The Hindu Business Line : Voter apathy

IT IS usual to blame the apathy of Indian citizens-cum-voters for a multitude of ills and evils pervading the political system and for the ineffectiveness of Constitutional mechanisms in dealing with them.

There is enough evidence to conclude that, other than the vote banks who turn up en masse and blindly cast their votes hooked to particular symbols, or on considerations of caste or community, the common run of voters just stay home on election day and leave the field free for the unscrupulous, the unprincipled, the greedy and the dishonest to work their will.

If only the discerning voters mobilise themselves in sufficient numbers, they could be a bulwark against the criminal and corrupt elements entering the sacred portals of legislatures hailed as temples of democracy and fouling up the sanctum sanctorum of governance, the Councils of Ministers themselves.

The phenomenon of no-show voters is not peculiar to India: In fact, it is much worse in other established democracies so much so that Australia had to pass a law making voting compulsory, a course often advocated for India also.

The declining turnout of voters in those countries seems to have graduated from being a transitory trend to becoming a permanent feature of the electoral landscape.

In the UK, for instance, as per the findings of a survey conducted just prior to the recent general election held on May 5, only 31 per cent of the voters felt inclined to vote, of whom 32 per cent said they could not be bothered, 30 per cent did not believe their vote could change anything and 20 per cent professed ignorance about the issues.

Rajiv Gandhi, with the laudable objective of giving a fillip to youth participation in elections, and hoping, perhaps, their idealism and zeal would help shoo off those who were manipulating politics for their selfish ends, extended the right of franchise to even college students by lowering the voting age.

Unfortunately, judged by the happenings since then, young voters and young elected representatives alike seem to be acting up to the maxim, "If you can't beat them, join them"!

How to rescue democracy from the perils it faces on all fronts is a question that eludes an answer. But an answer must be found as the alternative is fraught with unthinkably horrible consequences.

B. S. Raghavan

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