The great Indian elections - A big tamasha
Elections have been an integral part of Indian politics, culture and ethos. But with the passage of time, there seems to be a growing apathy towards elections. Does this not call for an urgent need to undergo electoral reforms?
EVERY FIVE years India wakes up and jumps into what could be termed as a months long mudslinging, expensive, ludicrous activity called general elections, where a handful of self-appointed leaders with loads of spare money come together to woo the hapless people of India. Since 1952, we have gone through 15 such elections with the level of dirty politics and expenditure going up with each one of them, and the age-old issues remaining as were. We still seem to be grappling with poverty, unemployment, corruption, illiteracy to name a few. The very purpose of elections gets defeated when we see people with tainted records and little education come to power. It just gives them one another avenue to amass unprecedented wealth, which is nothing but the taxpayer’s money. It is a general feeling among the masses that aspiring politicians show up at their doors only when campaigning for elections, asking or rather begging for votes, after which they are only to be seen in flashy government vehicles carrying the coveted red lights with hordes of other vehicles. All the promises and assurances are put on the backburner and all they are really concerned about then is amassing wealth. After elections are announced and before the model code of conduct comes into play, electoral candidates set out in their vehicles carrying flashy slogans to prey i.e. to woo people. Many of them will carry hordes of loudspeakers playing long-forgotten patriotic songs in a bid to blackmail us emotionally. This is the only time, besides 15 August and 26 January, when we get to hear them. They will speak about the martyrs and freedom fighters as if they were their ancestors. The other reason we see such a lackluster response to polling is the lack of choices. Most of the time, it is choosing between the devil and the deep sea. A lot of them are under the impression that to be a politician and to win election, all they need is money and political affiliation of some sort, which is true to a certain extent given the kind of people we see at the helms. Education, character, morality is the least considered attributes. The fact that people like these come to power bears a testimony to the fact that money can buy everything. Many a times, one comes across politicians who are accused of crimes as severe as rape and murder, but remain unscathed because the law of India considers a person innocent until he is proven guilty by the court of law. Now, given the pace at which Indian judiciary works, they can rest assured that they will never face conviction in their lifetime. And then these flag bearers of our democracy indulge in all kinds of illegal and prohibited activities during polling to get the mandate. Poll rigging, neutral or negative voting, money induced voting are some of the ways they employ to meet their goals. Education still remains an attribute which is not given due importance. With the world fast becoming a global village, politics and administration is not confined to running a country, but to make it strong enough, internally and externally, to keep up with the changing world order. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that people’s representative are educated and possess specialized knowledge, which seems to be a fairly uncommon thing with politicians, especially at the state and local levels. So why is it that even after knowing all this, we are so indifferent? But, what else can we do? It is an irony that we get to elect people but do not get to choose who stands in the elections. The day we are endowed with this power, we will have better politicians, better government, and a stronger country. Electoral reforms are long overdue in the state of India, and a major overhaul of the election process is called for. Until then, we will see the same apathy and the same state of things going on.
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Autocracy has never been and will never be the right kind of government that a country can have. What the message of this article is is that the Election Commission needs to have a tighter control on the people who stand in the elections. It needs to ensure that people who are contesting are capable to run the country. We don't want a bunch of crooks to run the country. The loopholes in the electoral process need to be taken care of. So I am not talking about the type of government that India needs to have but the process through which a government is selected. Democracy has been and will be the best form of government that any country can have.
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