Kerala goes to polls on 16 April. Of the five phases, we, Keralites are blessed with the rare opportunity of exercising our franchise in the first phase itself. A small State, at the southern tip of India, Kerala is comparatively peaceful and hence it does not give much of a head-ache to the Election Commission of India. But how long this peaceful atmosphere is here to stay is anybody’s guess. Recent developments in a few northern districts of the State are a sad pointer in that direction. Whether Kerala is poised to turn out to be a U.P., Bihar, Orissa or Assam is a worrying thought among politically conscious Malayalees (Keralites). A State which takes excessive pride for its achievements to emerge as cent-percent literacy State, has really not much to boast about in several fields.
Though blessed with natural beauty and also with abundant resources, our State still continues to be a consumer State. Ironically the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka which are not blessed with natural beauty or resources are providers of rice, flowers and vegetables. ‘Vishu’ , our State festival is a few days away. But to celebrate it with fanfare we have to import the beautiful ‘Kanikonna’ (Cassia Fistula) flowers from the aforementioned States. This does not mean that we don’t have Kanikonna in our own land. But its scarcity is much of a worry to a majority during the Vishu season.
Our rulers, either left or right, are not much bothered about such “trivial matters”. They have more important matters to concentrate upon from mud-slinging to cashing in a lot of other things like corruption charges against both opposition and ruling party leaders. Indo-American Civil Nuclear Deal, Saddam Hussein, the Afghan imbroglio and such matters of national and international importance. The other day, I happened to go through a report penned by a journalist. While Kerala people are caught in the election tangle with, propagandas gaining momentum, corner meetings and rallies organized by various parties attended by national leaders, political equations and the chances of various parties and candidates, citizens and even a few political leaders or erstwhile leaders, pretend to be oblivious of the goings on around them, delving deep into matters of international importance. (The gentle man was in US for about two months to cover the election scenario there.)
We have various categories of voters. Committed-voters – those who have already made up their minds who to vote for, they have party affiliations or owing allegiance to parties of their liking and they don’t even hesitate to announce their choices publicly.
Another category belongs to a section of so-called ‘undecided voters’. They wait till the last moment and take the decision only when they reach the polling booth. All responsibilities end with the exercising of their franchise - who will win, who will lose- that is none of their worries or curiosities. Typical Indian exercising his right to vote!
The next category, for reasons better known to them- do not even think about exercising their franchise may be due to lack of faith in the system, basically anarchist bend of mind, hatred toward politicians and political leaders for not keeping their promises to the electorate during election campaign ( bitter memories of standing in long queues bearing the scorching Sun for a long duration awaiting their turn dreaming a bright tomorrow and when dreams get shattered like glass houses they get depressed, withdraw into their shells and lead a cocooned existence).
This category of voters can be called ‘go-getters’. They don’t have politics, no ideological leanings, but are ready to cast votes to anyone who approaches them with cash, bottle or any other kind of favour. They even go to the extent of casting bogus votes, if requested by any local babu, for a fairly handsome reward. Always within the reach of anyone, their only concern being money or something equivalent to that.
Now come to the category of “New generation voters”- those who are quite young going to exercise their right, the first time in their life. Unlike all those mentioned above, the youngsters - they are educated and shrewd observers of our political scenario - nurse many dreams about the party, the leaders and the candidates. Before arriving at a decision each of them takes pains to know ‘who is who’, if got elected who is of maximum potential, ability, sincerity, empathy and honesty to the electorate, his constituency and the State as a whole. These youngsters expect infrastructure development- good roads, irrigation facilities, safe drinking water and electricity to all. They want unemployment problem to be tackled, provide food to the needy, availability of essential commodities at modest rates and a rapport with the people of the constituency who toiled for them and made it possible for them to get elected to the highest law-making body of the land.
Besides corruption and communalism, criminalization of politics has to be fought tooth and nail. In the last Loksabha, we had thirty percent of the MPs who had criminal cases slapped against them. Most of them were involved in horrendous crimes like thuggery and murder. Those criminals are provided with VIP security is a matter of shame to us all. How did they manage to get elected to the largest law making house of our nation? Wonderful…!
Though with criminal records they could ensure a bonding with the electorate of their constituencies. The people had a soft-corner towards them because they had some plus points to their credit. Whenever they needed them badly, they rushed to their constituencies with helping hands. Basically, every human being is good. Circumstances play a crucial role in moulding his character. The notorious sandalwood smuggler, forest brigand- Veerappan- who committed innumerable murders and was haunted by the authorities till his last moment was liked and loved by the poor people residing in forest areas and they had no compunctions in rescuing him from the clutches of police forces by passing on information about the movements of men in khaki. Veerappan was always kind to them and he extended all sorts of help to the downtrodden in the forest areas.
Pappu Yadav, Shahabudheen (both of them barred from contesting this time) and other MPs who have criminal backgrounds might have had emotional bonding with the electorate of their respective constituencies. Whatever be the plus points ,a law breaker should not be allowed to be a law-maker. Otherwise it will create a bad precedent in future.
World has seen so many monsters who despite some positive qualities have a wretched past about which the people across the World, still shudder to imagine.
Adolf-Hitler, the wretched monster of all times had some plus points- on knowing about those qualities, how many of us will lend credence to it is another thing.
In his famous work – “Adolf Hitler”- writer James Bunting notes – (let me quote his lines here)- “His various women friends, some of whom are still alive today, have spoken of him as a gentle, considerate man who, when not engaged in political campaigning could relax happily in the company of friends, spin a humorous yarn better than most, enjoy listening to good music and extol at length on the beauties of nature. He was an ardent lover of animals- devoted to his two pet shephered dogs- and he detested any animal being exploited for commercial purposes. Eva Braun has described how he once rescued a butterfly from drowning in the Konigsee and would not be satisfied until he had seen it flutter its wings and fly away. Hitler also hated to see anyone ill or in pain and was once beside himself with concern when Eva was suffering from a prolonged bout of toothache.”
Similar may be the case with modern day monsters like Osama Bin Laden, Beitullah Mehsud, late Pol Pot, Augusto Pinochet and a number of such monsters.
Let me come to the main subject. Today is 4 April. Now it is a matter of days. On 16 April, Kerala goes to polls. Who is going to win is a million dollar question. A fluid situation indeed – even psephologists and astrologers go wrong- it is better we keep quiet and wait with bated breath.
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