The Indian voter demands…the best & nothing else

The drums have been sounded for the great festival of democracy - the Indian general elections-and over the next three months till June 4, a nation of almost 140 crore citizens will be witness to the continual blaring of microphones, colourful banners, graffiti and ‘umpteen poll promises as usual as political parties of all hues set out to woo them.

This is going to be no ordinary election - as high as 96.88 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in seven phases with different states going to polls on different dates considering their suitability and other factors.

As many as 543 members will have to be elected to the lower house of parliament during this mammoth electoral process which will see polling officials tackling difficult terrain including thick jungles and scalding desert terrain besides mountainous slopes and snowclad reaches to reach their destinations - the voting booths tucked away in many, many corners of the country.

Every vote is valuable for it will play a pivotal role in deciding who will hold the reins of power in the largest democracy of the world for the next five years.

The electoral process including counting of votes has no doubt been made much easier and hasslefree with the introduction of the Electronic Voting Machines but the enter exercise nevertheless is as stupendous as ever.

This is the great moment for every adult Indian citizen for his or her vote matters the most for political parties with their eye on power.

This is also the time to look back on the five years which have elapsed and ruminate over our achievements and our failings so that we take a wise enough and well-judged decision on who should ideally be in the seat of power.

There are many serious questions which we will have to ask ourselves: Have enough jobs been generated for the unemployed; has the government been successful in controlling prices; has there been peace of the kind we all wish for, undisturbed by the screams of mobs; have the much-needed essentials of life been provided including food and housing?

We Indians no doubt deserve the best for we have suffered enough-from the yoke of colonialism which bled us white over more than three hundred years and left a wreck of an economy and a divided nation behind.

We have lived through wars which we never asked for but were imposed on us whether it be the China war of 1962 or the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971.

We have eternally been a nation yearning for peace with the cry of ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ on our lips; we have always championed the cause of word peace and yet other nations have not responded in equal measure leaving us with no option but to respond as heroically as ever to defend our land and our people.

So over the course of the next two and a half months, let us listen closely to our leaders as they lay down their ambitious plans for the future of the nation and analyze them painstakingly before deciding on our vote.

Let us haul those who have woefully failed to fulfill their promises over the coals; let us question those who failed to do anything substantial for their constituencies on why they deserve a second chance; let us demand from those who approach us with smiles writ large on their faces on what are the plans they have in mind for our well-being so that we and our fellow beings do not have to grovel in poverty forever.

And by doing so, let us make Indian democracy vibrant and dynamic to the core and present a shining example to the world that we as a citizenry, are unbeatable.