Democracy is strengthened, or weakened, by how winners behave as victors and losers take their defeat.Curiously, following the Assembly poll results, neither of the incumbent chief ministers in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu, Mamata Banerjee and M K Stalin, attended the oath-taking ceremony of their successors Suvendu Adhikari and C Joseph Vijay.AdvertisementAdmittedly, established democratic norms are increasingly being given the go-by now. But the absence of Mamata and Stalin from the swearing-in events was glaring.Political Pulse | Suvendu takes charge of Bengal: ‘I am everyone’s Chief Minister’That, in such events, a predecessor should be given a pride of place to mark the start of the successor’s new political innings is a given. For “in-power today” and “out-of-power tomorrow” is the principle at the heart of any democratic system. It is a prudent message for the new leader at the helm – that he / she is not going to be there forever – and has to perform well. It is also reassuring for the outgoing leader that his or her time can come again.The predecessor’s presence at the successor’s inauguration also softens the hard lines that mark a fiercely contested election, which is increasingly getting bitter and hostile.AdvertisementThere has been a growing tendency now to dub political adversaries as “anti national” and view the Opposition as illegitimate. It betrays a mindset – that anyone opposed to the dominant viewpoint is not desirable. Such a trend may only go to justify one party rule. It is not surprising that the Opposition leaders are now getting disheartened amid claims that their turn may come only 20-30 years down the line. It does not give the younger politicians a stake in democracy.However, it was unfortunate that Mamata, known as a phenomenon in Indian politics as a firebrand leader who rose through the ranks to reach the top, should refuse to step down after her party’s defeat. She said she would not accept this outcome as the election was allegedly stolen with about 100 seats “looted” due to the Election Commission (EC)’s “complicit role” in it.Mamata knew that with the West Bengal Assembly’s tenure lapsing on May 7, it would spell the end of her government anyway and that she could not continue as the CM constitutionally. She may have chosen to get into a fighting mode from the word go, to keep the now-vulnerable cadre of her party motivated. But her unprecedented move was fraught with serious implications.Also Read | Vijay meets Stalin day after taking oath as Tamil Nadu CMFor tomorrow, other CMs or even PMs may refuse to step down even after poll setbacks on the ground of “vote chori” – and India is a big enough country for such charges to be made, and they could have been made in any of the past elections too. This is not to overlook her disquiet about deletions of lakhs of names from electoral rolls in the wake of the EC’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, nor to justify any “vote chori” if it took place. There are however remedies available – like filing election petitions, and her party would move the courts to challenge the elections.True, the health of many of our institutions does not inspire confidence about fair play and justice now. In 1975, it was possible for the then PM Indira Gandhi to be disqualified from Parliament over electoral malpractices in her 1971 election from Rae Bareli – and she had responded by declaring an Emergency in the country. Today, action against holders of high offices seems less likely.And, yet, accepting defeat with grace and humility – and living to fight another day – still seems a better political option. Stalin resigned immediately after the DMK faced a debacle. In the evening, he was at the party office, assuring his workers that they would now be a strong Opposition. The next day, he held a roadshow in an open jeep in his constituency Kolathur, thanking people despite having lost the seat. Several people cried, and he also turned emotional. The DMK initially considered a pushback to prevent actor-turned-politician Vijay from becoming the CM, whose newbie TVK stalled short of a majority by just 10 seats. While Vijay met Governor Rajendra Arlekar repeatedly to stake his claim to the government and tried to cobble up a majority with smaller parties, his adversaries mounted moves to stop him in his tracks.It seemed for a brief while that the two arch Dravidian rivals DMK and AIADMK might sink their differences in a bid to checkmate Vijay. There was a buzz that the DMK even considered giving outside support to AIADMK leader Edappadi K Palaniswami or EPS to lead a government. This was just to keep at bay the Gen Z-fuelled “political disruptor” Vijay, 51, who represented change. But wiser counsel prevailed in the DMK, which pulled back, sensing an overwhelmingly pro-Vijay public mood.Must Read | How Vijay’s suit marks a new thread in warp and weft of Tamil Nadu politicsNudged by his Left partners, Stalin then encouraged other allies like the VCK to back Vijay. This gesture was not lost on those who had deserted the DMK, especially Dalits and minorities, to gravitate towards the TVK. The DMK chief seemed to have decided that it was better to respect the public mandate – and wait for his moment to come.On his part, Vijay did what had not been seen in Tamil Nadu politics for over five decades of bad blood between the DMK and the AIADMK. He called on Stalin at his residence in a goodwill gesture. Vijay’s entry would lead to a realignment of political forces in the state. But his gesture marked a welcome break from the past Dravidian politics.It is never easy for a powerful popular leader to accept rejection by the people. When she was routed in the 1977 elections, Indira Gandhi accepted people’s verdict on AlI India Radio—and then handed over her resignation to the then acting President B D Jatti. She could not get over the fact that the drums being beaten on the streets outside her 1, Safdarjung Road residence were to celebrate her exit as a “dictator” – and that overnight, she had become the “villain” people wanted to get rid of.Don't Miss | From the Urdu Press: ‘CM Suvendu Adhikari must follow PM’s call for badlav, not badla’, ‘Vijay era begins in Tamil Nadu politics’And, suddenly, she had no office to go to, no files to clear, no staff car to call, no telephone operator to connect her to people – she did not even remember the phone numbers of her friends. It was three months later that she chose to strike back.you may likeFormer PM I K Gujral had once observed that the manner in which the transition of power took place in India after polls, was what gave resilience to our democracy. He was referring to the 1996 instances, when after PV Narasimha Rao-led Congress government was voted out, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as the PM at the head of the BJP-led government, but had to resign after barely 13 days following his inability to prove its majority. Then a United Front government headed by a regional leader HD Deve Gowda was formed. Uncertainty hung in the air. And tension simmered in Parliament which saw the making and unmaking of governments in quick succession. But there was no violence and the change of guard from Rao to Vajpayee to Deve Gowda went off smoothly.At the end of the day, it is not just constitutional provisions or conventions which make our democracy tick—it is also niceties, courtesies, and a give-and-take spirit that make it work.(Neerja Chowdhury, Contributing Editor, The Indian Express, has covered the last 11 Lok Sabha elections. She is the author of ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’.)