Duty to Vote

In Democracy elections are inevitable and inescapable is the preceding propaganda. Candidates in the fray may have been friends / supporters just a day before. They may have shared /enjoyed or exercised authority/power together till yesterday evening and today? Today we find them at each other’s throats, moment elections are declared, candidature is affirmed and enemies (contesting parties) are confirmed.  Esteemed leaders of yesterday are frauds and cheats today!

Where is the common man? The campaigns launched by candidates keep bombarding electorates with facts and figures indicating how incompetent, corrupt and insipid contestants in the arena are. Every one of the candidate is out to prove how best he is at smearing his opponent with all possible dirt he can amass. How good they are at washing their dirty linen in public. At times it gets so low that one forgets that criticism directed to the person occupying Prime minister’s chair is belittling the chair across the world.  Let it be failures, corruption / criminal charges or character assassination, it goes on and on till the day before election. The common man is befuddled, as he sees none of the candidates worthy of representing him. In the process for the common voter all the contestants are reduced to a bundle of corruption, incompetence and without any hopes of finding Mr Right for the job.

But electorates have to vote, perform the noblest duty thrust upon them by the Democracy.

Yes! There is NOTA (None of The Above), option came in existence from 2009. Voter can choose ‘NOTA’ if he doesn’t find any candidate worthy of his choice. What does this mean? It means Voter has exercised his right to vote (Performed his noblest duty) without electing any one as his choice. Its just a via media and means nothing. NOTA effectively is considered as ‘invalid vote’. In other words if 90% of voters have hit NOTA, candidate securing maximum votes out of remaining 10% votes wins, though it means we have candidate with minority support representing majority of electorates not choosing him. What can be more ironic? Small change can make a big difference, give some power to NOTA. If NOTA is more than 50% of votes caste, all the candidates in the fray in that constituency will be disqualified for contesting election and fresh mandate will be sought in the constituency with fresh list of candidates! At least political parties will think before identifying their candidate! 

But electorates have to vote, perform the noblest duty thrust upon them by the Democracy.

Poor hapless voter looks around for some basis to make his choice and turns towards the political party represented by the candidates. Scene is not different yesterdays’ alliances are today's opponents and today's opponents may well be tomorrows alliances. Voter may have preferred one party to another in the process of election and in post-elections scenario he finds both the parties merrily enjoying power together. Election manifestos are just to lure voters, enforcement on the proclamations in the manifesto are totally absent. Regrettably religion / cast are playing major role in deciding election result and not development agenda. No party abstains itself from using religion/ cast card, apparently it’s a trump card (no pun intended).

But electorates have to vote, perform the noblest duty thrust upon them by the Democracy.

Democracy, in most of the countries have come a long way, particularly after full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens. Democratic citizenship has reached masses from elite class. Legal equality, political freedom and rule of law are the three pillars of Democracy. Unfortunate miserable voter in India is forced to ask, whether we are really matured enough for Democracy, the highest form of government. Do we deserve democracy? Honestly if we have to answer, answer is NO. Governing is a professional activity, candidate(s) aspiring to be part of it must have country as first priority. Nothing comes before the Nation. Authority is to exercise and not to relish, power is responsibility to do good, onus to protect. Politics is a serious business with more responsibility and less fun. Ministers holding offices with global exposure such as PM, FM, Defense, Foreign affairs etc. should stay away from state level elections and political parties should abstain criticizing such office-bearers. Yes, healthy criticism is welcome about the policies, decisions made etc. nothing should be at personal level which will insult the chair they are holding. 

As a future minister, one should talk about what he plans to do and how well he can do it, rather than what opponent has not done or not achieved. One has to bear in mind that we are talking about Nation. We can built only over whatever our predecessors have done or we may improve on it or add to it. No one can make or break country in one's life time. Yes, we can initiate something new, which we may or may not finish during the tenure and our successors will have to take it forward. Healthy contest is what we need. Acknowledge what is already done, point out what is wrong and vouch given the opportunity to rectify it.

Talk about value additions and not about mutilation. Talk about good practices, talk about development encompassing one and all. Talk about inclusion and not exclusion. Talk about equality, freedom with responsibility and talk about law and order. People who understand this should take politics as career, should actively participate and lead by example.

Making a choice or to elect is process, it involves weighing of pros and cons to arrive at conclusion. It is the process of selecting right person (whom we believe to be right) for the job. It’s a way to entrust somebody with responsibility with full faith about his capabilities and integrity. If I may add its giving an opportunity to a person to work for his country or his electorate.  Enable electorates to go through the process, give them a CHOICE to elect and then insist on performance of the noblest duty to vote thrust upon them by the Democracy.

We will be happy to Vote! Contribute in our own way to strengthen Democracy