Why I Did Not Vote

I went to the booth and came back. The following is my tryst with voting.

Today was voting day in my constituency. Along with the elderly, who were still yearning for a good debate between capitalism and Marxism between themselves at the booth, a significant chunk of people at the booth were people in the 25-30 age group.

The election euphoria has been sustained for a long time before it reaches its end (in my city at least!) today. The first major sign of this was with the Lead India campaign last year. I was working with Times of India at this point and extensively covered the shoot of the series from the Film city sets. At that point too, there was no real sense of urgency to tackle the political scene with individuals and qualified people. The contestants were more interested in garnering votes from the public like true politicians with a hint of rhetoric and self righteous indignation on various topics which did not affect their lives directly—from Emergency, to Bangladesh, to defence budgets to Medha Patkar. That show showed me how even qualified and professional people would also stoop to the level of a politician to win, when in fact the show was all about changing the way the country looked at politicians. Everyone, however, agreed that the show was a great concept was very much needed in today’s times.

The real bombardment began in earnest with the Jaago Re campaign. The average normal Indian was progressively cajoled, exhorted and finally threatened to vote for the current general elections happening across the country.  The media, in the aftermath of 26/11 also picked up on the Vote India campaign. But seriously, is voting worth it?

The way I see it, voting can only change if the voting list itself is up to the standard. Now, I set my standard for my politician to be quite high. I want him/ her to be known (like Milind Deora), to be seen doing some work (like Priya Dutt), to be relatively corruption free, be a true secularist, be accessible, be sensible and someone who comes across as a person with a plan (no names comes to mind).

Let me illustrate with my experience. At the polling booth, a friend came out and showed me the finger, with the election mark. I asked him whom he voted for, and he said Congress. Why? “Because I want Rahul Gandhi to be PM.” This first-time voter did not even know the candidate he was voting for. He simply clicked the name next to the Congress hand and came back happy, as if he’d braved an Arctic storm.

On my way back another acquaintance told me he was going to vote — for the BJP. Why, I asked, mildly curious. “Ram Naik was so much better than Govinda,” he said. This fellow has not even heard of demilitation and did not even know the candidate who were standing for election from my constituency. In essence, my area has been clubbed with an area which mainly comprises of tribal area. The candidates were all new faces and new names, people I knew nothing about. It did not make sense to vote for them.

On my visit to Vidarbha in March, I was at Lonar (the one with the famous crater) on the day of the election. The state transport bus was unusually full with voters going about casting their vote and I began small talk. I found an entire family of 14 who were returning without casting their vote because someone had already done their job for them. The family did not seem surprised or outraged. It is a story repeated in villages across the country. I know this is how the Left managed to stay in office for over 25 years in West Bengal. So, paradoxically, the electors elect themselves and the role of people is left to doing nothing. This is not an election formed by democratic consent, but more of pseudo autocrats created by power-hungry marauders.

As I see it then, this election is hardly different than any other. The trains were empty, the media was present in full force near ISKCON temple at Juhu, waiting for a celebrity to come down and cast their vote than talk to the people who had braved the heat to cast their vote, the same set of politicians are contesting the polls (none of whom would have been sensitized to the needs of people they seek to represent) and finally, the outcome will be decided by a set of murderers and looters who will find more ways of pillage and plunder. I, for one, do not wish to be associated with a government as this.

You may call it impractical and cynical, but I believe an informed, aware and better set of politicians is still at least a decade away (and I’m trying to be very optimistic here). Until then, it’s better to sleep in slight discomfort caused by others than stay awake in mayhem created by your own doing.