we, the people.....this is how preamble to our constitution starts....it is like dat bcoz the founding fathers wanted the common citizen to be as much responsible towards INDIA as our leaders.....and the biggest tool dat was given in his hands was dat of vote....a power which is misused the most.
but how many of us actually use dis power???voting percentages in India has hovered around 60% from the beginning.....dat means more then half of India (also taking into account the large number of people not registered as voters and bogus voting) dont actually decide who is going to take life changing decisions for him/her. The biggest culprit in this is the urban youth, who wud rather hang out with frends, sip coffee, watch english movies or even politically sensitive movies den discuss actual politics or vote....
dey give various reasons like all r same and corrupt, none are gud, wat diff can one person make, system itself is corrupt, m not bothered as long as it doesnt bother me, who will stand in long lines to vote for a corrupt neta who wont even bother abt him........but the real thing is the person who dont vote are actually afraid of taking responsibility....
once dey vote dey become part of system....i voted for Gujarat Assembly elections, now i feel am also responsible for watever actions taken by the govt, feel dat my MLA and govt. are answerable to me.....but one who doesnt vote can blame the govt., netas and even dose who vote for all the miseries......but dey dont understand dey r a much bigger problem den criminal netas or corrupt bureaucrats.....if we all vote sensibly den can dese corrupt politicians survive???
the reasons given are so flimsy dat i dont even want to rebuke dem.....any sane person will know dat dey r just shirking der duties.....and yes i used it correctly.....i dont consider voting as my right i consider it as my duty....a duty dat every concerned citizen shud fulfill.....
today India has the largest youth population in world but still we have old leaders....WHY???bcoz we r not politically literate.....netas dont see us potential votes and dont think of schemes which will benefit us....dey dont care for our opinions.....dey know wen it comes to voting majority of India dont vote....and dose who vote maximum do it on grounds of religion,caste,creed or region but not on issues.....we see identity politics which shud be replaced by issue based politics....
parties will have to give wat the electorate wants...if we ask dem questions abt roads, electricity, nuclear deal, world relations any damn issue dat is related to our development as a nation den dey will have to deliver.....but dey know dat dose who think dont vote and majority of dose who think dont vote...den y wud dey bother to listen to us......
recently a campaign has started "JAAGO RE!!" which is directed at increasing voting awareness....this campaign brings to me a sense of shame to me....the fact tht we have to run such a campaign is a shame....but it is a hard fact tht we not only not vote we r so vocal abt it, we have no shame abt it.....is standing in line for max 1 hr every 5 years to decide ur govt dat tedious a work????
i hope dat this campaign will achieve its goal and we will see 1 billion votes being cast in the next elections.
JAI HIND!!!
do you actually think that the urban youth is responsible for the condition of india by not participating in the voting process???
ReplyDeletewhen the biggest vote bank in india is of the illiterates residing in the rural sections of our nation.....who will give their so called PRECIOUS vote to a person who gives dem a 100 rs bill or a bottle of tharra???
so i dont think that putting the blame on the urban youth is commendable.....
TORNADO
i m not saying that urban youth is the problem...but am saying he is also part of problem.....and being in city we have more resources and hence we shud take responsiblity also...and if u dont value ur vote den cant help it...
ReplyDeleteyeah i agree that we have much more resources den the rural people and dat we shoul take responsibility but how many of us are actually residing in the same city where they were registered as voters???
ReplyDeleteeven you know that it is not possible to go back to the home town to vote....i think not even your boss will allow you a day off....
so i think that the best solution to the said problem of urban youth not voting the procedure should be changed by a huge degree......
TORNADO
i agree dat many of us r not residing in same city and getting a holiday for voting is not practical but we can register to vote in any city of which we r resident....i will register to vote from pune if i am a resident of pune at time of next elections....now the election commission conducts house to house survey to add voters...so not being enrolled in the city of ur residence is a bad excuse dat shud not be given.....
ReplyDeletei dint knew abt that...... if its true den everybody can vote....
ReplyDeletebut still den the question arises whom to vote for?????
whether to vote for the candidate or the party's candidate whom one want to see in power....
well den again it would be considered as just one of the excuses.....
i totally agree.........
the first step is getting ppl to vote....whom to vote can be decided on a number of things...u can vote for candidate,party or projected PM CM....ne of dese is a valid reason to vote...one can see party manifestos...ngos come up wid all the details abt candidates as well, we can use dat....and even den if we wish we can decide not to vote for ne of the candidates...
ReplyDeleteder is provision wer we r voting against all the candidates...i dont rem the exact procedure but will surely try to find it out and post it here...
sorry for the delay...i have found about the right of not voting for any of the candidates...
ReplyDeleteQuoting The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
49O. Elector deciding not to vote.-If an elector, after his electoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon as required under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.
HI Dolby,
ReplyDeletereally inspired by your thoughts and to bring out the same, i am making a movie.
Please write back to me as soon as possible.
I am in bangalore where are you located?
YOu could write to me at deepikanarayan@gmail.com