The Third Force in Governance –The Indian Experiment

When India was under foreign rule of Britain, governance was in the hands of a single force, that of the then ruler. There was no serious debate about this singularity of the governance force  as the whole country was engaged in driving out  the foreign rulers  rather than worried about ruler.  

The dawn of Independence in 1947 and the adoption of parliamentary democracy for India  gave rise to the duality  feature  of governance viz . ,a  legislature comprising elected representatives of people and an executive comprising a cabinet of ministers responsible for the day to day administration. The Constitution of India clearly defines the respective duties and powers of these two wings of governance aided by an independent Judiciary to interpret and settle the occasional differences and transgressions on the part of the dual forces. The point to note is that the legislature and the executive have been performing their respective functions unbiased by any ideological leanings, whether it was a single political party commanding the majority in Parliament, such as the Congress in the first two decades, or later when coalition governments were formed participated by multiple political parties as widely different as the ends of the right-left spectrum. And yet, both the legislature and the executive were accountable to the people, the former through periodic elections and the latter through the ministers.

The General Elections in 2014 has introduced a  new element in India’s governance. A major socio-cultural movement like the RSS has entered the fray, albeit not directly through participation in the elections but by guiding and supporting a political party and influencing its plans, programs and agenda. There is the feeling that its influence has even spread   in the choice of cabinet ministers, some policy formulation and implementation, appointment of heads of academic and cultural bodies, etc... This may be called the third force in the governance of India and is an additive to the traditional dual forces envisaged in the Constitution.   As our Constitution did not envisage such a third force, its emergence particularly without electoral accountability would tantamount to  a first time experiment in the practice of constitutional/ parliamentary democracy.  It therefore appears that there is an urgent need for an extensive debate and discussion among legal and constitutional experts, political scientists, etc. in order that this new force should gain legitimacy and validity.