Election time
By: K S S Pillai
The prime minister has been advocating the ONOE (one nation, one election) theory for some time, proposing simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislatures. As there is strong opposition to the idea from different quarters, the government has set up a committee to consult the stakeholders and give its recommendations. With someone taking the matter to courts of law, when a final decision can be expected is anyone’s guess.
The practice of simultaneous elections was followed till 1967. It was then discontinued due to the fall of some state governments, necessitating their replacement with new ones. Now the situation is such that the elections to some constitutional bodies are held throughout the year in different parts of the country.
The government machinery comes to a halt due to the Model Code of Conduct imposed by the Election Commission, in addition to spending a large sum of money and the deployment of several employees on election duty for long.
In a large country like ours, there are several people whose main source of income is politics. They would surely be disappointed if it is decided to adopt the ONOE policy, making them unemployed for most of the year.
With reporters and photographers of print and other media covering elections, political parties would not like thin attendance in their road shows and public meetings addressed by their leaders. As most parties have no problem with funds, they are not averse to paying the participants in different events and even transporting them to the venues.
Many films have been made with elections as the theme. One such movie shows a young man attending the meeting of a political party in the morning and that of its rival in the evening. He has no qualms about holding the flags of different parties and shouting their slogans at the top of his voice for a price. The parties are also interested only in seeing that the processions and meetings are well-attended.
In another movie, a woman and her friends go to attend a political meeting at a distant place by travelling in a bus hired by the party. As soon as the bus reaches its destination, they go to their favourite temples nearby and return to the meeting venue in time to be transported back.
Some movies show the pathetic condition of candidates standing for election. As every vote has the same value, they visit all voters and beg for their votes with folded hands. A scene shows a high-profile candidate taking a dirty child, whose nose is running, from its mother, fondling it, and wiping its nose with his clothes, smiling throughout to show how sweet the child is. After returning home, he immerses his body in a tub of warm water laced with a liberal quantity of disinfectant for a long period, cursing the moment he decided to stand for election.
When I was a schoolboy with no idea about politics, I used to attend the processions organized by a particular political party. I was attracted to the party because I liked the colourful flags carried by the participants and the musical slogans. People of different ages and both sexes joined the processions and the public meetings. While returning from the meetings, they used to walk in groups, as they were sometimes beaten up by the supporters of rival parties.
The candidate standing for the election was a prominent citizen from our area. His supporters would assemble in his house and compound that had several mango trees with fruits. Most people were hungry and thirsty after shouting slogans and walking a long distance.
While some climbed the trees to pluck mangoes, others would down them with stones or sticks. Someone would get salt crystals and chillies from the candidate’s home. His relatives would supply them with a broad artificial smile, as they did not want to antagonize the supporters.
On the polling date, some voters were taken to the booth in vehicles but left to fend for themselves after they cast their votes. The political parties know that the voters are of no value to them till the next election.
(The author is a retired professor of English. A regular contributor to ‘The Kashmir Vision’, his articles and short stories have appeared in various national and international publications)
