- Even as the mercury rises across the huge Indian landscape during the summer months, the electoral heat too generated over the last few weeks is quite palpable. Of course, we have seen the culmination of the first phase of general elections. The second phase will be behind us when you happen to browse through the article. It must be mentioned here that for an average Indian, any election is viewed as not only fascinating, intriguing, and essential but also provides an opportunity to indulge in being a critical cog of the democratic process to choose our representatives. On their part, political classes cutting across party affiliations are slogging out in the open to impress upon the electorate to choose them through electioneering.
PC: NDTV
- Remember, the Election Commission of India conducts the Lok Sabha elections during the peak of the summer months i.e. May and June every five years. How excruciatingly challenging the Indian summer months will be needs no further elaboration. Here, huge credit should accrue to the Election Commission of India for making elaborate arrangements for conducting free, fair, and peaceful elections across the huge swathe of landscapes spread across diverse geographical locations. As newspaper reports suggest, the election officials are trained to reach out to even remote locations to ensure all eligible voters exercise their franchise. It is unimaginable to even contemplate visualizing the entire logistical preparations required for the smooth conduct of the mammoth electoral exercise.
- Understandably, the humongous preparations undertaken by the Election Commission to ensure the polling passes off peacefully demand humongous attention, planning, and execution on the ground involving several central and state agencies. Maintaining a sound law and order machinery has become crucial too since the nation has witnessed previous incidents of violence during the polling. Not only the seasonal temperature, which is heading northwards, but the political temperature too has seen a steady rise with the winning at all costs dominating the campaign narrative. The usual mudslinging, below-the-belt remarks, personal attacks, and character assassination have only increased even as the campaigning picks up pace across the country.
PC: The Economic Times
- With social media taking precedence over other equally important conventional media platforms, the political narrative has assumed a different dimension altogether in propagating the ideologies to impress upon the electorate. Needless to mention, the Lok Sabha elections are all about national issues viz. sovereignty, security, safety, GDP, growth, development planks, and a concrete roadmap to realize what is being bandied about. Remember, the power to choose whom we want as our representatives lies squarely with us, the people. Heat or no heat, as responsible citizens of the country, the onus is on us, the electorate, to come and vote in huge numbers. We can’t keep cribbing about the system all the time but not be a part of the electoral process. Let’s vote!
