Social Justice and Democratic Processes In India : Contextualizing 2019 Parliamentary Elections

Social Justice Programmes make democratic processes vibrant and vice versa. If democratic process is understood to be political mobilization for participation in electoral exercise to choose representatives and effective functioning of public institutions, then the influence of social justice programs is largely positive for the government and target population, both programs targeting the social sector reforms motivate the target population to participate in democratic processes. Conversely, effective social sector programs may even help the ruling dispensation to return to power. A study of some of the social sector programs between 2014 and 2019 at the union level and since 2005 in the state of Bihar is an indication. Social sector programs like Aushman Bharat, Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, among others, were introduced and implemented under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the union level. Policies like freecycle and school dress for school-going children, reservation for women in local representative institutions and state government jobs, hostels for the students from the socially and economically backward classes in Bihar since 2005 have targeted at social sector reforms. The paper argues that the high success rate in the state of Bihar of the NDA in the 2019 general elections was largely due to the social sector reforms at the union level. The coalition partners gained in the state, even as the leader in the coalition, BJP chose to support its coalition partners like Janata Dal United (JDU) and Lok Janashakti Party (LJP). A caveat, however, may be added that the role of leadership may prove to be the catalyst in the whole process.

Keywords:
Justice, Social Justice, Democracy, Pradhanmantri Jan Dhan Yojna, Ujjwala Yojna, Beti bachao-Beti Padhao