Indian voter is his own person

In the light of the ease and speed with which the Indian voter has gained mastery over the intricacies of the electoral process and has learnt to use the ballot to deliver body blows, the heated debates in the Constituent Assembly over the inclusion of the provision for universal adult franchise in the Constitution make strange reading.

It was actually touch-and-go, with most members expressing grave disquiet in view of the literacy of 20 per cent or less and their poor notion of his ability to grasp the implications of the choices offered to him both in terms of the relative merits of the candidates and the policies and programmes of political parties. Finally, it was on the exhortation of Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Rajendra Prasad, that it was approved as “an act of faith”.

Easy task for voters

The elections of 1952, 1957 and 1962 posed no serious problems, because of the momentum the Indian National Congress enjoyed as a party that won freedom for India. Since the heroes of the freedom struggle were still alive and at the helm of affairs both at the Centre and the States, it was a cakewalk for the Congress.

The tremendous respect in which Jawaharlal Nehru was held and the absence of any viable alternative to the Congress made the task of the voters easy.

Largely for this reason, the enormous reserves of native wisdom and decisiveness of the Indian voter were not on display.

For the first time in 1967, in the election following the anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu, the people of India had a taste of his clout. He had no qualm in humbling in his own home constituency a stalwart like Kamaraj, who had made so much sacrifice in the freedom struggle and was hailed as a king-maker for having helped Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi get elected as Prime Minister, and handing the laurels of victory to a totally unknown student.

On cue

The way the Indian voter thrashed the Congress in the General Election of 1977 for the excesses perpetrated during the Internal Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi is of the stuff of legend. As if on cue, millions of voters constituting the electorate in State after State above the Vindhyas made the Congress bite the dust, and Indira Gandhi and Sanjay Gandhi who seemed so powerful and invincible were defeated in their traditional strongholds.

Again, as if on cue, in the same election, the electorate of Southern States which had manifestly been against the Emergency and disposed towards strong governance and enforcement of discipline went the other way.

The very fact that the Left Front Government was in power for 34 years is itself a demonstration of the will of the Bengali voter who perhaps wanted to reward them for their outstanding work in land reforms and strengthening the panchayati raj institutions, and give them the maximum chance to fulfil their promises.

When he concluded that the Left Front in West Bengal had not only lost its steam but was becoming indifferent to his concerns, he threw them out with no room for any doubt where his feelings lay.

In other words, where the Indian voter chooses to take a particular course for reasons which seem valid and appropriate to him, he does so without any hesitation.

The Tamil voter too has proved that he is his own person, unswayed by all the freebies and currency notes with which political parties sought to inveigle him. He has gone strictly by what he thinks conduces to his interest, and asserted himself in no uncertain terms.

All this makes one thing indubitably clear: The Indian voter takes elections seriously and works out all the pros and cons before he presses that button on the electronic voting machine.

Indian democracy can't go far wrong if it leaves the decision in his hands.

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