Its
election time in Delhi once again - for the third time in less than 15 months-
Assembly elections in December 2013 followed by the Parliamentary elections in
April 2014 and Assembly elections for the second time in February 2015. This is
also the season of promises. Like industrial and vehicular emissions, which pollute
the air in Delhi, stale promises made by contestants have come to fill the
atmosphere, virtually choking the electorates. “Tooti vikash kee dor, laut
chalo Congress kee ore” (The string of progress has been broken, lets come
back to Congress)-this is the tagline of Congress. “Dilli ka vikas, Modiji
ke saath” (Delhi to progress with Modiji)-this is the tagline of BJP. “Paanch
saal-Kejriwal” (Kejriwal for five years) - this is the tagline of
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Everyone is promising vikaas (development) which
remains elusive as ever. All this appear quite amusing. Almost simultaneously
every nook and corner of the city is splashed with banner, hoardings and
posters of party candidates, dirtying the city skyline- making a mockery of the
“Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan”. These slogans at times are quite imaginative
but often self defeating. People discuss the elections, prospects and promises
of various political outfits and cntestants- everywhere -on way to office in
chartered bus, in metro or even in the lawns of India Gate which, off late, has
become the favourite pastime for office goers, who make use of it for their
afternoon nap between 1-3 p.m. in a bid to compensate for coming office in time
in morning- thanks to the biometric, unmindful of the fact that seat of
ultimate power in India the Parliament House stands just across the street. Often
participants get agitated and the whole discussion becomes quite animated. The
only other issue of interest and discussion this week is the proposed visit of
US President as Republic Day chief guest. People of Delhi are the most
privileged lot and the most pampered voters, low on patience and very vocal. Yet
this does not translate into voters’ turnout on Election Day. In the 2014
parliamentary elections, Delhi was way behind compared to States such as West
Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and even Haryana as well as UT like Chandigarh in
percentage of voting. It is to the credit of contestants that they successfully
tame the voters of Delhi. This they do by openly bribing the electorate
promising those freebies- cheaper electricity, regularization of illegal
colonies, bringing down prices etc etc. This is akin to bribing the electorate
in kind if not in cash, which (cash) nevertheless is reserved for the last days
of campaigning. The prices do not heed to the promises made by these
contestants and it keeps increasing irrespective of the political outfit which
comes to power. Indians are known for their mad rush for discount sale- ‘buy
one get one free’. Probably these contestants are aware of this Indian
mentality. Each one aims to outdo other in announcing freebies so that more and
more voters get attracted towards him. “Umeed pe duniya tiki hai” (everything
hinges on hope) - it is said- the Indian voter keeps hoping against hope of a
better tomorrow. After elections these hoardings and posters will be brought
down by these contestants as swiftly and early as possible, lest the electorate
keeps reminding them of the promises made by them during elections, by pointing
to these hoardings and banners. This is the beauty of Indian democracy. Long
live the democracy!
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