The crisis of legitimacy

Across the ideological spectrum, ruling political outfits in India's north and east are in trouble. If the Congress party is struggling to recover from a string of electoral setbacks in Punjab and Uttarakhand states, the Samajwadi Party, led by Mulayam Singh Yadav, is staring at defeat in the upcoming polls in Uttar Pradesh (slated to begin the first week of April). More strikingly, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which has been in power for the last three decades in West Bengal, is facing its toughest test yet, with the controversy over the setting up of Special Economic Zones on farmland, and the latest mass killing of protestors by the state police – egged on, allegedly, by party cadre. These are disparate and seemingly unconnected events, which can be explained away as part of the rough-and-tumble nature of popular politics. But there is a common thread here, as well – the legitimacy deficit faced by political parties in India, which are increasingly out of touch with the needs of the masses.

The loss of the Congress party in the state assembly elections, party leaders claim, can be explained by widespread 'anti-incumbency' sentiment. The Congress had been in power in both Punjab and Uttarakhand for its full tenure; the party is rife with in-fighting and factionalism, which have had implications on the provision of basic services, and led to poor governance. Incumbents have more often than not lost elections in recent years due to increasing public resentment. What this trend really reflects is the increasing disillusionment with the party in power. Rising expectations from elected representatives also seem to have played a role, and the failure to meet the expectations of the populace indicates an acute crisis of 'performance legitimacy'.