Election Campaigns - Its a big joke!!

With the largest democracy in the world, in the midst of the world's largest electoral exercise, battles are getting heated up.  And why not, a lot is at stake! The license to rule (??) India for the next 5 years is up for the grabs.

But when you see the way election campaigns have evolved over the years, its indeed a big joke. The most glaring one about the 2009 General Elections is that, more often than not, we see people (candidates) trying to convince the people as why he/she should not vote for the other candidate, and not why they should vote for him! Generally, whenever someone wishes to represent the people, they need to tell the people why he is the best choice for them. What are the top priorities in his agenda should he be elected, and how he intends to address the issues of concern to the people. Rather than doing this, all political parties, no matter their size, are busy in mudslinging. So much that, it has turned too personal at some places.  All the election rallies have become mere means of accusing others and the other person replying to the accusations throughout. Party X says that in the last election Party Y promised such and such things but has not managed to deliver. Party Y reverts saying Party X had promised such and such things, but has failed. These gentlemen fail to understand that those who stay in glass houses should not throw stones at others. Other than these, I have never managed to see anything significant in these campaigns.

One sad part which I came across in these electoral campaign, was one of the most "respected" faces in the central government making a public statement that Independent Candidates spoil the show and people should vote for only party candidates. I was shocked to hear such a statement from a leader of such repute. And the biggest irony was that in spite of being a "party candidate", he does not have the guts to go and stand for elections to the Lok Sabha. In fact a sizeable percentage of our Union Cabinet has ministers, who have been rejected by the public. When the Constitution allows any Indian citizen irrespective of his background to aspire for becoming a representative of people, such a loose comment was definitely uncalled for. And this inspite of knowing that there still are a good number of Independent Candidates winning and coming to the Lok Sabha.

The only good thing about this elections has been the continuous updates shown by the media and the analysis done to varying depths, enabling the common man to make a decision. The write ups about the constituency, the candidates, their past history, the major issues in the constituency etc have definitely opened the eyes of many and made us aware of many things which we had no idea about. Yes, I do agree that there are chances that these opinions can be biased. But equally important is the fact to note that, its an attempt well done. One thing I have learnt over the last couple of years, is to appreciate the attempts made by someone to improve something however insignificant it may be and whatever be the outcome of the attempt.

I would like to give another funny aspect of these elections. When I was in Hyderabad till a couple of weeks back, the local newspapers carried a series of photographs of the sitting MP of one of the constituencies in the city. He was on a massive tour of a constituency he had never even bothered to visit in the last 5 years. And he was trying his hands at various professions at which people were involved viz. tailor, barber, weaver, blacksmith etc. The ironical part was the caption under it which in essence said that a majority of people who gathered in hundreds to see him, were not even aware that the person in front of them, was in fact a sitting MP and they themselves had elected him 5 years back! Are these the type of people we want, to represent us??

On a lighter note, there is a rumour that all future public meetings, press conferences and anything involving politicians and ministers are going to be held under strict scrutiny and among various things that are not permitted for the gatherings, footwears are also going to be included in the list. Every day, someone or the other is being targetted with an angry protestor's footwear which ultimately leads to another blame game.

On a concluding note, I would have loved to see live debates between two candidates or the top leaderships of major political parties, held in a more explicit way, on the lines of what happens in the US of A and other developed nations.  There have been indirect debates already on varied topics like "Should it be made mandatory that the PM should be from the Lok Sabha?", "Should voting be made compulsory for the people?" etc to name a few. I would really appreciate if this can happen in a direct way. Technology also has to be used to the maximum possible extent to ensure penetration and creation of awareness among the masses. I would even love to see some youth icon, urging the people to go and vote. (Though the EC had earlier conceived the idea of roping in MSD for the same, I dont know what happened to it.)

All said and done, I am definitely going to vote tomorrow. How about you??