Public aspirations versus political promises

Hyderabad: The general elections are around the corner. The battleships have unfurled their flags. The political parties, all and sundry, have gone into a huddle in conducting the exercise of permutations and combinations. Once again, the era of ‘Aaya Ram and Gaya Ram’ has returned. The so-called public servants shamelessly change their political colours in the name of public service. The list is a long one and still getting longer day after day.

In a democracy, indeed, general election is a festival. It is during this period that a man in the street gets his due prominence. The value of his vote is enormous; for a single vote can change the destiny of nation. It is because of this fact that overnight the common man is treated like a king by the vote-seekers. The seasoned politicians leave no stone unturned to appease voters. For this, they adopt all sorts of means whether fair or foul. The poor, gullible voter, quiet unaware of the nitty-gritty of public exchequer and limitations of administration innocently believes the politicians. Taking advantage of voters' illiteracy, poverty and lack of access to vital information, politicians offer them moon on a platter .

Obviously, in doing so, they are not sincere and have no intention even remotely to implement the high sounding promises after they get elected to power. With the result, the voter is left in lurch with no way to comply against false electoral promises, leave alone punishing the unscrupulous politicians.

Though this time the Election Commission of India at the behest of the Supreme Court has issued more stringent guidelines to all political parties advising them not to indulge in giving false promises and offering freebies disproportionate to the available resources of the nation or the consequences whereof will result into the economic imbalance. However, it remains to be seen how honestly and sincerely the political parties will follow the good advice of the Election Commission. In fact, the past experience suggests that the political parties have more followed the directions or advisories of the national poll body in breach than in compliance.

Indeed, it is high time that in the name of democracy, the racket of giving false promises and temptation of freebies is stopped. The voters too, should understand that there is no free lunch thereby meaning that no political party or politician will give you anything worth a dime from its or his pocket. Truly speaking, offering and accepting the freebies amounts to buying and selling of votes. This is not permissible. Undoubtedly, there is a need for the electoral reforms to ensure that ‘real’ democracy ushers in and corrupt practices to garner votes are abolished. The Supreme Court has done well by abolishing the electoral bonds which proved to be a major menace in the conduct of free chair and non-corrupt elections. Once again remembering Loknayak Jayprakash Narayan, it could be confidently said that smaller the constituency, lesser will be the electoral malpractices. Therefore, the time has come to ponder over the JP’s ideology which centered around the real persons with service motive. More the number of elected representatives from within smaller constituencies better will be public representation. Needless to say that in such a dispensation, there will be no or a little scope for money power.

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