We always have believed the the next upcoming election is the most important one for our future. It was true for 2009, 2004, 1999 and before it. And this constant hope and expectation has kept our democracy alive and vibrant. We still believe that the electoral outcome can significantly alter our path and take us to a better / worsen future.
So the coming election is also an important one (as usual), but this time it is unique in its own sense. This time it is battle between individuals and not parties. The attention is towards the persons and not Parties. And these persons signifies the policies/ideologies which they stand for. So this year, the election is essentially between ideologies of how we should run (better word will be govern) our nation.
NaMo, the much hyped and declared PM candidate of NDA, is exciting and polarizing figure. You love, Hate him, but you cannot ignore him. He is looked upon for a promise of good governance, strong leadership (which means potentially diluted democracy), pro-industry, strong nationalism, and as alleged by some as a symbol of communal divide. He claims to have demonstrated development for everybody in Gujarat and generated employment for its youth. He is certainly pro-industry and in favor of values of capitalism and big corporate playing vital role in employment generation.
RaGa, is almost at the other end of the spectrum. He also promises the same things like employment, inclusive development etc., but his conviction and beliefs in the means to achieve those is different. He signifies the rights based approach wherein every body(specially the marginalized and poor ones) are eligible for minimum standards of life in terms of food, health, education etc., almost at zero cost. Rahul Gandhi is talking of quotas / sub quotas for minorities, economically weaker sections, caste etc. It signifies the ideology that government is expected to take care of all your basic needs.
There is also a third person who is creating much hype. Arvind Kejriwal is hitting out against all parties and leaders. Recently he has changed his stance and he is relentlessly opposing BJP / Modi sensing that congress has little chance to win. But the ideology on which Kejriwal will govern the country is still not clear. He is anti-corruption crusader and a constant problem finder. He still needs to demonstrate his problem solving abilities. The formation and dissolution of Delhi govt. Creates more doubt than confidence in heart of voters.
Interesting thing in coming elections is that there seems to be a battle between poster boys of the parties and ideologies and not a battle at a grass root level among the actual candidates. There is little talk about manifestos, details, other ministers etc. It is all about NaMo, RaGa & AK. They all have prepared a pitch and consciously wooing voters. This time the voters are being persuaded to vote not based on the local candidate but based on the party leader. This is a real changing dimension of Indian Politics. We are moving towards personality based politics rather then party based politics.
Is there any correct answer for the question of voter, ‘for whom should I vote ?’ It seems that all the ideologies / persons are in conflict of each other. They can never survive together. But if we look deeper, the ideologies which these persons are trying to highlight are the major moods of the voters themselves. People are fed up of corruption (AK), People want their basic rights (RaGa), People want development, Strong Leader & good governance (NaMo).
All of the three leaders are essentially reflection of the moods of Indian people at a same time. The more important thing is that all three ideologies are not mutually exclusive. i.e. they can survive together. Rather, they should be followed in integrated manner and without exclusion of any. Voters experience all the three. Instead of seeing as options to each other, they should be complementary to each other. What we want is not one extreme but a balance of ideologies.
But as a voter, do we have a real choice ? Will the promises be fulfilled ? Will there be a government which will keep its voters happy ? If it is a good democracy, answers to above should be yes, but the hope seems very little. It seems that there are many systemic flaws in our democracy which will never allow us to reach the zenith of our potential.It compels me to say the “Effectiveness of the democracy is inversely proportional to its size (numbers of voters in each constituency)”. For the next election, Just vote for the person you like, there will be hardly any change in the way the things are governed. You may feel satisfied (and afterwards dejected) if the same person comes to power.
For a real change, the ideologies (read persons) need not conflict, but they should also support each other. The democracy need not mean opposing each other and fighting. But it also means supporting and complementing each other for the good things. It also means learning from each other and respecting them as fellow countrymen who are also contributors to change.
So the coming election is also an important one (as usual), but this time it is unique in its own sense. This time it is battle between individuals and not parties. The attention is towards the persons and not Parties. And these persons signifies the policies/ideologies which they stand for. So this year, the election is essentially between ideologies of how we should run (better word will be govern) our nation.
NaMo, the much hyped and declared PM candidate of NDA, is exciting and polarizing figure. You love, Hate him, but you cannot ignore him. He is looked upon for a promise of good governance, strong leadership (which means potentially diluted democracy), pro-industry, strong nationalism, and as alleged by some as a symbol of communal divide. He claims to have demonstrated development for everybody in Gujarat and generated employment for its youth. He is certainly pro-industry and in favor of values of capitalism and big corporate playing vital role in employment generation.
RaGa, is almost at the other end of the spectrum. He also promises the same things like employment, inclusive development etc., but his conviction and beliefs in the means to achieve those is different. He signifies the rights based approach wherein every body(specially the marginalized and poor ones) are eligible for minimum standards of life in terms of food, health, education etc., almost at zero cost. Rahul Gandhi is talking of quotas / sub quotas for minorities, economically weaker sections, caste etc. It signifies the ideology that government is expected to take care of all your basic needs.
There is also a third person who is creating much hype. Arvind Kejriwal is hitting out against all parties and leaders. Recently he has changed his stance and he is relentlessly opposing BJP / Modi sensing that congress has little chance to win. But the ideology on which Kejriwal will govern the country is still not clear. He is anti-corruption crusader and a constant problem finder. He still needs to demonstrate his problem solving abilities. The formation and dissolution of Delhi govt. Creates more doubt than confidence in heart of voters.
Interesting thing in coming elections is that there seems to be a battle between poster boys of the parties and ideologies and not a battle at a grass root level among the actual candidates. There is little talk about manifestos, details, other ministers etc. It is all about NaMo, RaGa & AK. They all have prepared a pitch and consciously wooing voters. This time the voters are being persuaded to vote not based on the local candidate but based on the party leader. This is a real changing dimension of Indian Politics. We are moving towards personality based politics rather then party based politics.
Is there any correct answer for the question of voter, ‘for whom should I vote ?’ It seems that all the ideologies / persons are in conflict of each other. They can never survive together. But if we look deeper, the ideologies which these persons are trying to highlight are the major moods of the voters themselves. People are fed up of corruption (AK), People want their basic rights (RaGa), People want development, Strong Leader & good governance (NaMo).
All of the three leaders are essentially reflection of the moods of Indian people at a same time. The more important thing is that all three ideologies are not mutually exclusive. i.e. they can survive together. Rather, they should be followed in integrated manner and without exclusion of any. Voters experience all the three. Instead of seeing as options to each other, they should be complementary to each other. What we want is not one extreme but a balance of ideologies.
But as a voter, do we have a real choice ? Will the promises be fulfilled ? Will there be a government which will keep its voters happy ? If it is a good democracy, answers to above should be yes, but the hope seems very little. It seems that there are many systemic flaws in our democracy which will never allow us to reach the zenith of our potential.It compels me to say the “Effectiveness of the democracy is inversely proportional to its size (numbers of voters in each constituency)”. For the next election, Just vote for the person you like, there will be hardly any change in the way the things are governed. You may feel satisfied (and afterwards dejected) if the same person comes to power.
For a real change, the ideologies (read persons) need not conflict, but they should also support each other. The democracy need not mean opposing each other and fighting. But it also means supporting and complementing each other for the good things. It also means learning from each other and respecting them as fellow countrymen who are also contributors to change.