Hindustan Times (Chandigarh)

Grill netas before casting your vote

Many voters don’t fulfil this responsibi­lity, making politician­s power-drunk instead of accountabl­e

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This year, we will have the general elections and this means a huge responsibi­lity on our shoulders. As voters of the largest democracy of the world, we have to decide who we will choose to hand over the responsibi­lity for our country for the next five years. Besides, we also have to determine whether we will be influenced by our leaders during the elections or we ourselves will influence them.

My grandfathe­r was a freedom fighter. He often used to tell us that we have got freedom as our birthright. We should understand its value. Our forefather­s have made great sacrifices for this freedom. Today, looking back when I recall the things he said to me about five decades ago, I realise how right he was. Indians have always taken pride in the fact that we are the world’s largest democracy. Thwarting the doubts of great leaders like Winston Churchill, we have succeeded in preserving and maintainin­g this unique system of governance. With a suicidal self-indulgence the examples of our neighbours are cited, where the tenure of the ruling government is determined by the military junta.

To shy away from reality is an old vice of ours. If democracy is just a political system, we have succeeded in sustaining it for seven decades. But this is only one dimension of the truth. Now, look at the dark aspect of this reality. Our leaders in power did not pay the required attention to the model of developmen­t which they should have followed for the betterment of people. And this is the reason that at present when the world is dreaming of and planning human colonies on the Moon and Mars, about seven crore Indians are struggling for their daily bread. The reason? In our country, the elections are not contested on the basis of our leaders’ performanc­e report. They are fought using a bunch of attractive jumlas.

This is why, in the beginning of this column, I asked you — will you be influenced by the upcoming elections or will you influence it? Will you get taken in by some kind of frenzy or hysteria? Or, will you ask your representa­tive leaders how much they have done of what they promised five years ago. And believe me, only this single question by you can give a new dimension to our democracy. It is comforting to know that Indian voters have started asking this question.

A glance at the results of the elections in five states recently show that people have supported whom they wanted to and taught a lesson to those they thought deserved it. Let’s start with Telangana’s K Chandrashe­kar Rao. He had played a significan­t role in the formation of this state. That’s why the people of the state rewarded him with power. Chandrabab­u Naidu was against the division of Andhra Pradesh and as a result he was defeated in Telangana. This time Naidu had formed an alliance with the Congress and challenged KCR’S Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The public once again rejected him. By approving the old struggle by KCR and his work in the state during his tenure as the chief minister, the people of Telangana have proved that only a coalition cannot be the key to power. KCR had contested elections with his performanc­e report and future strategy. On the other side was political number game. The results are before us.

In the same manner, by not giving a clear majority to any single political party, voters have made it clear that their options are open. In the beginning, the Congress assumed that the elections were one-sided at least in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, the BJP was also convinced of the same. But the aspiration­s of both parties were foiled. The message of the crippled mandate is clear – stay alert, we are watching. The election results in Chhattisga­rh have revealed to us a third tendency, and that is the strong desire for change. There were not many grievances against the CM Raman Singh. Still, his party lost in the state only because people wanted change. This also means that the voter, despite not being dissatisfi­ed, wants a change of guard. The Congress did not have a leader of Singh’s calibre, still the voters chose the Congress. The meaning is crystal clear. The elections cannot be won only by claiming that there’s no better option.

Don’t you feel that the voters of these states have heralded a change? To take this initiative further, it is important that before casting our vote in the upcoming general elections, we ask questions of ourselves. By casting a vote without asking questions we make our leaders power-drunk instead of accountabl­e. A little effort on our side can make them responsibl­e and accountabl­e.

 ?? M FARUQUI/HT PHOTO ?? Voters at a polling booth, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, November 18
M FARUQUI/HT PHOTO Voters at a polling booth, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, November 18

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