A number of bipartisan poll observers believe that the ongoing election campaign has see many lows which had not been hit in the past decades since Independence. Crass appeals have become common
What has for long been common public knowledge has now been confirmed by one of the central Election Commissioners — that election campaigning this time around has touched all-time lows in the last 30 years. He is right in many ways. All political parties are responsible for the low targets and for their willingness to use just about any stick to their opponents. Consequently, politicians have been using all kinds of expletives against each other, they have hurled all sorts of charges, some based on facts and others on fiction. Their objective is to garner votes, whether through money, hate speech or caste considerations. Maybe the campaigners believe that the common man is a fool.
In the last election, one of the candidates from Amritsar, Punjab, appealed to the voters that since they had given the incumbent a chance to loot for five years, they should now give him the same opportunity!
JF Kennedy had once written: “A politician’s power may be great, and with this power goes the necessity of checking it. But the fact remains that politics has become one of our most abused and neglected professions. It ranks low on the occupational list of a large share of the American politicians”. Indeed, similar views have been echoed by many others. Jarod Kintz, for instance, said: “I once saw a politician walking a dog, and I thought, “How absurd — an animal walking an animal.” Then I thought, “If given the choice, I’d rather vote for the dog.” In another instance, he had asked, “Can America get back to a point where politicians are honestIJ Not unless that point is the tip of a sword.”
With regard to money and politicians, Kintz rightly said: “Most people don’t know where money comes from. Even most of our elected officials don’t know. If you were to ask a politician where money comes from, s/he would probably reply, “I don’t know, from other people’s pocketsIJ” The witty Gore Vidal had similarly remarked: “Today’s public figures can no longer write their own speeches or books, and there is some evidence that they can’t read them either.”
A report the Association for Democratic Reforms says that politicians have thrived in India, untouched by the slowing economy and rising inflation. The average increase in assets of re-elected Members of Parliament and Members of legislative Assemblies between two elections (period of five years) has been almost three-fold.
According to the ADR’s data on 1,370 re-elected MlAs and 200 re-elected MPs, the average income and assets of India’s 100 richest legislators grew by 745 per cent between two consecutive elections or five years. The hike in personal wealth for legislators in this category ranges from two to 25 times. Such stupendous growth rates are more than double the average salary hikes of chief executive officers heading blue-chip companies in India.
A former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh declared in her affidavit for election to Rajya Sabha in March 2012 that her total assets were Rs 111.64 crore. This was more than double the Rs 52 crore she declared in May 2007 when she contested for the State legislative Council election after becoming Chief Minister. In 2010, when she contested for the State legislative Council election again, she declared total assets worth Rs 88 crore.
The ruling party at the Centre has accused the major opposition party of using black money in its election campaign. This is a classic case of the kettle calling the pot black. All political parties spend far more money on their campaigns than the limit that has been fixed by the Election Commission.
It is as much the duty of the political parties as it is of the Election Commission, to ensure fair and free elections. But in practice, the opposite is happening. To win elections at all costs, let morality and fair practices be damned.
Usually, political parties choose candidates on the basis of the caste or religious configuration of a particular constituency. Consequently, parties often nominate candidates who may have never even stepped into their constituency before the election campaign. If such candidates are often elected, the people of India are as much to blame for the current state of affairs in the country.
Conducting elections has become more and more difficult at the ground level. Recently, in West Bengal, an election team was allegedly thrashed by the son-in-law of a Minister who was conducting an election rally in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
In Uttar Pradesh, a senior party leader almost condoned rape and called for lighter sentences for convicted rapists, in order to win some votes belonging to parochial mindsets. One will not be surprised if politicians promised to sell their soul to the devil in return for votes.
Election Expenditure Observers have reportedly seized a total of Rs 118 crore in cash from Andhra Pradesh, Rs 18.31 crore from Tamil Nadu, Rs 14.40 crore from Maharashtra, Rs 10.46 crore from Uttar Pradesh and over four crore rupees from Punjab up until the first week of April.
Also, the total liquor seized stands at 26.56 lakh litres. Additionally, 70 kgs of heroin has also been confiscated and 11,469 First Information Reports registered against the distribution of cash and illegal inducements in various States.
Apart from such electoral manipulations, there is also the case of rampant minority appeasement that is common during election season. We have already seen examples of top party leaders pleading with Muslim clerics to appeal for minority votes. Muslim clerics, on their part, use this as an opportunity to demonstrate their hold over the community.
We must remember that a vote is like a rifle: Its usefulness depends entirely upon the character of the user. An election is a tool that ensures that we shall be governed, but no better than we deserve. As citizens, it is our duty to ensure that our democracy works. There can be no daily democracy without daily citizenship.
In any democracy, political parties devote their energy to prove that their rivals are unfit to rule. Whatever be our opinion on democracy, it is ideal to remember what Winston Churchill said in 1947 to the British Parliament: “Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” How very true.