The common refrain echoing in the electoral medley this ‘drama of democracy 2014’ is, “Who is the fairest of them all”! Following which, contestants are playing the evil queen. The bare all mirror on the wall is unrelentingly being flashed on one another to highlight the darkest of them all. The media too have joined in the noble cause of image dressing down on the pretext of educating voters.
The election frenzy from mega rallies and grand road shows have obsessively sneaked into our social jaunts and gatherings. Snippets of ‘pappu-feku-nayak’ spoofs from the internet render a boisterous glow to discussions. Hail of praise and snipes of sarcasm are sprinkled liberally at the contestants.
Momentarily, friends turn foe; wives and girlfriends complain about ‘woh’. The other day, Chandranath Mishra, a clerk in government office was extolling his favourite party. Subodh, his friend, a grosser snapped harshly, “Blowing integrity to hysterical level is a trait of lunatics. From hero to zero is the saga of Tragediwal”. An enraged Chandranath snooped down at his throat only to be pacified later. He hits back, “Your party is brochure ka minar boasting tantalising data”.
The power of ‘49’ has snowballed into a major horsepower set to drive the victory wagon of election parties. Women are earnestly being wooed. Girls have moved from discussing cliché topics to the season’s in-thing, i.e Elections. The most common mantras are NaMo and RaGa with a dash of AK.
In a free spirited outpour, Shalini, a IIIrd year student from a reputed professional institute quipped, “We admit our liking for the younger leader yet we would prefer to swim with the current tide of change. You see, good looks, gift of the gab and smartness, Mother Nature does not dole out these characteristics evenly to humans”.
So unpredictable is the contour of State politics that political analysts have restrained from pre-poll projections. But, change for sure provides momentum to pep up everything, from bedroom to boredom.
Anjali, pursuing higher studies, wittily mocked, “Range of women oriented policies, astutely forecast during elections, are music to the ears. Music, sound like post midnight dubbed mumbling teleshopping ads once the fine tuning between promise and deliverance runs out of synchronisation. It’s akin to bad singing on karaoke. I wish the victorious party delivers on its promises”.
The district administration has motivated restaurants and movie theatres to offer discounts to those who are able to demonstrate presence of a black dot on the left fore-finger after poll time. What nextIJ Should it be free sun screen for the urban elite to lure them to brave the sun and make a beeline for polling- booths.
Contestants of political parties in the state possess distinct USPs. Elderly leaders with statesman appeal; ex-cops with glam appeal; tribal leaders with nativity appeal; seasoned leaders with crusader appeal besides jailbirds with charge sheet appeal. Two politicians in the fray for ‘badge of honour’ are famed sworn enemies and trendsetters in organising sports, though one local and the other global. One of them is striving for ‘special status’ for Jharkhand. For the semi-illiterate vendors and labourers ‘special status’ means reservations and subsidies coming their way.
Carpet bombing of information 24x7 has ennobled one and all. Bijli, Sadak, Paani brand of politics has graduated to Naukri, Tarrakki, Mehengai par Rok. Scores of loitering young labourers, at Harmu Chowk, waiting for the days grind, commented on election pitch in Bollywood style, “Come elections and the candidates of political parties deftly do a catch and match. People’s needs are matched with tall promises as colours of saree-falls are matched with sarees. More often half attached, they are torn apart”.
On the surface, electioneering appears low key in Ranchi thereby giving enough reasons to suspect that it is open season for all contestants in distributing moolahs under the cover of darkness. Democracy of the Indian kind at least leads to redistribution of wealth once in 5 years.
Majoritarianism and Minoritism are effective slogans of all political parties. But for vote bank politics, Orwellian principle of equality is practised in full swing, which says, “All are equal, but some are more equal than others”. This time various opinion polls have confounded the confusion and all leaders are almost clueless about which side of the duck the water will flow. Which side of the court the poll ball would bounce.