In a democracy, elections are not merely about choosing representatives and deciding which party should be entrusted with the responsibility for governance. Elections are also about political education and determining priorities for the future. But over the decades, most parties in India have failed to utilize elections as a means of mobilizing public opinion to obtain a mandate for meaningful change. Instead, elections have become a way of determining who will rule.
Over the years, cynical and shameless manipulation of the poor and powerless voters through competitive populism has become the dominant feature of our elections. The current Tamil Nadu Assembly election has shown that this process of manipulating the vote has reached the nadir. The DMK-combine promised colour televisions to each family!
This is by no means the first time when a party offered freebies to the unsuspecting and hapless poor. Most candidates habitually offer money and liquor for vote. And since the early 1970's politicians perfected the art of using public money as inducement for vote. Ostensibly, all these promises are intended to eliminate poverty. But the gullible poor remain as vote-banks, and no significant dent is made in poverty
The Garibi Hatao politics of 1970's and the populist policies of NTR and MGR are good illustrations of the poor becoming an assured vote bank, even as their condition remains largely unaltered. The absurd campaign of Devilal in Haryana in 1987 marked a new low, when he promised to give irrigation water without 'depleting the power in it' as opposed to Congress which generated hydro-electricity before allowing it to flow into irrigation canals! Devilal again hit headlines in 1989 by promising to write off farm loans. The loan waiver was eventually implemented by VP Singh government in 1990. The credit system suffered irreparable damage, and farmers continued to be in distress after the loan waiver.
Politics of free electricity has dominated our electoral landscape for long. Several states resorted to this, including the present Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers continue to pay huge bribes for new connections or services, power supply is erratic, and utilities suffer serious losses at great cost to the tax payer. And yet, the cynical governments resorting to such short-term ploys reap rich political dividends.
But all these pale into insignificance in the face of the brazen promise of DMK in Tamil Nadu to give colour televisions. By this reckless promise, the sovereign voters are converted into mendicants. The tragic death of several poor women while distributing free sarees in Lucknow in 2004 forever reminds us how the voter has been reduced to a beggar. But Mr Karunanidhi now seeks to institutionalize such mendicancy. In such political calculations, people are not human beings with dreams and aspirations, and dignity and pride. They are reduced to being voters whose compliance is necessary for the power of a few manipulators.
Over the years, cynical and shameless manipulation of the poor and powerless voters through competitive populism has become the dominant feature of our elections. The current Tamil Nadu Assembly election has shown that this process of manipulating the vote has reached the nadir. The DMK-combine promised colour televisions to each family!
This is by no means the first time when a party offered freebies to the unsuspecting and hapless poor. Most candidates habitually offer money and liquor for vote. And since the early 1970's politicians perfected the art of using public money as inducement for vote. Ostensibly, all these promises are intended to eliminate poverty. But the gullible poor remain as vote-banks, and no significant dent is made in poverty
The Garibi Hatao politics of 1970's and the populist policies of NTR and MGR are good illustrations of the poor becoming an assured vote bank, even as their condition remains largely unaltered. The absurd campaign of Devilal in Haryana in 1987 marked a new low, when he promised to give irrigation water without 'depleting the power in it' as opposed to Congress which generated hydro-electricity before allowing it to flow into irrigation canals! Devilal again hit headlines in 1989 by promising to write off farm loans. The loan waiver was eventually implemented by VP Singh government in 1990. The credit system suffered irreparable damage, and farmers continued to be in distress after the loan waiver.
Politics of free electricity has dominated our electoral landscape for long. Several states resorted to this, including the present Congress government in Andhra Pradesh. Farmers continue to pay huge bribes for new connections or services, power supply is erratic, and utilities suffer serious losses at great cost to the tax payer. And yet, the cynical governments resorting to such short-term ploys reap rich political dividends.
But all these pale into insignificance in the face of the brazen promise of DMK in Tamil Nadu to give colour televisions. By this reckless promise, the sovereign voters are converted into mendicants. The tragic death of several poor women while distributing free sarees in Lucknow in 2004 forever reminds us how the voter has been reduced to a beggar. But Mr Karunanidhi now seeks to institutionalize such mendicancy. In such political calculations, people are not human beings with dreams and aspirations, and dignity and pride. They are reduced to being voters whose compliance is necessary for the power of a few manipulators.
1 comments:
Good one...
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