PACHU MENON
Like any other season, elections too, as a quinquennial affair, sets in to run its own course before making a gracious exit for the people to reap the benefits at its culmination. The recent elections though have been giving enough fodder for contemplation with a thoughtful electorate springing a surprise with every edition. In keeping with this trend, if incidents leading up to this general election is any indication, they may well signify the coming of age of the Indian voter.
For long harangued by the tribe of glib talkers, the aam aadmi is slowly but surely asserting himself. Refusing to take things lying down, he has made it more than obvious that he wouldn’t cringe from confronting lawmakers when it comes to denial of basic needs. Hence, it did take the EC some time to reconcile to the self-explanatory truth when villagers from two remote hamlets in Goa threatened to boycott the LS polls if their grievances were not resolved immediately. Angered by the failure of the government to construct roads to connect their villages, and rebuffed over the years, they were able to wiggle out assurances from leaders and officers who were never so solicitous of them of a speedy redressal of their woes once the code of conduct in effect is over.
The poll boycott calls may have proved that as alike any other organisation, the government machinery too yields only under pressure.
Barely a week before the first of the phase-wise elections for the 17th LS was to begin, suspense prevailed when similar reactions were observed in around 165 villages from 14 states which had decided not to vote due to the apathy towards rural development even 70 years of independence, farmer distress and tribal rights.
When we have a PM who talks of fast-galloping into an era of technological advancements to put the nation in an enviable position of progress and development; more than quarter of its population continues to live in darkness.
Connectivity is today synonymous with internet where high-speed connections enable people to access information at the press of a computer key. But when spoken of in terms of roads, even today the country’s hinterlands are as inaccessible as they were centuries back.
Forced to lead nomadic lives where people have to trudge long distances in search of food and water, it becomes shocking to know that India is one of the fastest growing countries in the world(sic)! So if the issue of elections could be exploited by harried villagers to awaken the establishment out of a slumber, this feat of theirs could well be seen as that first step towards ‘demanding’ accountability from the elected members. For, it is plain indifference which makes politicians overlook the plight of their voters, which in turn reflects in the total neglect of their constituencies. It is however a surprise to have many treating poll promises as electioneering formalities and not attaching much importance to them. But isn’t it a flawed perception!
The politics of development which has the government showing a biased attitude towards regions represented by the opposition has had a debilitating effect on such constituencies
If politicians view votes as the ‘staple diet’ for sustaining their political career, the voters are well entitled to deny them this precious sustenance if the elected representatives are negligent towards their plight.
In the war of ballots, the electorate usually endorses a candidate depending on the sincerity of his commitments. Pledges have had a way of enamoring the public, but smarting under the weight of their own promises, leaders of late have come to understand the futility of such exercises that only serves to hold amusement value during election campaigns.
Call it a politically conscience body of voters or one that has come to see through the fabric of lies that gives modern politics the intricacy associated with it, people would like to have their leaders more involved and dedicated to the cause of their voters.
As mentioned earlier, one could well be witnessing the nation’s first step towards ‘demanding’ accountability from elected members. Answerable for their deeds, as also their misdemeanors, isn’t it about time a system of checks and balances is introduced in the public domain which empowers the electorate to limit the obtrusiveness of the elected members in the affairs of the constituency in as far as the personal interests of the representative, and not public welfare, gains prominence.
Braving their disabilities, the manner in which the infirm and the differently abled members have come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise this time signifies a changing society which does not believe in sitting back and allowing the political class to steer the course of the nation.
Active participation in governance is the new mantra every Indian is so very keen about.
We call India a democracy! Yet Indians are conspicuous by their unwillingness to resist any attempt to foist a leadership on them. Is there nothing free and fair about our elections?
The manner in which politics in the country has been taking a turn over the past few years, for better or the worse; a steady rise observed in the ‘undemocratic’ forces which have attempted to thwart the will of the people threatens to tear the country asunder.
Once again the electoral sham of 2017 in Goa forces itself back into one’s mind. However, is the boycott of elections a sensible move against the ineffectiveness of our representatives! If politicians could make use of their poll-promises to entice voters, what is to stop the voters from holding the system to ransom against the non-fulfillment of assurances which, at times, may appear trivial in comparison to the larger interests of the community or region!
We have completed just four of the seven phases that the polls for the 17th Lok Sabha is spread across. Many such ‘wonders’ may yet occur which point to a shift in the people’s stand vis-Ã -vis the elections and how best to make it a potent symbol of the people’s might.
