The Hindu Business Line : Enthralling election

ELECTIONS in India never cease to enthrall. A dull moment there never is. True, the nerves of everyone involved — parties, candidates, media persons, officials — are frayed. There is plenty for them in every election to gnash their teeth about. There is vituperative over-reaction, large-scale resort to overkill.

Meanings are read into trite observations; motives are imputed to commonplace events; machinations are suspected where there may be none. It is all only to be expected. The stakes are high, the strain is severe, the pace scorching. And all are up against an electorate which, in its own way, is canny and calculating, and unpredictable. It certainly knows its own mind and keeps its own counsel, and cannot be taken for granted.

Elections in India are all this and educative too. The country has had more than 50 years of tryst with elections, and yet, they continue to be a source of political education on a massive scale. Every election provides a new paradigm, leaves its own mark as a new pastiche. Jawaharlal Nehru as the star campaigner of all time hung free India's early elections on the pegs of Five-Year Plans and temples of modern India; Garibi hatao and its implications were the subsequent magnificent obsessions. Coalition dharma, pre-poll vs. post-poll alliances, common minimum programmes, the ubiquitous LPG (liberalisation, privatisation, globalisation) — all have been grist to the electoral mill.

The present election to 14th Lok Sabha is no exception. Of issues to kick about there is no dearth. Should or should not opinion and exit polls be allowed? Is the mention of a person's foreign origin a personal attack or a legitimate concern of the voters? What is the lakshman rekha for political ads, and is the Election Commission (EC) best placed to monitor and censor them? What are the sanctions against violations of code of conduct and how does the EC enforce them? Everyone has his opinions and freely ventilates them. In fact, I found hotel bearers, auto-rickshaw drivers, vegetable vendors and shop-keepers intelligently handling them.

For the candidates, this year's election has acquired a sharp edge in their being forced to file, along with their nominations, affidavits of their criminal antecedents, moveable and immovable assets, and educational qualifications.

The civil society went overboard with excitement at this, but whether it has helped scare the rotten fish out of the fray is too early to tell. All the same, India's elections are like nothing else in the world in their drama and denouement.

B. S. Raghavan

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