Come elections and the instances of politicians crying under the surge of emotions or shrewdly trying to evoke sympathy increase many folds whenever a ticket is denied to them or they opt to join another political party which was target of their ire till a day earlier.
The Congress stalwart Yashpal Arya became moist-eyed recently when the journalists inquired about the reasons of leaving the party he served for 41 years. Similarly, Dhanilal Shah who was aspiring for Bharatiya Janata Party ticket from Ghansali reserved constituency cried inconsolably when the party decided to field Dhaniram in the constituency. An emotionally choked Shah cursed that the "BJP will drown in his tears". Similar instance was witnessed in Uttarkashi on Wednesday, when BJP leader Suratram Nautiyal wept in a Press conference when the party ignored in him in Gangotri Assembly constituency. People still remember the episode when then Congress leader Mantri Prasad Naithani wept copiously when he was not provided party ticket from Devprayag constituency in the Assembly elections of 2012. The emotional card played by Naithani appeared to have reaped dividends when people elected him as an independent candidate.
Psychologists believe that the tears are one way of releasing stress.
Psychiatrist and deputy Medical Superintendent (MS) of associated hospital of Government Doon Medical College (GDMC), Dr J S Rana differentiated human crying in to two types — one is spontaneous while the other is dramatisation. He said that the spontaneous crying may occur due to shock, some unexpected happening and is an acute stress reaction. In medical terms this condition is called Dissociative Conversion Disorder when the stress is transferred into crying. Dr Rana further informed that shouting, displaying aggression, getting fainted and crying are manifestations of such release of stress. He explained that dramatisation occurs when someone intentionally bring tears into eyes to seek attention or to gain sympathy. ‘’Such people can be termed as good actors. I believe that emotional outburst of politicians is both spontaneous and feigned,’’ he said.
“The politicians shed crocodile tears just to arouse public sympathy in their favour as they know that they have to answer people about their actions. Similarly when they defect from the party they take the shield of tears to evade uncomfortable questions,’’ said Manish Rawat, a resident of Clement Town.
Housewife and a resident of MDDA Kedarpuram, Arti Balodi opined that people should understand the motive behind these tears and exercise their vote judiciously. Voters should be clear in their judgment of the candidate and should not be guided by emotions which these politicians tend to evoke, she added.