By: Colonel (Retd) A Sridharan
chitrasri@vsnl.com
March 16, 2004

Ultimately what matters between quality and quantity is class. In a parliamentary democracy like ours, it is not class which matters but quantity (or numbers) and therefore, quality or class is no longer an issue. Indian democracy is going through an important phase of coalition politics aimed at remaining in power at all costs. Yesterday`s friends and allies are of no consequence today and yesterday`s foes are friends today. How long will this kind of alignment and realignment will last is not of any consequence today, because the elections are round the corner.

I am not certain if this experimentation with coalition politics which is primarily because of caste compulsions, fed, nurtured and harvested by the Indian politicians over the past 20 years, who shrewdly Mandalised anything and everything to remain in power, will succeed in the long term. Perhaps it will not be easy to undo the damage in quick time and will take lot of time and education of the masses to understand how they have been taken for granted. I hear politicians saying that Indian voters are intelligent and that they will not caste their votes so easily and that crowd brought for any political meeting (with or without the help of film stars) is no indication of the final outcome. May be that is also true? But, if you go to villages and see the kind of politics practiced there, I am not hopeful for a revolution to change the existing system.

In the days of coalition politics, tickets are distributed to the coalition partners based on some electoral understanding. No longer does a voter really has an option in choosing the candidate based on his credentials vis-a-vis ideology, ie, if he believes in one. Let me elaborate a bit more.

Take Coimbatore. What are my options in the forthcoming elections? Either vote for the candidate put up by the AIADMK- BJP alliance (Mr CP Radhakrishnan of BJP?) or the candidate from the DPA alliance of DMK, Congress, PMK, MDMK, CPI etc. There are two seats available for grabs. Whom do we choose? From the DPA alliance it is the CPI candidates as Coimbatore has been handed over to CPI, the alliance partner. Now if I do not believe in Communist ideology, whom should I vote? Should I vote for the person or for the party or for the coalition or for the ideology that I believe in? Or should I accept the fact that ideology no longer matters and what matters is who can deliver what I desire? Should I accept the AIADMK-BJP coalition and forget that they were enemies until recently or accept DMK-Congress alliance after all the accusations hurled at each other in the past by both of them? Or should I gulp the realities for the sake of ideology, assuming that I believe in the AIADMK or the BJP How do I vote for the man or woman, when I have no choice in their selection and I have to choose the candidate put up by the political parties?

I for one am in a dilemma and I am supposed to be an educated (ok, class ten pass) man who is capable of understanding (that is what I think) of the ground realities. I am confused. Should I for the sake of argument, vote for the man from CPI when I can`t stand the communist ideology because I want to teach the AIADMK-BJP a lesson? Do I bury my conscience and vote for the sake of the alliance partners and blame Coimbatore`s karma that the candidate is from CPI but he is from the DPA alliance (assuming that I prefer DPA!) and therefore convince myself that my decision was correct? Or should I weigh the leaders who have been pitted against each other and vote for the better one among the devils?

Such dilemmas like mine are non-existent in villages where they vote enemass based on what the village elders or their caste leaders tell them. I do inter-act with villagers and the more I interact I realise how less informed I am of the ground realities. But the politicians have understood this game long ago and have worked on it so much that today, they can shine and continue to shine inspite of contradictions that are so glaringly visible to a man or woman like you or me.

It is because to this reason that I am of the conviction that the educated lot should go and vote and vote for whatever they believe in. I think we should concentrate on this aspect more than anything else and for a start visit the Taluk office and ensure that our names figure in the Voters` List and if they do not, take action to get them included. After ensuring that, go to the polling booth, wait in the queue as we would to buy a cricket match or cinema ticket and vote. Go enemass in a group from your locality with band and banners to the polling booth but vote as per your choice. Go as a crowd and if you find your name mising, make lot of noise. If you do that, the chances are that your name will not be deleted from the voter`s list or your vote cast by someone else. Go and tell all your neighbours to go and vote.

Let our political masters realize that there is a change sweeping India like the "feel good" factor and that suddenly the educated lot is alive and kicking and that they can`t ignore you and I. The more we get involved better it would be for we will no longer be ignored. And, who knows, some among us will get drawn more to public service and become the politicians whom we think India deserves to make it shine more?

For a start let us try. For a start let all consumer organsiations take up this cause as part of their commitment to consumers - people like you and I. Let all NGOs who are involved in any kind of work go out and preach the educated lot to go, register and vote and not stay at home watching some soap on the TV sipping beer or go out on picnic with their families on the voting day.

Don`t ask me whom to vote? I am confused and I really do not know whom I will vote but vote I will for that is my right.

Colonel (Retd) A Sridharan