Another promise
It is reported
that leaders of political parties have pledged to abide by the
law and refrain from displaying cutouts and posters in public
places.
How far could they be believed? Candidates contesting the
General election are not babies. Moreover, the majority of them
have been involved in politics for a long time. Many of them are
well-known public figures. A large number of them are contesting
the elections not for the first time.
Similar promises were given earlier only to be forgotten no
sooner they left the premises of the Election Commissioner’s
office.
Why is it that they defy the law openly and in public gaze?
It has been because the law has never been practised or
offenders have rarely been brought before the Courts. The
regularity of breaches of election law relating to election
propaganda could only be second to that of the law prohibiting
walking on rail tracks.
Any weapon, if not used gets corroded and become useless.
Similarly the relevant elections laws have become obsolete and
unusable by being not implemented.
The irony is that the public is paying for the folly of the
politicians. The Elections Commissioner is paying the police for
the removal of cutouts and posters. That means the Commissioner
is using the money given to him by the Treasury. Thus it is the
public that pay for the sins of politicians.
The law must be amended to make politicians responsible for
these visuals, pay the cost of their removal. The law as it
stands today is like a toothless paper tiger.
Though the police have removed most posters and cutouts they
reappear again. There is absolutely no respect for the law. In
fact the politicians argue that they need to do so because they
have to inform the public about their numbers. This is a silly
argument for there are many cheaper ways of doing so. Besides it
is insane for a person to contest an election if he or she is
not sufficiently known by the voters. Perhaps some of them may
be thinking that they could get votes by liberally spending
millions on publicity.
It has been the experience that such vulgar display of
posters and cutouts lead to both inter-party and intra-party
clashes. In fact, most incidents of election related violence
are connected to them. The preferential voting system should be
got rid of at the earliest opportunity if one is to minimize
such violence.
Intra-party conflicts demean the party in the eyes of the
voters and tend to reduce support among discerning voters.
All politicians and their aspirants should learn to
acknowledge the right to dissent and the right of dissenting
opinion to exist.
The indifference with which politicians treat the law of the
land in respect of elections is also displayed by their
reluctance or shyness to declare their assets as required by
law. Only a handful of politicians have done so up to now.
Is it because they have something to hide or are unable to
account how they got their assets?
One could safely conclude that the politicians have taken the
law unto them and are flouting the law with impunity. Are they
setting an example to the rest of the society and the underworld
in particular?
Of course, the lack of civic consciousness on the part of the
average voter is also to blame for this sad state of affairs.
That is why it has become possible for politicians to lord over
their electorates behaving more as a feudal Chieftain rather
than a servant of the people.
Lovers and politicians
Lovers and
politicians are strange bedfellows. What do they have in common,
one might ask. A little bit of reflection would show that they
have much in common.
For one, both lovers and politicians are famous for making
promises. They both promise to get for their love even the moon
and the sun. They both are also notorious for breaking the
promises. Just as many lovers after marriage find that there is
no love left to lose after marriage, politicians and voters also
find that there is no love left to lose after an election
victory.
The lover would even kneel down before his or her sweetheart
before wedlock but would lord over the other after it just the
same way candidates kneel before humble punchi singhos at
election time only to lord over them after victory.
The commonalities could be listed ad infinitum but this would
suffice for the present. |