ELECTIONS, ELECTORS Vs. DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

Yesterday night, I Just got stuck in cross party heated exchange of words between fans of two parties. The heat mounted and everything got burnt around me and I sat like a silent observer failing to douse this fire. What amused me was a thought provoking self search of myself (a general routine with me) and I explored that I was being actually befooled. I, the silent tax payer, read GST payer do not have any easy or comfortable access to any of the facilities these fans are boasting off. Facilities in terms of health, education, commuting and employment opportunities have been consistently denied to me ever since I was born in 70s. Even today I dread all these community facilities provided by Government. Metro is the only exception. :)

So, on a serious note : the following:

Electing a government for good governance is our duty and exercising our rights to vote is our basic human right. With ongoing process of elections in India, the election campaign to woe voters, race to form a government, allegations and counter allegations, doling out of schemes are a very usual pattern as I have watched for the last 30 years of my adulthood.    By and large, we can boast of complying with all international UN Charters, conventions and guidelines of being a democratic country. We have all ingredients and constituents of conducting free and fair elections including political pluralism, election administration, media access, equality of suffrage etc.etc., monitored through our independent election commissions.  Whoever is voted to “power” to govern us will be our choice.

Or would it be? This interrogative mark is deeply etched in my head. The imperatives of good governance is enforcing the will of the people. However, ultimately, we, the people so governed, are so immensely confused or swayed away that we fail to make an informed choice and thus, consequently fail to exercise our human right of participation in the governance. One glaring example for confusion, atleast for me, is the allegations and cross allegations made by opposition party and ruling party. The opposition party which initiated 3500 km. protest march against BJP led government against soaring unemployment, rising food and fuel prices accused the government of benefitting chosen industrialists and selling the country’s resources to a few men of influence. Social media platforms are abuzz with how PM Modi is the ultimate beneficiary of all the commercial contractual transactions involving our national resources. On the other hand, the ruling party made accusation of corruption of Rs.4,82, 069 crore on Congress under its rule. This assumes normalcy as we, the governed people, become insensitive to such allegations prompting us to dissuade from getting into the details of such allegations. We, the governed people, are too busy in our daily lives earning our livelihood, brining up our children and enjoying our small comforts or struggling to make both ends meet. We pretend to fulfill our duty by indulging into heated debates whenever there is an opportunity taking sides of our favored leaders and political parties. 

The Gen Z can sort this out. May be. I am just passing the baton as it is without sorting it out. It is a possibility that with emerging new world order, the national boundaries may get blurred ultimately. Yet, I will not be there to see it.