As Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi has lived up to his mother’s commitment. She had assured the Indian people that the election to the Lok Sabha would be held on time. He has now scheduled it for December 24 and 27, that is, well over three weeks before the life of the present Lok Sabha ends on January 20, 1985. There had been a great deal of speculation on whether Mrs. Gandhi would try to amend the Constitution to provide for a changeover to a presidential system, extend the life of the present Lok Sabha, or interpret the relevant laws in a manner that would enable her to postpone the election for some months. All this speculation was wholly unjustified and reflected poorly on those who engaged in it. But it also spoke of Mrs. Gandhi’s success in keeping the opposition guessing while she completed her preparations for going to the polls. For all we know, the dates had been finalized when she was still alive.
In the wake of Mrs. Gandhi’s brutal assassination, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi could, if he so desired, have persuaded most opposition parties to agree to a postponement of the election. Some opposition leaders had in fact indicated on their own that they were thinking in those terms. But Mr. Gandhi and his aides were not interested in delaying the poll. Indeed, Congress leaders, almost without exception, favoured an early election. Their reasons are obvious. They believe that they can capitalize on the emotional upsurge that Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination has produced through the length and breadth of the country and the confusion among opposition parties and leaders. The reasons are valid.
The emotional upsurge has several facets. There is anger against both those who have killed Mrs. Gandhi and those who have failed to live up to their duty to protect her. The criticism having evaporated, the feeling of dependence on her has come to the fore. The people are impressed by the calm dignity with which Mr. Rajiv Gandhi has conducted himself in the trying days following his mother’s martyrdom and are reassured by his presence at the helm of affairs. Indeed, it might not be much of an exaggeration to say that they are anxious to repose their trust in him.
And it is hardly necessary to make the point that opposition parties have been thrown off balance by Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination. It is open to question whether a broad united front would in fact have emerged if she had lived and led her party to the poll. The Lok Dal-BJP alliance, which could have been formidable in the Hindi-speaking states, had collapsed as a result of Chaudhury Charan Singh’s preference for merger of other parties with his. The merger talks between him and Mr. Chandra Shekhar too had failed. The Janata party had split. The united front it had sought to form with the help of the two communist parties and some other self-proclaimed leftist groups was a shambles. Indeed, it appeared in the weeks preceding Mrs. Gandhi’s death that opposition parties would not be able to come together. Even so, they shared the desire to unseat her, or at least deny her a comfortable majority in the Lok Sabha. Now even that limited platform on which they could possibly hope to gather has disappeared, leaving them without an objective.
Even so it must be said to Mr. Rajiv Gandhi’s credit that he has not at all wavered and taken the earliest opportunity after the end of the mourning period to get the election schedule announced. It speaks both of his confidence in his ability to lead the Congress to victory and of his commitment to democratic processes. A leader less sure of himself could in the circumstances have sought to buy time. It has not even occurred to him to do so. It also appears that he and his aides are determined to use the election to give a face-lift to the ruling party. What kind of face-lift it will be, we do not know. Their list of candidates is apparently more or less ready. But only after it has been made public can one assess the character and calibre of the men and women with whose help Mr. Rajiv Gandhi wants to inaugurate the new era in Indian politics. In 1980 Mr. Sanjay Gandhi brought in a strange crowd which, it is widely believed, is not acceptable to Mr. Rajiv Gandhi. But this is by itself not a guarantee that his nominees will be worthy of the people’s respect and confidence. Hopefully the list will measure up to his reputation and popular expectations.