Rajiv Gandhi and Morality in Public Affairs

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Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, held the view that "the only foundation for democracy was the rule of moral law." Gandhi's conception of democracy based on morality seemed to have baffled and, yet, greatly attracted Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Nehru himself said "Gandhi's conception of democracy is definitely a metaphysical one. It has nothing to do with numbers of majority or representation in the ordinary sense. It is based on service and sacrifice and it uses moral pressure." In Gandhi's own words.

"The Congress enjoys the prestige of a democratic character and influence not by the number of delegates and visitors it has drawn to its annual function but by an ever increasing amount of service it has rendered.... Corruption and hypocrisy ought not to be inevitable products of democracy as they undoubtedly are today.

If democracy is to be strong and stable, it must rest on moral values and social norms in public affairs and not on amoral politics and self- aggrandisement.

Morality in public affairs is the oxygen which keeps soul of democracy alive and in strength despite all odds. But there can be no doubt that the standards of public life have deteriorated during the last two decades posing dangers; and our democratic political order cannot survive unless this tendency of contemporary public life to slide into a moral morass is halted and the trend reversed.

However, there is no need for despair; what is heartening is that the virtue of moral character and conviction has always been the companion of those who have guided the destiny of the nation till now-Mahatma Gandhi, Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi-are peerless examples of moral and national character.

The sentiment and belief in morality and values have also existed in the common man-a feature of Indian people which has always inspired conception of morality and exercised the final judgement on the people who lead and guide. The Indian people though themselves not devoid of some frailties seek perfection and purity from their leaders and rulers; possibly they seek in their leaders and rulers a compensation for their own faults and frailties and even expect relief and remedies for their sufferings. That is the old story of Indian civilization.

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