There is no comprehensive law today to regulate and rationalize the functioning of the political parties. Political parties are
not treated like public institutions in India, and tend to become private properties of
individuals or families. Take the major players on the scene: The Congress is
run by the Nehru Family; Samajwadi party run by Mulayam family; RJD by Lalu family; LJP by Ramvilas Paswan
family; DMK by Karunanidhi family. This is because no sufficient regulatory
framework exists for the parties in law. There are no electoral rolls of the
parties in the public domain or with the ECI; there are no transparent
elections in them; there is no legal penalty for not following the party
constitution; there is no transparent procedure for distribution of tickets by
them for assembly and parliamentary elections, resulting in corruption,
nepotism, casteism; there are no transparent procedures for grading and
promotion of the party workers; there are no mandatory duties laid down for the
parties and their roles are not defined in the law that would compel them to
fulfill those obligations.
If such a law and regulatory framework were in place, neither Lalu kins would have got tickets so easily, nor would have they been made Deputy Chief Minister and senior minister in Bihar cabinet at the age of 25 or 26, bypassing the older and much more experienced persons like Abdul Bari Siddiqui of the RJD. Abdul Bari is an old guard of the RJD, and a member of the minority community whose votes have propelled Lalu's party to the helm once again. But Lalu's love for his family has surpassed the love for the minority community without whose support he would have been nowhere today. Earlier he had ditched Ram Kripal Yadav for his daughter Misa Bharati. The seeds that were sown by Jawahar Lal Nehru have multiplied and spread far and wide, and provided legitimacy to the practice of dynasticism in all parts of the country today, and, surprisingly, our talkative PM Mr. Modi has not talked once about bringing any law to regulate and rationalize politics and political parties in the country. Amazing Mr. Modi!
