Criteria
The final phase of the Nayi Disha power roadmap was made public when the membership reached 20%. The rules of engagement were put forth. With 20% committed voters, there was still a lot of ground to cover to win elections. But there was enough momentum that the possibility could be imagined. When the membership hit 30% in a constituency, primaries would be held to decide the candidate who could represent the Nayi Disha base. What was unusual were the criteria put forth. Only women could contest; they had to be under 55 years of age; they had to have minimum education qualifications (12th standard completion); they could not have contested any previous election on a political party ticket. There would also be term limits: no person could serve more than two terms in the same position.
At first, the constraints freaked out some people. Women only? Education requirements? Age bar? This was discrimination! For an agenda which spoke about non-discrimination and treating all Indians the same, this was hypocrisy!
It was then that the Nayi Disha Papers started getting published. Modeled on the lines of the Federalist Papers written in the US to garner support in favour of the Constitution in the late 1780s, these papers explained the logic of each of the criteria. They also went further and laid out the roadmap for a future Nayi Disha government.
At the outset, it was clear that to win against the formidable incumbents needed a very different strategy. Playing by the existing rules of the game and creating yet another political party would make no difference. Instead, every contestant would be an Independent. This way, it was a bottom-up movement and it would stay that way. Once elected, the Independents would choose their leader – much like many political parties do. (The late 2022 example of the British Conversative Party was put forth.)
Women made up half the Indian population, and yet were barely represented in the Lok Sabha – just 1 in 7 MPs was a woman, and many among them were there as members of a political family. Women had an equal vote share and yet were ignored when it came to governance. An extreme idea to only have women candidates could potentially galvanise women voters.
The age criteria was put because India is a young nation. The average age of its citizens is 25 years. To face future challenges, it needed MPs who could relate to the problems faced by the youth and then work to address them. Politicians in their 70s who refused to let go were not what the nation needed.
Education is important because it makes one think independently. Without the ability to read and write fluently, an elected MP would always be dependent on someone else – and that would not be right in the Lok Sabha. Of course, less educated leaders have reached high positions in politics but their narrow world view has been the bane of Indian politics and economic decision-making.
The decision to ensure no political baggage amongst candidates was taken to eliminate turncoats. Nayi Disha needed fresh thinking – not an opportunistic switching of career politicians who saw which way the wind was blowing.
As the persuasive explanations made their way to people, support started increasing even further for Nayi Disha. It was seen as a real disruptor with a real potential to transform India. Women matching the criteria started applying for contesting primaries.
