearances it wanted to function under a
political system in which success in elections was essential for political survival,
The first factor the stability of the Government led to an excessive
issues and a disregard by all parties of the practical problems of organisation.
missionary and romanticist fervour to build up an independent, strong and modern
the ideal of a 'continuous revolution, born during the movement for independence.
of what may be termed 'romantic polities'.

concern with ideological

This was helped by the
nation which derived from
This led to a long period

The second condition - the need to work within the framework of a democratic constitution led,
on the other hand, to a gradual change in the political climate to shifts in power and to a struggle for political ascendancy, which gained momentum with every election. The near-monopoly of power of the Congress
party, meant that this struggle for power was waged, for the most part, within the ruling party the
other parties exercising at best, a marginal influence on the changing fortunes of factions within the Congress.
The net result of this complex of interactions was a gradual widening of the gulf between the politics
of ideology
conducted at the higher ranks of the party; and the Politics of action conducted in the
'field'.
For a time' the 'bickerings' within the party were concealed behind the ideological smokescreen.
Hut now on the eve of the third General Elections, the struggle promises to come out into the open.
An attempt has been made here to indicate the emerging
possible direction it might take in the coming crucial decade.
THE tasks of n a t i o n - b u i l d i n g that
faced
I n d i a on
Independence
ere indeed f o r m i d a b l e . T h e maner in w h i c h the national leadership
approached the problems of consolidation and of preserving the u n i t y
the nation evoked a d m i r a l ion
from all quarters. T h e next task was
consider the aims and purposes
the new State was to pursue and the
i n s t i t u t i o n a l set-up required f o r full l i n g them.
T h i s task was also
performed in a t h o r o u g h
manner,
the a d o p t i o n of a federal-democratic
political structure and the setting up
If the P l a n n i n g
Commission were
consonance w i t h the purposes set
i n the C o n s t i t u t i o n , They p r o vided a workable f o r m a l apparatus
with w h i c h the social, economic
and p o l i t i c a l changes necessary for
driving out a m o d e r n State f r o m a
a d i t i o n a l society could be worked
at. A l l that was needed was orgatsation and d r i v e to give content to
t h e constitutional forms b y b u i l d '
up an institutional continuum
that w o u l d lay the basis of a free

pattern

and integrated society.

Such organisational effort had to use existing
institutions
and interest
groups,
m o b i l i s i n g latent h u m a n and mater i a l resources and attending to the
concrete
problems of
piecemeal
change. B u t w h i l e m u c h of the
work remained to be done in the
f o r m of activising the infra-structure of society, there was a sound
basis f r o m w h i c h to proceed an
atmosphere of general confidence in
the leadership and m u c h g o o d w i l l
and patience among the p o l i t i c a l l y
articulate.
I r o n i c a l l y , the very fat-tors that
made f o r s t a b i l i t y m i l i t a t e d against
the a d o p t i o n of a realistic altitude
towards the tasks of n a t i o n - b u i l d i n g .
The p o l i t i c a l
development of the
c o u n t r y after the a d o p t i o n of the
Constitution and
f o r m a t i o n of the
P l a n n i n g Commission can be r o u g h l y
d i v i d e d i n t o three phases: the first
h a l f of the nineteen fifties, m a r k e d
generally by p o l i t i c a l u n i t y , m o b i lisation of economic resources and
149

of

political

development

and

the

r u r a l u p l i f t ; the latter h a l f of the

fifties, m a r k e d by
complacency in
the Congress leadership and a gradual d r i f t into ideological p o l i t i c s ;
and. t h i r d , the period f r o m the beg i n n i n g of the sixties, m a r k e d by an
intense struggle f o r power and the
rise of a new p o l i t i c a l elite.
Preoccupation with Ideology
I shall not discuss the first p e r i o d
here except to say that some of the
seeds of the present struggle
especially the
manner in w h i c h a
new
leadership has emerged
were sown then. T h e second p e r i o d ,
starting r o u g h l y w i t h the linguistic
ferment in the country, is
crucial
for the
understanding of India's
political development. It was marked
by two interacting tendencies. There
was on the one hand, a feeling of
complacency a m o n g the
Congress
leadership, largely on account of the
ineffectiveness of the
opposition
parties a n d the successful i m p l e mentation of the First Plan. On

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

A N N U A L NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

150

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

the other h a n d , there was g r o w i n g
concern over 'fissiparous tendencies'
in the
p o l i t i c a l sphere a n d slow
progress of programmes, especially
on the a g r i c u l t u r a l f r o n t . The absence of p o l i t i c a l opposition and the
fact that the expected
'permanent
r e v o l u t i o n ' was somehow n o t coming
led to an increasing pre-occupation
w i t h ideological issues. Solemn resolutions, schemes,
blueprints and
"studies" that offered neat formulae
in sum a general rise of romantic
politics were the result. These
gave a special style and flavour to
the vocabulary of I n d i a n p o l i t i c s .
In the process, the w o r k of b u i l d i n g
up organisations and i n i t i a t i v e at
various levels was seriously neglected.

II
State of the Ruling P a r t y
This phase of development needs
closer examination. The p e r i o d was
marked by the quasi-monopolistic
position of the Congress. The trad i t i o n a l attitudes to political author i t y and the l i n g e r i n g p u b l i c image
of the Congress created d u r i n g the
freedom movement
buttressed its
position
further.
Secondly,
the
needs of centralised
p l a n n i n g and
ideology of a welfare State enabled
the r u l i n g p a r t y to control all avenues of power, not
s i m p l y in the
p o l i t i c a l sphere but in society as a
whole.
Its net of patronage was
cast far and wide. T h i r d l y , the
near-unanimity among most t h i n k i n g men, at home and abroad, on
the type of programme on w h i c h an
under-developed
country
should
launch made the r u l i n g p a r t y appear
to be the most i m p o r t a n t vehicle of
progress.
Such a situation bad two i m p o r t ant consequences.
As noted above,
lack of a real threat to the Congress
party's power led to concentration
on the goals to w h i c h the country
should move;
detached f r o m the
grim
considerations of power, the
orientation of politics became ideological. B u t since the ideology was
based less on a study of the society
in w h i c h it was to be practised and
more on i n t u i t i o n and abstract reasoning, and often u n c r i t i c a l i m i t a t i o n , politics became more and more
r o m a n t i c ; the missionary zeal of
the nationalist leadership gave w a y
to wishful t h i n k i n g .

ANNUAL NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

Rise of Romantic Politics
A socialistic pattern of society and
a co-operative
commonwealth, the
Utopia of a c o m m u n i t a r i a n order as
envisaged i n the
programme lor
'democratic
decentralisation',
the
m o r a l overtones
accompanying the
programmes f o r C o m m u n i t y Development, the ghost of disintegration
invented out of stray and unconnected manifestations of particularistic
behaviour and the
resultant bogey
of N a t i o n a l I n t e g r a t i o n , the approach to the m i n o r i t y p r o b l e m , a
"national f r o n t ' of p o l i t i c a l parties
impelled by the 'compulsions of a
developing economy'
(a p o l i t i c a l
scientist has now come out in supp o r t of the dream 1 ) w i t h d r a w a l
o f m e n o f experience f r o m p o l i t i c a l
power, and the platitudinous appeals
to p a r t y men and countrymen to
disown caste and communal affiliations these are a l l evidence of a
p o l i t i c a l ethos bred in a p e r i o d of
u n b r i d d l e d romaticism, i n w h i c h the
Congress d i d not have to face the
challenge of an adversary and, consequently, d i d not need to apply
intelligence to the piecemeal w o r k
of institution-buiding., and d i d not
have to
stand the scrutiny of a
scientific study of social issues before it embarked on a m a m m o t h
programme o f action.
The other result of the Congress
monopoly of power provides another
dimension to the developing p o l i t i cal p a t t e r n . Lack of real opposition
f r o m outside has led to a struggle
for p o l i t i c a l power w i t h i n the r u l i n g
p a r t y , Gradually
t h i s developed
into a recognisable pattern, m a r k e d
by the inter-play of easily identifiable factions. Thus
although the
preoccupation of the national leadership w i t h blueprints f o r modernisat i o n produced what has been termed
above as romantic, politics on the
national level, the p o l i t i c a l process
could not long r e m a i n aloof f r o m
the struggle for power that lies in
its logic. The result of the interaction between these t w o levels of
politics the p o l i t i c s of modernisation and the politics of power
was the w i d e n i n g g u l f between the
higher and lower tiers of p o l i t i c a l
leadership. W i t h the gradual decline of the absolute dependence on
1

Prof S V Kogekar in his Presidential Address to the Indian Political

Science Conference held at Cuttnck,
December 1961.
151

the former of the latter, a change

has set i n .
Those in charge of
the D i s t r i c t and the Taluka have
begun to realise that true power
comes not f r o m legislative seats but
f r o m the control of local institutions, that it lies not in charisma
but i n organisation. A n d w i t h this,
I n d i a n politics has entered a newphase in w h i c h the old, awe-inspiri n g , c i v i l and urbanised leadership
has come face to face w i t h a new
generation of leaders w h i c h has its
roots in the r u r a l side, w h i c h has
its g r i p on local organisations, w h i c h
is also fired by its o w n romanticism,
a contempt for the 'westernised', a
regard for strict order and discipline a chronic i n f e r i o r i t y complex,
and a sense of certainty and convict i o n in what it is out to do. This
rural elite is an entirely new force
on the I n d i a n political scene. It has
begun to assert itself in not a few
places. It w i l l soon capture strategic
positions in the Establishment.
These two results of the Congress
monopoly of power the rise of
romantic politics and the rise of a
new r u r a l elite bear an i m p o r t ant relation to each other. In the
fascination f o r the former, the comi n g of the latter almost went unnoticed for a time. Ideological o r i entation of the whole tone of p o l i tics provided a curtain
behind
w h i c h the stage for the coming
struggle for power was being set.
W i t h the advent of the sixties, the
c u r t a i n has been l i f t e d . On the
other hand, it appears certain that
the legacy of romantic politics w i l l
continue: indeed it is likely that
at least in the i n i t i a l p e r i o d , the
new claimants to power w i l l invoke
ideological arguments rather more
than less: that is the only means of
l e g i t i m i s i n g their a u t h o r i t y in the
eves of a people fed on such arguments. The
content of ideology
may. however change imperceptibly.
Ideological Cleavage
Indeed, the cleavage between the
o l d urbanised elite and the newleadership is partly ideological. The
new elite is made up of men who
spent their formative years of life
in a period when Mahatma Gandhi
was in f u l l
command of
Indian
nationalism and
when the earlier
currents of thought had spent their

ANNUAL NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

force. T h e t r a d i t i o n of self-sacrifice
as the hallmark of p o l i t i c a l conduct,
the sense of
importance of 'constructive w o r k ' and programmes for
r u r a l u p l i f t , and the preference f o r
p l a i n l i v i n g and spartan ethics is
deep in these men, It was natural,
therefore, that they began to regard
the new rulers of Independent I n d i a
w i t h some m i s g i v i n g , seeing them
as leaving the ' G a n d h i a n way' ign o r i n g the villages,
i m i t a t i n g the
'West too soft to the 'bureaucracy',
and far removed f r o m 'the people'
and 'the p a r t y ' . A deep-lying hostil i t y to the u r b a n elite and a sense
of being kept out of power for long
have given a sharp edge and lent
an impatience to t h e i r struggle for
p o l i t i c a l ascendancy. They preach
a r e t u r n to the Gandhian way
in what manner they never explain
to the hard discipline that characterised the 'movement' to decentralisation
of power and to the
party's control over the Government
and the bureaucracy. In many ways
these men share the ideals and
temperament of the
Sarvodayaites
except in their view of
political
power. T h e i r approach to politics
is dogmatic, self-righteous, presumptuous only they know what the
people want
and on the whole,
cavalier.
It is possible to draw some parall e l between
the phases
through
w h i c h the movement f o r Independence passed and the phases of
political
development since I n depence. Corresponding to the liberal-Parliamentary
phase
of
the
national movement is the phase in
post-Independence,
political
development that is now c o m i n g to a
close, liberal and universalist in
outlook, tolerant to dissent, placing
less emphasis on organisation and
more on ideals, humane and aristocratic in approach. T h e m i l i t a n t
'Gandhian' phase in the style ( i f
not the content) of politics ha?
now begun w i t h the rise of the new
r u r a l elite to power.
Politics of Backwardness
T h i s is the beginning of the p o l i tics of backwardness.
T i l l now the
i n t e g r a t i n g influence of the national
leadership and local i n e r t i a or deference to those higher up l i m i t e d
the p o l i t i c a l struggle to a loose accommodation between personalities,
interest groups and factions. N o w

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

w i t h the diffusion of power lower
down the hierarchy, politics w i l l
increasingly a p p r o x i m a t e
to the
dominant values of a t r a d i t i o n a l ,
fragmented, society. It is a k n o w n
irony of the politics of backwardness that the closer the p o l i t i c a l
process is to the people, the more
a u t h o r i t a r i a n it becomes. On the
other hand, b r i n g i n g the p o l i t i c a l
process closer to the life-experience
of the people is the one sure way
of
fighting
backwardness.
The
d i l e m m a w i l l become more and
more clear.
In a very real sense, this new
phase in India's political development was inevitable. The urbanised
leadership at the n a t i o n a l and State
levels itself prepared the way for
it.
In order to make itself secure
in its position, the Congress leadership
increasingly relied on the
r u r a l vote, spreading its patronage
deep i n t o the countryside, by cont r o l l i n g credit co-operatives, comm u n i t y centres, local authorities,
educational
institutions,
welfare
agencies and other developmental
organisations, i n c l u d i n g the voluntary
agencies.
F o r a time
this
served the leadership w e l l ; they
were p r o v i d e d w i t h appendages to
the power that was really wielded
by the Assembly, the
Parliament,
and the State and Central Cabinets.
In the process, however, a new
leadership, neither
designed
for
promoted, emerged. By t a k i n g hold
of institutions w i e l d i n g patronage
and the local p a r t y organisations,
the new men slowly creeped i n t o
the Congress organisation at the
State level. The struggle over the
selection of candidates for the f o r t h '
c o m i n g elections is an index of the
g r o w i n g cleavage between the new
'organisation m a n ' and the oldtime p o l i t i c i a n . T h i s struggle has
set the stage f o r the t h i r d phase of
p o l i t i c a l development.

Ill
Emerging P a t t e r n of P a r t y
Politics
The character of this struggle
needs investigation. To describe it
merely in terms of a r u r a l - u r b a n
cleavage w o u l d be an over-simplification. T h e cleavage is not simp l y one of o r i g i n or orientation 2 .
2

In this sense, the analysis presented

here differs from. Myron Werners in
his study of West Bengal leadership.
152

These aspects are there b u t there

i s more t o i t . For, essentially i t
is a power struggle w h i c h , as it is
g r o w i n g , is becoming more a n d
more complex, new alignments con.
stantly c u t t i n g across more simple
d i v i s i o n of interests.
T h i s is i m p o r t a n t . For, the men
who are now r i s i n g to power are,
in their t u r n , facing fresh rivals.
T h i s is already clear f r o m the
scramble for the Congress ticket
for the c o m i n g elections. New factions
have arisen and alignments
between factions at different levels
in the
hierarchy,
i n c l u d i n g the
State and national levels s t i l l manned by the u r b a n leaders, have
been forged. T h e period after the
elections w i l l see a fierce struggle
between these faction-chains.
The consolidation of the organisational w i n g of the Congress p a r t y
against the o l d g u a r d is g i v i n g
way to new rivalries among the
organisers
themselves.
T h i s and
the i n a b i l i t y of the p a r t y to accommodate a l l claimants are of utmost contemporary interest. T h i s is
breaking entirely new g r o u n d in
the development of p a r t y politics
in the c o u n t r y . T h e most likely
possibility is that i m p o r t a n t sec.
tions of Congressmen not s i m p l y
the frustrated and the ineffective as
happened h i t h e r t o w i l l j o i n hands
w i t h other parties, at first i n f o r m a l l y , then openly. The increasing i n c i dence
of Congressmen w o r k i n g
against official Congress candidates
is a feature of Congress politics.
A l r e a d y there are en bloc resignations; more w i l l follow after the
elections. Some of these dissidents
may retire f r o m politics but many
w i l l j o i n other parties, for u n l i k e
the dissidents in the first a n d second General Elections, the dissidents this t i m e are men who have
made p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y
their life
careers. T h e y are also men w i t h
considerable i n s t i t u t i o n a l backing,
confident of t h e i r strength, and not
given to accept defeat l y i n g d o w n .

Prospect for the Opposition

T h i s exodus w i l l strengthen opposition groups i n the p a r t i c u l a r
areas, although this in itself is n o t
enough to p r e d i c t the rise of a
strong national o p p o s i t i o n . Opposition parties in this country are

ANNUAL NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

THE ECONOMIC WEEKLY

largely State parties or coalitions
of State parties. W h a t is l i k e l y is
t h a t in different States,
different
parties w i l l pose a threat to the
Congress.
T h e s t r u c t u r a l barriers
to a n y consolidation of this posit i o n b y mergers a n d amalgamations
are too great to be surmounted.
M o s t o p p o s i t i o n parties are content
to be p o w e r f u l at the State level.
But, even so, the opposition to the
Congress is l i k e l y to gain moment u m , at times due to shifts in elect o r a l choice, more due to shifts of
politicians between parties.
Effective
political
m o b i l i t y at
the present stage of p o l i t i c a l development i n the country largely
depends on the incidence of dissidence f r o m the Congress p a r t y '
For, that is the only means of
b r e a k i n g the Congress monopoly of
power w h i c h is backed by p a t r o nage o p p o r t u n i t i e s and i n s t i t u t i o n a l
support unprecedented in the hist o r y o f democratic parties.
It is
only when a sizeable section, along
w i t h the organisations under their
command, breaks away f r o m the
Congress and j o i n s the opposition
that an opposition p a r t y can gain
real strength. Such a development
seems in the offing.
There is also another aspect of
the struggle w i t h i n Congress that
needs to be noted.
T h i s is the
various and
competing foci of
power.
Here a shift in emphasis
is becoming evident. The f a m i l i a r
struggle between the organisational
and governmental wings w i t h i n the
p a r t y s t i l l aimed at control of the
Government. Legislative seats and
governmental power were the m a i n
objects of
political competition.
T h e position is now changing. For,
under the influence of the r o m a n t i cism in polities
discussed
above
and the Gandhian ideology of the
new elite, governmental power is
being diffused to lower levels of
a u t h o r i t y . 'Democratic decentralisat i o n ' involves delegation of author i t y to Talukas and Tehsils, to v i l lage
Panchayats and Block-level
Panchayat Samitis. Congressmen are
b e g i n n i n g to realise the potentialities o f this delegation o f a u t h o r i t y .
Positions in panchayat samitis, dis.
t r i c t co-operative
banks, developm e n t boards,
educational i n s t i t u tions
and
Government-subsidised

v o l u n t a r y agencies w i l l become no
less attractive t h a n legislative and
even governmental positions to a
p o l i t i c i a n . A l r e a d y d u r i n g the last
five years, Congressmen have beg u n to realise t h a t real power is
i n the
party
organisation and
other institutions, not in the legislature. T h i s feeling is l i k e l y to
spread.
A Parallel Bureaucracy ?
This has two i m p o r t a n t implicationsW h a t is commonly understood as transfer of power f r o m
higher to the lower levels is really
a transfer of power f r o m officials
to non-officials. It is taking away
power f r o m the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n and
h a n d i n g it over to the p o l i t i c i a n .
T h i s can have serious consequences.
There w i l l rise "a parallel bureaucracy, one that is based on a different system of recruitment, really
on a Spoils system'. The r i v a l r y
between the two
can
undermine
both the efficiency and the morale
of the a d m i n i s t r a t i o n . Second, there
is the question of
co-ordination.
F r o m what is k n o w n , not enough
thought has been given to how the
functions handed over to the panchayat hierarchy and the functions
retained by the bureaucracy are to
be coordinated f o r the efficient execution of policies. Here the danger
is of fragmentation of governmental
power.
rendering
administration
disjointed and inefficient and confusing the citizen by m a k i n g h i m
submit to so many authorities. The
upshot w i l l be a drastic change i n
the relationship between administ r a t i o n and politics.
The other i m p l i c a t i o n is equally
ominous. The spoils available at a l l
these levels can solve the problem
of
dissensions in the
Congress;
those who are not given the ticket
can be given charge of other organs
of
power'
Spheres of influence
can be carved out. p o l i t i c a l skills
specialised and the party's
sway
over society widened. Some such
adjustments are evident at the moment w i t h i n the Congress. If they
increase sufficiently in scope, we
w i l l have a m o n o l i t h i c p a r t y , comm a n d i n g all vantage positions of
social and economic power, in effect
becoming a State
w i t h i n a State
and the end of progress towards a
democratic p a r t y system.
153

A l l available evidence indicates,

however, that a steady strengtheni n g of opposition parties cannot be
avoided f o r l o n g ; the struggle for
power can no longer be 'contained'
w i t h i n the Congress. B u t w h i l e i t
is possible for other parties to i n crease their influence and even assume power in some States, the
general
paramountcy of
politics
over society may yet continue in
each State.
If such a development
is not prevented, politics w i l l not
only become
totalitarian, it
will
also become
chaotic,
given the
federal structure of Government.
Direction of Political Change
If the Labour p a r t y lost the elections for the f o u r t h successive time,
it would cease to the regarded as
an alternative Government. B r i t i s h
democracy could then be said to
have reached a dead end. This is
the crucial issue in all Parliament a r y democracies : how to effect a
change in Government. So is it in
I n d i a . I n f a c t I n d i a provides a n
interesting case study. For, change
here does not take place through a
k n o w n mechanism that has been
stabilised and. i n t u r n , legitimised
by long usage (such as the twop a r t y system i n E n g l a n d ) . P o l i t i c a l
change in a developing system takes
subtler f o r m s and often defies comprehension.
An attempt has been made here
to examine
the
stages t h r o u g h
which political development has
passed in this c o u n t r y . T h e analysis is tentative and is meant to
p r o v i d e a basis for further investigation and discussion.
It suggests
that India is in the throes of a
political 'take-off'. The difference
from a take-off in economic development is that its d i r e c t i o n is not
pre-planned or even
predictable.
H a v i n g gained some m o m e n t u m it
can take either of the two d i a m e t r i cally opposite directions; there may
even be more than two alternative
directions.
The
t a k e o f f stage in
politics
occurs
when a
society
reaches the cross-roads in
political
development. The future depends on
the route along; w h i c h it then decides
to move f o r w a r d . The take-off in
polities is not necessarily a matter
for celebration. But if we know the
w i n d , we can chart our ship w i t h
due preparation.

THE

A N N U A L NUMBER FEBRUARY 1962

154

ECONOMIC

WEEKLY