I belong to the 41% of Mumbaikars who voted on April 30th. I woke up with a sense of purpose. There was a decided spring in my step as I walked to the Bombay Scottish School where my polling booth was. It took me 3 minutes to get there and another 12 mins to find my name on the voting list, sign in my name, get my finger inked and press the button on the EVM.
It was all very ordinary and normal and almost boring. And yet, call me naive if you are cynical, but the act of casting my vote to elect the MP from the Mumbai's South Central constituency in India's 15th Lok Sabha elections was overwhelming. Mostly because of its simplicity. Because it was so damn easy. Here we were deciding the destiny of a nation for the next five years and it was possible with minimal fuss and pain. And because in that process and at that moment all those distinctions that we so diligently carve for ourselves, cease to exist.
No matter how much I earned, how I looked, who I knew, how educated I was, what language I spoke, I was equal to everyone else who had chosen to participate in the process. In this at least we were all equal. In this at least India has hope.
At a time when the debate is about who will form government, and the role of electoral mathematics and nature of political gymnastics, this ode to democracy in action, may seem oldfashioned and romantic. There is little premium on these qualities but I am proud to say I don't care. I voted. And I am I glad I stood up to be counted.
And yeah I was deeply disappointing that more than half of the city's registered voters didn't feel that way. I had expected the outpouring of public anger and protest after November 26th and the combined effort of the media and NGOs to create awareness would result in a higher voter turn out at the very least. There are many reasons why it didn't happen and its all out there in the public debate but the answers are far from definitive.
On a personal note and at a visceral level I think that maybe I fell prey to great expectations. Maybe the mission that the media went into overdrive to communicate ended up preaching to the converted. And worse still maybe the media is guilty of tracking other media more than real people on the ground.
And then maybe at the heart of the matter is that fact that most people simply didn't care.
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5 comments:
Hi Anuradha
Don't know if you are the right person for this question but i might as well ask.
What happens if the party I want to vote for is not contesting from my constituency? Why don't I have the right to vote for the party in the nearest other constituency?
I had to let my vote go waste as all the of the other candidates were known crooks or criminals.
Also,with no pre-poll alliances you really don't know who will be on whose side!
Hi Vyne,
It is depressing that opportunistic post poll alliances will determine government and diminsh the value of your vote.
And though I am not an expert I think we need to function within the existing system, even if we want to change it. So if you belong to a constituency then you need to find the least worthless or most worthy candidate and pick on him or her. If you want to discius this topic I can put you on to a friend who is a political scientist with Bombay University.
Thanks for writing.
Hey Anuradha
Thanks for the offer but I am just curious about such a possibility. Would appreciate even if you were to just pass on the question to your friend.
Vyne I checked with the expert. The law - the representation of people act - says you can register only in the constituency you are registered in.
I guess if we could float across to other constituencies even if they are nearby there will be chaos...
All the best.
Anuradha
Hey Anuradha
Thanx a ton for the follow-up. Yeah, I guess it makes sense. In two days we'll know whether we get the BJPs India Shining or Congress's Hand Job!
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