- People in the know would nod their heads in agreement while glancing at the subject headline. The democratic form of governance entails elections, but the Indian democratic system is perpetually inundated with one or the other form of elections that would leave anybody quite exhausted. Did someone mention that the political class would remain unaffected? Wrong, I am convinced that even the diehard, seasoned, and quintessential political leaders must be feeling fatigued since the rigmarole of every election is not only cumbersome, hard-fought, and cutthroat but also qualifies as a high-decibel campaign interspersed with hyperbole of varying degrees. When the countrymen feel fatigued, how can the political class remain unaffected?
PC: DNA India
- Of course, due credit should accrue to our political leaders who are blessed with such unending energies to press ahead from one daunting electioneering to another. There simply appears to be no respite for the leaders representing different ideologies. Thus, why not explore the possibilities of embracing One Nation, One Election being bandied about by the ruling dispensation at the Centre led by no less than the Prime Minister himself? Barely does an election get over, we hurtle towards the next with nary a time for regrouping or recouping. Yes, it’s akin to how our festival calendar seems endless as the election calendar suggests. The Model Code of Conduct invariably halts the administration too to pressing ahead with the socioeconomic measures as envisaged.
- Make no mistake, people at least get to party during festivals with their near and dear ones. However, during poll time, only political parties party. And those parties are always noisy. Mind you, in a tightly knit always-online world, on fractious like rarely before, with ideologies morphing in every new way, it’s little wonder there’s a storm over every cup of tea. Further, blaring TV news doesn’t help either where everything’s a fight and every neta slamming another neta. The moot point to ponder over here is are there too many elections? Let’s look at the statistics available. In India, the number of elections has increased only incrementally in the last 25 years, with three new states – Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana.
PC: Money Control
- Why then this fatigue, this sense of an always-on election? It’s not their number really, but more the heat and noise elections generate, outsized spending from secret coffers that create this impression. In India, even municipal polls are seeing party brass campaigning, making local elections as torrid as state and general elections. Should we crib for the incessant elections thrust on us? Sure, we should. But let’s not diss elections as city-bred citizens do when they are expected to exercise their franchise in great numbers. Let’s recognize it’s the cacophony we dread. Sometimes, there are even Afterparties. They drag on for eternity – whether a Jan 6 insurrection there or a Maharashtra chaos here. It’s not too many elections. It’s too much electioneering.
