e:diARy-2: pARticIPATorY wOeS!!

It is now a fashion in todays debate circles to discuss about the lack of people involvement and participation in nation building, lyk in Elections. The Eday, as many rightly suggested, has turned out to be one of the kind of a long overdue holiday, where you catch up with your family and friends. The public are not to be blamed as it’s the most logical step to do if there is not much to choose from the candidate list. The guilt for the falling voter turnout and lack of participatory role of junta in election lies majorly with the political parties and the candidates they field. As in every selective exercise, there should be an underlying tempt, that may fuel the junta to rocket out of their comfort zones to exercise their franchise. when politicians whose sophistication runs no more than a few glitzy films or a mindset of bygone era or a long roll of criminal records - whats there for people to choose. "nothing". but sadly in our EVMs there is no option for that "nothing". if there was this option, which you can press if you dont have faith in the neighbouring names, it would have been democratically great and a lot of fence sitters and an entire detached, election averse log would have marched in to the election dens. In a democracy, I believe in addition to the right of choosing "one" from the set, there should be an option for "none" from the fielded set. It can be a ready rejoinder for parties and candidates that how bad they are and how they are worhless of ones vote.this option may be the ultimate opium for the junta to vote, to prove they are not just dakkans out there. They can banish the egos of the staged candidates with a blatant “NO”. The political parties would also feel extremely embarrassed by a situation of this sorts and may well come out with decent candidates.

It may sound good to voice our displeasure, but think, apart from a few good ones, people would certainly be having no choices at their front. The most bizzare thing imaginable in such a case would be an assembly where a majority of seats occupied by a “none from above” group.  What happens then? Chaos. both disturbing and dangerous. I admit it might be a cynical's way of viewing things.

what is the other more optimistic alternative for bringing more people in E- business. its for political parties to show grit by staging candidates who can provide good governance to the nation. gear up political parties, get the best on the race, compel people to participate in the election. after all no party is bigger than the people they serve. so listen to peoples call. we need more shashi tharrors and the lot. an amartya sen from kolkatta, a narayanamoorthy from banglore.......the list goes on..

 

e:diARy-1:shAsHI THirontHoRAthIL!!!

its official..come april-09 and shashi tharoors name will charm the electonic voter machines (EVMs) in trivandrum. i had made a word around 6 months back to my politically inclined frnds that if this gentleman contests from trivandrum (as it was heavily rumoured then), i would be at sasthamangalam lp school, thiruvananthapuram, casting my vote on the D day. And if verything runs as planned, i will be sticking to my word.

Its these kinda intelligent, charishmatic, slick, erudite contestants that we need in a national election. It was indeed stately on Sharoors part to contest for a place in the Indian democratic establishment from his self affirmed proud home land. Given his reach among delhi’s intellectual and political pecking order, he could have guaranteed himself a wild card berth (safe seat or a rajya sabha seat) from anywhere in india.  Still he chose kerala to be his spring board to the lok sabha. May be he believed that every great journey must start from ones roots. his relation with kerala as he himself said runs nothing more than the occational holiday visits and his malayalam speaking parents. But still he prided himself as a chauvinist marunaadan malayalee. Even in his acclaimed non fiction "the elephant,the tiger and the cellphones" he keeps ruminating his kerala love affair with a series of fact loaded essays. He adroitly pronounces kerala as truly what it likes itself to be called “a gods own country”. A land, whose life closely parallels the very idea of India, secular, open, culturally and literally rich..concisely he just cries out that malayalees are a breed apart!!

The fact that the global malayalee previous competitive contest was for the chair of UN secretary general makes him almost an invincible larger than life character. The man who addressed the whos who of the global power list now talking to the sankarankuttys, abdullakuttys, georgekuttys, kochammani’s et al in trivandrum sounds quit lyk a modern day fairytale. He proves that he can be a different politico as he had a reputation of sticking to his spoken words and written scripts. If he said he is proud of kerala, he made it prouder by contesting the election from here.  It can well turn out to be citys date with history, an event with positive repercussions for a great future. 

it is well candidates of this size and character who pulls you from the comforts of your home to the polling stations on the E-days.Common man (I mean women too) should be having concrete reasons to feel committed to be a part of the long lines on an E day. It can be a need for change, a hope that goodness is a vote away or it would be the enticing pull of a magnanimous contestant. The Obama wave had all these ingredients in the bipolar American election scene.  Only a very few leaders have managed to create hysteria of that scale and I do believe in substance Sharoor can do the same to trivandrumites. His weblinks provide what he aims to achieve for trivandrum in detail. All looks promising, that doesnot diffrenciate him from others as everyone bring out their own impropable high points, but it is then the integrity and the scale of the sharoor makes his contention taller than others.

All thw bests Mr. shashi tharoor, voting for me wont just be another right, but, a privilege this time along. Thank you.

P.S. kerala politica without reds would just be like a “fart without a sound”***. its big bro attitude and ruffles with allies notwithstanding, they had come with an egalitarian mix of candidates. its always been in reds DNA to give people a strong and capable list of candidates. Another more notable thing is the no. of new young faces on their list this time. its now not just nandan nilakheni and FMCG marketing board rooms, who are aware of the demographic dividend and the targent lots. best of lucks to all comrades. Let the best win!!!