Time for the deposits, propagandas, seat sharings, so on and so forth where the political drama will transpire into one of greater interests and anticipation among the voters, the public, or in other words, the general audience. When such a scenario is similar to being expressed as ‘Who tops the charts?’ as though it’s an entertainment program creating a furore as ‘Jai Ho’ in ‘Slumdog’.
But, everyone wonders who is going to be the winning horse! Or the dark horse rather! Chances are that the dark horses will lead the race this time though not ending up touching the finish line first eventually. However, intense political campaigns and propagandas will see the big players off successfully at the end. Tune in for those debates that claim to be unbiased and unsupporting of any particular candidate, whereas, infact they are.
Who are the big players? Who are the small timers? And who are the dark horses? As far as Taminadu scenario goes, people have gone through power cuts, the rains and storms etc. In short, people have run into rough weather. Though, there are only two political majors in Tamilnadu, others seem to have caught up with their shares-creating much of a sectarian divide among the electorate and the repercussions are that a coalition on either front or the third front is inevitable. Even if a single party emerges to be the winner, a ‘hung parliament’ is of the highest probability.
The scenario is not similar to that of the late 60s and the 70s where the winning parties were long way ahead of the half way mark. Each party has cashed in on the sectarian divide since the start of this decade. While PMK, VCK, DMDK, MDMK are trying to catch up with every issue possible, such as, the Lankan Tamils, power cuts, free television bursts and explosions etc. the DMK will be doing everything to hold fort. There has been a lack of clarity and ambiguity over the strategies of the opponent parties namely, the AIADMK and the BJP. Their stand seems to differ chronologically on each and every issue. viz, the lankan tamils, the coalition and the alliances. Talking about the plight of Lankan Tamils would remind one about the stand and the response that Congress has had over them for years and the anti-incumbency factor along with it will make many voters to even forego their democratic right. Or be rather not willing to do so. A 40 seat loss to any party would mean a huge loss and that is a tool or a power that the electorate possesses that remains unutilized. It’s similar to following Gandhianism, if one does so.
But, an even bettter option would be to ‘punch the button’ on an independent candidate who would lose his deposit. That way, he’ll get his deposit money back, independent candidates will be elected and it will also indicate where the real power is. This election will be a pretty good time for the citizens to demonstrate democracy.
But, for an even better option to be known is that one need not vote, but at the same time can avoid bogus votes by voting the non-voting option. i.e., 49’O’. The election commission has given a nod ahead for the propagation of the same and such a campaign has been initiated as well in a place or two. Mr. Gnani, a leading writer in tamil, has been writing about the same till the elections in the magazine where he writes regularly. Queries and frequently asked questions will be answered by the writer.
So with all these options and not being hoodwinked or coaxed through hoops, lets get together for the demonstration of democracy after having been much betrayed and deceived by the ones we trusted and voted for. If they have not lived upto at least half of their promises in their manifesto with even the opposition not doing the job of a genuine opposition and if always have been looking to topple and capsize the government, if the coalition and alliances are not upon on their principles, then we have got every right to demonstrate democracy to the fullest in much of a legal way that is not deceitful.
