It has been quite some time since I last posted, in fact very long. Anyways, I couldn't but give in to the temptation of making my observations regarding the ever nearing Lower Parliament elections.
I have always been sceptical of elections. I have seen my fair share of elections in IIT and know how things work. One needs just extrapolate it to make a guess about the General elections where the spoils are liberty to swindle at will, immunity from scrutiny and much more. I was staring down right into chaos. So, when NoTA was brought to my notice first, I brushed it aside as a futile effort. However, a recent dialogue with a friend brought with itself quite a few revelations.
Elections in India, as a rule, have been left to themselves. People have seldom questioned their veracity and chose from whatever options were deemed fit for them by the politicians. However, the young population which has recently come to enjoy their political rights are scorning at the bare minimum choices they are being given. The NoTA, toothless and bereft of power, was proposed to placate them. Quite a few refuse to be deceived by this obvious trick. However, the majority have been convinced that it is some improvement.
I too believed in the triviality of the option. That, however, has changed as I now see NoTA as a basic tool, which we can work upon. Many add-ons can be brought into being to bolster the elections. No doubt they will be received with a lot of resistance from the political class, but will eventually be incorporated into the electoral process.
The bare-bones package called the NoTA is, in itself, a kind of evaluation of the elections. Expecting it to have remedies as well just indicates our naivete. The Election Commission has been grappling with criticisms regarding rigging and a whole host of other problems. The new option provided for the voters will allow the Commission to scrutinise the elections. It will also serve as evidence if one were to question the election mandate. While I don't know whether the number of times the NoTA option has been exercised will be made public, but people have the option of activating the RTI act if they want that statistic.
The targeted voters are the urban population and recent inductees to the democratic club. The voting percentage has been traditionally low in these two sections of voters. The Election Commission, through its new tool, expects to bring a change in the voting habit of these sections. The NoTA, according to me, will hardly affect the mandate from villages. The best result, from the perspective of the Election Commission, will be minimal exercise of the option by voters. It will let the Commission brush aside the criticisms directed at it from time to time. Of course, it isn't the best result for democracy.
The best result for the long term would be an overwhelming response in the form of preference of the NoTA over other options by a majority of voters. Even if such a response fails to take the form of concrete actions in the actual mandate, people can field questions regarding the justification of a government chosen by a minority. For a country which claims itself to be the largest democracy, such a result is sure to create ripples and the political class will come under immense pressure. One can surely expect a few changes to be incorporated into the electoral process to let off some steam. I can only hope that the reform process won't stop there. Our electoral process has to mature a lot to achieve the objective function, viz. to choose a candidate most capable of representing the electorate. I am very optimistic about the attempt and hope it results in a cascade of other much needed changes.
I have absolutely no right to tell anyone who to vote for. I trust their intelligence to evaluate their options rationally while participating in this significant event. I have just tried to explore the option of exercising NoTA and the implications it might have on the future of our democracy.
