This is in response to recent articles and discussions on voter participation and turnout in the Zilla Panchayat elections in Goa. Some people often ask me why I continue to participate in elections when corruption is so visible and widespread. It is a valid question. Election after election, candidates promise better administration and improved governance, yet what we often witness are misplaced priorities. Corruption in government offices, inefficient administrative services that cause daily inconvenience, poor infrastructure”such as the unusable Seraulim railway underpass”bad roads, rampant conversion of land, and the increasing VIP culture that influences law enforcement and even the judiciary continue unchecked. Add to this the delayed demolition of illegal structures and the introduction of biased policies like the “Mhaje Ghar Yojana,” and public trust erodes further. Ideally, I was supposed to vote with the expectation of clean governance. But in today’s reality, I voted with the hope of lesser corruption. Voting, for me, is a refusal to surrender entirely to cynicism. It is a small act of hope that someday accountability, fairness, and genuine public service will prevail.
