Festival of Democracy

  Democracies have a periodic exercise where the citizens exercise their franchise and elect a government which they expect will then run the country on their behalf. That is a different matter that more often than not, they end up being disappointed and the resultant anti-incumbency makes them opt for an alternative. The cycle gets repeated every four-five years; while the people go through the motions having burnt their fingers, it is the politicians and business which eagerly await this jamboree. After all this is the time to make a killing, business prospers, the wheels of  election economy are set in motion, canvassing material, posters, life size cutouts, vehicles and aircrafts for ferrying the celebrities to the different corners of the nation for electioneering, hiring of PR professionals, conduct of surveys, opinion polls, psephologists and of course the fourth estate has a field day.  

Election season in India is normally referred to as a festival of democracy. India being a land of festivals it is quite an appropriate description of this monumental exercise. Our elections are a true reflection of the collective psyche of our countrymen. These days the print and electronic media are full of only election news and even in that, for hours together the panelists and the anchors are busy conjecturing as to who is going to win the lottery of the party ticket, especially the ruling alliance. What amuses me is that we the common people watch and read this crap 24x7 endlessly, as though we are ticket aspirants ourselves. As if that is not enough we have very strong opinions on whether the award of ticket to Mahua Moitra from West Bengal would prove beneficial to TMC or not, although most of us have never been to Bengal nor do we have any claims of any acquaintance with Ms Mahua.  Ms Mahua is a controversial and interesting character and does grab our attention, but  discussing the chances  of someone like Nitin Gadkari being given a ticket is downright ridiculous. We also get to know how our worthy leaders have earned their spurs with details of criminal cases against each and how they have enhanced their wealth in the last five years. Isn’t it amazing that while their personal wealth has taken wings during this period, the same is not the case with voters of their constituency. May be there is a case where the earnings of the member during this period ought to be distributed for the welfare of their constituency only, after all these earnings are owed to them.

The debates on the electronic media routinely end up in verbal duels rather than healthy discussions, no Presidential style debates like the world's oldest democracy, the United States of America. In this era of social media driven electioneering, where X, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Whats app rule the roost, one misses the good old style  door to door canvassing, when the candidates undertook this once in five years exercise of paying a curtesy visit to the humble voter's doorstep seeking their support. They were humility personified, would willingly dine with you, touch the feet of the elders to seek their blessings and promise you the moon. Then there were the Tongas or auto rickshaws with loud speakers moving from lane to lane canvassing for the candidates with interesting slogans, there were souvenirs which were distributed, the lapel badges, flags with election symbols and the names of the candidates. The symbols were cow and the calf, pair of bulls, the humble plough, the earthen lamp with the Left retaining their identity with hammer and sickle and so on. 

I wonder if you recall "char chawanni thali main, ______ (the rival candidate) nali main" kind of sloganeering. Trolling has now assumed gigantic proportions  and is a full time business opportunity for many. The advent of AI is already transforming the conduct of this exercise totally, we are already witnessing Modi Ji address a spellbound Tamil audience in impeccable Tamil with the perfect diction. Language will no longer be a barrier, which may enable leaders to connect with the masses in a better manner. So as they say in Tambola ( Housie) eyes down for the next number, the full house is the prize at stake, our eyes and ears are glued to 4th of June, the day of reckoning, and then no surprises for guessing the villain, the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM).