A New Voter’s Dilemma

So my lifetime has seen 7 Lok Sabha Elections till date. The 2014 elections is going to be the first time, I would exercise my right of franchise as an Indian voter. I honestly have always been irritated with all those cynics (which include amazingly intelligent, smart and educated individuals) who can but refuse to vote yet never shy away from grumbling infinitely about our ‘deeply flawed democracy’ and our ‘system’ and how it will never change. I probably would equate our democracy to a really large dysfunctional family. Individual members might be very different and the dynamic between them really crazy but at the end of the day they chug along and somehow manage together. Which is why I do think it is important to vote. Considering how vast and diverse our country is, there is an urgent need of some semblance of stable leadership at the center.  

On April 10^th 2014, I will get a chance to vote from the Ghaziabad district (which is a very important one that borders Delhi) of Uttar Pradesh. The candidates that I am aware of include

-       General VK Singh (BJP) – Current sitting MP and party president Rajnath Singh will be fighting from Lucknow this election

-       Raj Babbar (Congress)

-       Shazia Illmi (AAP)

I look at these names of candidates and parties flashing at my face and my moral high ground of how I am contributing to the good of the country over all those cynics who are not voting just seems to vanish into thin air. I got to say deciding who to vote for especially in this election is ridiculously difficult. After much confusion I have decided that as its Lok Sabha, and as I am giving my vote essentially to the party and its leader who occupies the central government of India, I will overlook the candidate and choose a party. If I go party wise:

BJP: The implication of NaMo becoming the Prime Minister of India is just too enormous where deciding to give my vote to this party is concerned. I have never known a political figure to be as polarizing as Narendra Modi is. There must be at least a million articles about this. Where my feelings are concerned about him being PM, I’d just like to direct any person reading this post to the below link which is an answer given on Quora.

https://www.quora.com/Politics-of-India-1/Would-you-as-a-member-of-a-minority-community-in-India-confidently-vote-for-Narendra-Modi-to-become-PM

I couldn’t possibly write a better answer and provide a simpler logic as the writer of this answer has provided as to why I wouldn’t want him to become PM. I find it difficult to believe that people don’t feel the slightest bit uncomfortable deep inside about wanting to vote for him. Anyway it seems that BJP is trying desperately hard to shoot itself on the foot with all the idiotic infighting going on within and the whole Pramod Muthalik episode (what on earth were they even thinking? I remember the epic time in my college days where so many of us sent pink chaddis as a part of a protest campaign against this moron’s party members attacking a bunch of women in a pub in Mangalore). I gotta say considering the Congress has pulled out all stops to ensure that it doesn’t have an iota of chance of winning, BJP messing up this golden opportunity for itself will be like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

Congress: If it were any election before this, I admit that I would have blindfolded myself and just voted for the Congress as my family has always been traditional Congress supporters. I guess the logic was that they were ‘secular’ and (with the risk of being torn apart for saying this) they had the most balanced view point on policy issues compared to the extreme left or right alternatives. But considering the performance (or the lack of it) of the UPA 2 government and the sheer disgust it evokes from the disillusioned Indian population now, the congress guys might as well start warming their arse on the opposition seats of the parliament before the polling even begins. I had some respect for outgoing PM Manmohan Singh but his appalling lack of leadership and complete inability to put his foot down and take a firm stand during crisis situations like all those various shameful scams was bitterly disappointing and infuriating to say the least. If the thought of NaMo becoming PM is scary, the thought of Rahul Gandhi occupying the chair is really a bad joke. And it really doesn’t help that the latter chose to showcase himself as a clueless idiot on national television.

AAP: The despair with the current political set up is what led to the formation of this party. And to be fair, I do appreciate the intentions of this party. It takes tremendous guts to leave a comfortable life and all that you have been doing to get into the dirty and mucky world of politics to try and change things for the better like a lot of the prominent personalities of this party have done. But these guys are rank beginners and really have a long way to go But as one of my best friends put it, not having an ideology is very problematic which does make it difficult for me to vote for them because I don’t know what their stand is on so many critical issues. As per their own admission, they are still evolving. I think Arvind Kejriwal mentioned in some interview that they were “not leftists, not right wing, not centrists but solutionists”. Have to admit that right now it sounds like amusing ideal speak.  They have and continue to assimilate such a motley crew of people from such extreme ideologies, that you sometimes can’t help but wonder how they are going to find a common ground and figure out their stance on so many of the vital issues. Their short stint in Delhi was marred in controversy and really did reflect their inexperience and immaturity to some extent. In short I’d be really hesitant in voting for them because I am quite confused as to what they really bring to the table and whether they would be able to transition from activism to governance.  

The Left or regional parties like SP, BSP etc etc: No way in hell!!

NOTA: Gotta say, this is damn tempting under the current circumstance. But rationally speaking I really don’t get the point of this. Might as well not vote than to give into this option.

After writing all this, I just wonder – should it be so difficult to vote for a politician in India? Why don’t there appear to be men and women of great caliber who are a part of this profession? How is it that being a blood relative of an existing politician, a cricketer, a Bollywood film star guarantees you such an easy ticket to becoming one? How the f#%$ do people with frightening criminal records and pending cases even get the opportunity to contest in elections? Why isn’t there a really tough screening process, like say the UPSC process for government officers, before entrusting politicians with one of the biggest responsibilities of running a country? My granddad is a retired IAS officer. There is a famous story in my family about how he one night fainted in exhaustion because of excessive studying for UPSC exams. We may really curse the bureaucrats but they really prove their worth by going through probably the toughest screening process in the world to become government officers. For what really? To report to some incompetent inept person who got an easy ticket to become a politician. It’s not that my dad or subsequently I inherited my granddad’s power. Why should it be any different for a politician’s kid? I don’t know whether it’s true but I read somewhere that the Congress had approached Sachin Tendulkar to contest elections directly versus Narendra Modi. Is this some cheap type popularity contest? I was under the impression that we were talking about running a nation here. Uggggh!!

After this rant, I am exactly where I started. No clue who to vote for. April 10^th should be interesting….

Latest Update: Just a day after writing this, turns out that due to last moment plans, I am not in town for voting on polling day. Maybe its better given my confusion but am disappointed none the less.