PANAJI
Many believe that voting is an exercise in futility. Is it the indifference of many on Election Day, which allows a small percentage of its population to control the futures of the rest of us?
“If it is, then it's time for you to change and become involved in the process that will affect your life, for better or for worse, in the future. Only by changing that apathy and indifference to concern and interest can you shape your own future. Only you can vote for the candidate who will best reflect that future in the laws and policies they enact in your name,” advocates Bhasker Assoldekar, Goa State coordinator, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Educating Goan voters on reasons to stand up and be counted, Assoldekar asserts that not to vote in the face of these circumstances is an abdication.
“Abstention is an admission of not caring about your own present and future generations and surrendering of our right to influence how the Goan society should be,” he says as he feels, ‘Our vote, and other forms of political activism, can make a difference. It is the right to vote that allows you to determine, to a certain degree, your own future by electing MLAs who reflect your views and will speak for you in government.”
Pointing to the Panaji Municipal Corporation election that saw some candidates losing by less than 10 votes, Assoldekar underlines the importance of casting our ballots to express our views for or against the candidates. Only by changing that apathy and indifference to concern and interest can we shape our own future, he feels.
