A karmic compulsion!

To vote or not to vote has never been a question for me. I deem the short walk to, and often the long wait at, the booth on poll day as a compulsory ritual. That said, the futility of this regular early morning exercise is also not lost on me.

I cast my first vote in the 1984 joint polls to LS and TN Assembly. After 26 years and many elections, the combatants and the battlefield remain the same: Neither have the two leaves withered nor has the sun set, even as the hand keeps shaking. While this speaks a lot about the strong survival instincts and staying power of the Dravidian parties and their demigods, as a voter I dread the prospect of withering away and walking into the sunset of my life with these very same seemingly immortal choices. When asked why he wanted to climb the Himalayas, the mountaineer George Mallory is reported to have quipped: ‘because it is there’. So why do we voters keep giving the DMK and AIADMK more lives than Pak bestowed on Sachin Tendulkar? ‘Because only they are there’!

Now, let me spare the readers any more of the familiar grumblings over the absence of choice and instead brood over the factors that have caused such a curse, in most States and at the national level too. The obvious culprits are the party system and the first-past-the-post electoral arithmetic. The former can be easily nabbed and reformed if people’s will and political will combine. It does not even require any legal process because the existing provisions already offer the theoretical and practical framework. Straightaway, the Constitution does not recognise a political party. The sum and substance of the Parliamentary format is that the person who commands the support of the majority of elected reps, present and voting, shall be the PM or CM. Such a person him/herself need not be a member of the House and the only stipulations are that (s)he must pass the Constitutional eligibility criteria and get elected within six months. In short, for instance, nothing stops the TN Assembly, when it convenes post May 13 from electing someone like say, Anna Hazare as the CM of TN. Come to think of it, that actually makes the much touted Anna rule a reality, a more desirable one at that! Now, I hope by this I have not endangered the life of A Hazare, which is already under threat owing to a real (not rational) fast.

How then did the political party come into the picture? While the Constitution ignores the party, some statutes (like the anti-defection law) and official institutions, notably the Election Commission, recognise the political party. Now, why does the EC have to take cognisance of political parties? Simple. Because they are there and like Mt Everest, were there, pre-dating our Constitution and democracy. And since they are a reality in Parliament, governance and polls, rules have necessarily to be made. Sadly, such rules themselves give the political parties the existential sanction and sustenance that are ignored even by the Constitution. I am inclined to believe that maybe if the Congress was disbanded post Independence the party system would not have become the big bane that it is today. After all, at the Centre and all States, it was the all-pervading presence of the Congress party, with its unfair advantage of the freedom struggle legacy, that has also spawned equal and opposite evils all over the political space. Given such a quirky start, the ‘lesser evil’ and ‘latest evil’ syndromes further obviate any alternative.

It is indeed extremely difficult, if not impossible, to uproot this party system that has spread itself deep and dense into the polity and society. Political parties have a natural tendency of entrenchment owing to their parasitical nature. Theirs is not a productive activity but a fruitless pastime, a self-serving endeavour. Naturally, money has to come only from improper means for such worthless pursuits. And what better option than dipping into public funds. Therefore, power, not people is their priority. The latter are the means and the former the end. Polls being the catalyst, naturally form the biggest playground, followed by Parliament. In the same order, the voter and then the voted become purchasable products. And thanks to the anti-defection law, while individual reps face disqualification for switching loyalties, nothing stops bulk purchase of MPs or even entire political parties. The party system, however, causes a greater vitiation of democracy because almost all of them are private properties of the political leaders, with inner-party democracy deemed an article of treason. Not just big parties but even small or new ones have no logo other than the leader’s face. But behind all facades reside the same sordid satans.

The first-past-the-post logic perverts public opinion and will even more and cannot be rectified without a laboured Constitutional process. Actually, the alternative, the preferential or proportional representative method, is eminently workable particularly in this electronic age whence voting is a simple press of the button. A few more pushes would not matter if it can churn up better candidates. But the current farcical method is likely to hold sway. So, by this cranky arithmetic, the most hated candidate with say 70% of the electorate against him can still end up getting elected because that 70% are divided between other candidates. Any vote share of less than half of the votes polled is actually a dubious victory and such victors cannot but herald only a dubious democracy that bears no resemblance to voters’ wishes. Reason why, while the defeat of a candidate or a party may make one happy, the victory of the opponent brings absolutely no joy.

But vote we must, for it is our democratic karma. A few words of caution though. Kindly do not vote for a known criminal, (there are around 150 candidates at last count, of course, hailing from political parties) even if he is going to make your favourite leader the CM. Shun this stupid idea of tactical voting by which is meant voting for someone not with the idea of making him a rep but just to prevent someone else you detest. The now famous no-vote option under Section 49-O is a pointless expression of anger. Instead, make your vote an affirmative act in favour of a good candidate and there are many in the fray, even if only independents. In fact, they have a better constitutional backing and now, even indirect EC support. It may seem futile now but is a sure step for a later redemption. Anyway, a positive vote is the best way to erase the imposed ‘black mark’ on your index finger, much before it fades on its own.

Happy voting!

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