Elections belong to PEOPLE not POLITICIANS

(3 reasons why every eligible Indian voter must read this)

“Politics is bad, better stay away from it” most of us feel. But we complain endlessly about the corrupt officials, politicians and political parties. The elections are the best opportunity to set things right, however, we are ignorant about it. Our ignorance jeopardizes the future of all those who are living now and also of the unborn generations. Elections belong to the people and not to politicians. Every Indian must exercise his voting power and exercise cautiously. Why vote cautiously? This article aims to get your attention on the same considering the state of politics in our country.

1

Ask any MLA or MP, ‘why are you in politics?’ and the most common response, in a highly sacrificed tone, you would hear is "because I want to serve people, I want to serve my country etc." I wish the election commission makes it mandatory for politicians to submit lie detecting test certificate for their intentions as part their declaration. Well, don’t be surprised if they cheat the lie detector machine. Even average politicians are competent enough to display deceptive capabilities when circumstances demand. The recent developments of politicians jumping parties (justifying opposite ideology) is a proof for this.

But take a look around our lives. Do you really think our MLAs / MPs are serious enough to serve the public / nation? Are the so-called elected representatives, honorable ministers delivering their duties with honesty and sincerity? Do you think the governments are performing in the best interest of people or the state or our nation? To err is human (even gods) but politicians never. Have you ever seen politicians acknowledging even a single mistake? For a politician, he / she is correct every time about everything and the opponents are always wrong until they get on the same side. A set of politicians can be together today, opponents tomorrow and something else day after tomorrow. A common belief amongst politicians is, “there’s no permanent friend or a foe in politics.” But what about basic principles, ideals, values? Do politicians have ideologies? Do they even consider having ideologies is important?

Perhaps, these are ‘no brainer’ questions. Even a 10-year-old kid can answer a straight, ‘NO’ unequivocally, while some self-declared pragmatic minds may defend it with justifications like, ‘look, it is a system……can’t blame politicians alone…. corruption is deep rooted etc. etc.” Let’s not fool ourselves. We all know the state of India’s politics. With passing years, the moral values in politics are dropping rapidly. Politicians are setting examples of what exactly should not be done.

As usual, the public continues to suffer at large… while some take solace by gossiping endlessly about the state of politics and some others take sides to defend or attack certain party or set of politicians. Common-sense says don’t crib about the problem…. instead think what should be done to bring a change.

2

We must understand that there is no point in blaming politicians or parties. After all, they are elected by us, we the people of India. But there is a catch to this. It is not entirely correct to say that they were elected collectively by all of us…not even by a majority of us.

Let’s take 2019 Parliament Elections as an example. The total population of India was 139 crores. The total eligible voters were 91 crores. Of this, 61 crore people casted their vote. NDA (an alliance led by the BJP) received 23 crore votes and formed the government. It means, on behalf of 139 crore people, only 23 crore people decided who should rule our country, which is just 16% of the total population. Even if we compare with total eligible voters, only 25% people decided to whom the power to govern should be given. The story is not very different in other elections (state or local) or earlier elections too. In 2019, only 67% people casted their vote and it was mere 61% in the 1952. It means, a third of Indians still don’t vote and thus, a marginal fraction of total voters decides for the whole. Further, the political parties and leaders inflect controversial issues (mainly religion) and further divide voters. Even the voters get senselessly sentimental and cast their votes with an outburst of emotions. Consider this. 33% don’t vote and of the remaining 67%, votes are casted for at least 3 strong candidates. So, a candidate can manage to win elections with just around 25% votes. So, today’s elections are not about getting majority votes but rather dividing opponent’s votes. In the 2019 general elections, if 23 crore people voted for NDA, 38 crore people voted against it, which were divided into multiple factions. Needless to say, another 30-crore people didn’t even cast vote.

3

Where is the responsibility of every Indian lies? Claiming to be the world’s most successful democracy has no meaning unless each of us understand the true responsibility of being citizens of a democratic country. The word ‘Democracy’ comes from two Greek words - "demos", meaning people, and "kratos" meaning power. So, democracy is the power given to people for deciding who should govern them. In simple words, in democracy, the Government is formed by the will of the people.

When our constitution has given supreme power to all citizens, the least expected from them is to at least vote and if possible, vote wisely. Because it’s the collective wisdom of individuals decides the governments who would rule us, our country and make policies. Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam said, “In a democracy, the well-being, individuality and happiness of every citizen is important for the overall prosperity, peace and happiness of the nation.” And for this, each of us must vote and vote sensibly. But do we vote responsibly? Do we really vote with conscience? Do we really understand the ill-effects of not exercising or wrongly exercising this power? The right to vote is nothing but giving a power of attorney to a specific person(s) to act for the good of us. By casting our vote, we give a power of attorney to our politicians to make pro-people policies, govern laws and develop the nation. Let’s not undermine the cost of not voting or voting carelessly.

Conclusion

Every eligible voter must vote and must vote for the most deserving candidate. Don’t get distracted to the uneconomical promises, controversial narratives and divisive tactics that politicians shamelessly do. But the bigger question is how one can assess who is a deserving candidate or the party?

Well, there is no formula to arrive at a solution. But it is not a very difficult process either. With a little bit common sense applied, one can zero-in on the best amongst the lot. But what’s more important is that every person votes. Let’s not allow a small percentage of voters decide the future of us, our children and our nation.

This time, VOTE without fail.