The Hindu Business Line : Bellwether for 2004?

THE elections scheduled to be held in November-December for the State assemblies of Chattisgarh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram and Rajasthan are bound to be keenly watched by psephologists, media pundits and political players for any clues they may provide to gauge the mind of the electorate as the country heads for the election to the Lok Sabha sometime in 2004.

An outcome — at least in the politically-sensitive and significant States of Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh — viewed as favourable to the ruling combine at the Centre may well encourage the Prime Minister to make hay while the sun shines and opt for advancing the poll. As of this moment, the chances of any major upset for the parties in the saddle in these States seem slim, but then the Indian voter has time and again demonstrated his capacity to form his own independent, and often correct, judgment in the face of attempts to bamboozle him.

For the first time in the ensuing elections, thanks to the powerful support of the Supreme Court for the determined efforts of the Election Commission, the nominations of the candidates will be rejected unless they are accompanied by affidavits disclosing information about the criminal cases in which they may have been or are involved, their moveable and immoveable assets and those of their dependents, and their educational qualifications.

An added bonus is that Messrs Arun Jaitley, for the BJP, and Kapil Sibal, for the Congress, participating in Big Fight programme of the NDTV on October 11, have given the categorical assurance that their parties would not put up candidates whose antecedents are suspect, and forcefully exhorted the voters to send a loud and clear message to the political class by rejecting at the hustings those known to be scoundrels. The credit for bringing about this welcome change in the attitude goes to the National Association for Democratic Reforms, and the Lok Satta of Andhra Pradesh.

They should now seize upon this golden opportunity to launch a two-pronged strategy. First, they should network with like-minded citizens groups in those States to mobilise the silent but strong, disinterested but discerning, voters constituting anywhere between 45-55 per cent of the electorate, who have been virtually boycotting the elections out of disgust at the hijacking of the electoral process, as they know to their cost, by criminals and crooks who also manage to enter the legislatures in large numbers.

Second, the apathetic voter must be made to realise that he has only himself to blame for leaving the field free for manipulation of the levers of democracy by the unscrupulous and unsavoury elements which have taken refuge in various political parties. He owes it to himself to clean up the mess.

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