There are many
issues that are always revolving around an election. Firstly, whenever an
election comes up, no matter if it’s a municipal or a state assembly or a
panchayat election there is a lot of talk amongst the common people about the
elements like money, caste and religious based voting. I don’t think this
year’s elections (16th Lok Sabha & Assembly elections in 7
states) will be any different. The major issues are :
1. Cash for Votes :
The issue of
money exchanging hands between the voters and the party workers campaigning for
a contestant has become a prevalent practise in our system and is very much an
open secret. One may not find this practise in the urban areas but this the
ground reality in the rural areas, small towns and villages. The senior
politicians and the new aged highly educated politicians are equally to be
blamed for this set up of a bad precedent, thereby mocking the true meaning of
the word ‘Democracy’. There have been been reports of unaccounted cash being
seized regularly but this practise never stops and most of this wrongdoing gets
swept under the rug.
2. Fake Voters :
The issue of fake
voting is a longstanding one. The voter ID registration process is not really
transparent and clean and almost everyone can get the voter ID card by the
process that is being followed. The people are brought to the polling booths by
an arranged transport system, in few cases they are even lured by providing
them with alcohol. Recently on a social media network, a woman from Bangalore came up with a post saying there were many
Bangladeshi citizens in her locality, who migrated to India hardly an year ago and were
applying for the voter ID cards on the basis of having the Aadhar and the PAN
cards. Such migrants are encouraged in every possible way by appeasing them
with jobs, shelter and subsidies by the Government that seeks their support
during an election. It’s a baffling fact that the Aadhar and PAN card holders
need not be Indians and based on those cards they are being considered for the
provision of a voter ID card. This just cannot happen without any support and
external pressure from the people in power, who are good at making things
happen behind the scenes with no fear of law and clearly suggesting that
political mileage is what they are interested in by increasing their votebank
tally. All such fake voters, who do not even connect to the basic concepts of India
contribute significantly in the outcome of the polls.
3. Vote Banks :
Votebank politics
for me is the cheapest way one would think of coming to power. ‘Unity in
Diversity’ , a motto which India brags about but there’s a massive division in
the Indian society amongst many people, thanks mainly to the countless castes,
languages, various religions and opportunistic politics by parties like INC . No matter how much one denies this, it’s the
actual reality of the scenario right from the backward regions to the urban
Thakurs, Rajputs, Jats of northern India to the Reddy, Gowda and Iyer
communities down south. The politicians go to the minorities and make
irresponsibly inflammatory speeches to seek votes in the name of caste and
religion and that is where the fuel is added to the fire. It’s like business
asusual for them where they can stoop to new low levels just to gain power and
run their show of strength. I feel, the parties which are the self certified
guardians of the concept of ‘Secularism’ in India, which accuse other parties
of polarising the votes for political gains are the real wreckers of this
society by disrupting the little communal harmony and by building a
communalised and polarised atmosphere around the elections.
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