The Great Indian Democracy

Three more days and the elections to elect the ruling government for the world's largest democracy comes to an end. Three more days for the elephant to dance. After a long and tiring journey spanning almost 5 weeks spread over 5 phases, the voters will have voted and the fate of god knows thousands of candidates will be sealed. The begging from the voters comes to an end and so does the constant ranting against opponents. The mud slinging and the promises all are now over. The manifestos strewn across the face of the land as the billions of rupees spent on this behemoth find their way into somebody's pockets. Three more days and the noise of the loudspeakers and the blaring of horns and loud music on the roads as well as the radio comes to an end. The use of electronic media was well as the radio and the internet by the 'national parties' was commendable. The parties pulled out all stops to make themselves visible to the public.

Sure enough this was a special time for many first time voters. After all you get to vote for the country once every 5 years only. Many confused souls didn’t know who to support and who to reject. Guess they didn't give a damn about politics. Voting was the in thing and nobody wants to be left out from the acceptable group now do they. Many didn’t vote as they were not in their constituencies. They were away from their homeland. They can go for their excursions into the country side for a weekend getaway but no they can’t take a leave to go out and vote. That is just not that important on their list. After all who cares who gets voted in, it’s of no concern to us, as if what they do somehow means something. Many would agree to this line of thought others would simply shrug their shoulders in saying that they didn’t have their voter id. It’s like they wouldn’t go out to get that clothes and accessories when they need them. But getting a voter id is too much a trouble to take.

God knows how India is running forward with full steam with a lackadaisical govt. slumbering along while the elephant wants the speed much like in a stampede. Everyone is amazed as to how the Indian economy is booming despite the fact that India ranks amongst the lowest in terms of human development and corruption indices. It’s the entrepreneurs who are making the clock tick and if someday they decide to stop the engine will come to a screeching halt. The inefficient governments (no matter which party comes to power) seems to be all at sea when it comes to the crucial questions of security, foreign policy and economy only tend to increase the distrust amongst the voters regarding their candidates. Everybody is fed up of the corruption so deeply ingrained in the political and bureaucratic system ever since Nehru first decided to overlook the demon seed.

Yet the quintessential hope never fails. Every Indian despite the odds believes and dreams of a better future for them and for the country. It’s this hope that keeps on taking them back to the voting booth to try and put in their effort to elect a capable govt. that has the power to do what they had promised during the elections. That is why the elections still manage to generate the hoopla and the excitement both in the lives of public and the media that covers every inch of the activities. Sure enough there are loads of complaints against every government across the country but a point to be kept in mind is that those who don’t/didn’t vote have no right to blame the govt. They were not a part of electing it then they should just shut the bloody hell up and accept what they got.

All this now leads to a totally different arena. The arena of horse trading where every party coming up short must sell their souls and ideas to get the coveted seat in the cabinet. They must try and conjure up the nos. to form the new govt. for which they have worked so hard. So what, if in the process they have to compromise on their ideals, the very thing the public looked at when voting for them. That doesn’t matter at all. The seat of power is what matters as it would guarantee a 5 year period of rule during which they can accumulate masses of wealth and probably stop worrying about a secure future. After all some tens of crores of rupees is not enough to last another 10 years right, because that is what is the future average life expectancy of the politicians today. They need more and much more to fill their coffers. Suck out the blood of the Indian masses, making them work hard and then take away their money to fill their pockets. Gosh that is a very hard thing to do. To do all this in only 5 years is expecting too much.

But rest assured in a weeks time we will know whether the coming of age Indian public has really voted sensibly and chosen the lesser of the two evils or has it as always gone ahead and given the baton to the devil himself so that he can come back and smack you right in the face with it and yet make it feel like he has helped you in some way. A week at max is what will tell the world what India will give them in the form of govt. A week to rejoice and usher in 5 years of mourning………