Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Why People Vote!

“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
― Abraham Lincoln

“The best argument for democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
― Winston S. Churchill

“You Vote, means you believe in Hope” … Me

Two great names (of course not Me) who have been leaders of the greatest democracies of the world (no offense, India is recent & I am referring to the past) & an eye opener for the voters which are the backbone for democracy. Mr Lincoln’s role for the USA can be compared to what Mahatma Gandhi is for our country & Mr Churchill was Prime Minister of England in World War 2 era. The reason of this sharing is, not that suddenly I started having interest in politics nor I am some political or social expert (though in Pune you don’t need any special qualification for being expert on anything, lol) but a news which said our so-called developed State has seen lowest percentage of voting in first two phases of voting which is for deciding fate of the country i.e. General Assembly i.e. Lok Sabha elections or 18^th term! Agreed we are in the phase of one of the worst summers of the century yet the news also said, it’s about the reluctance of the so-called educated voters which refrained themselves from voting & that’s the main concern is what I feel! The problem in our country about education (read as in general) is once we get some degree, we think we know about everything, may it be of any field & we make our judgments not just opinions! And one major judgement about elections is, “yaha, kuchh nahi badalenewala” (nothing will change) so why vote! Here we conveniently forget a basic rule about change that any change starts from our own self & when we say nothing will change here & don’t vote under that logic, it’s us who are refusing to change, is my purpose of this sharing!

Guys, I won’t waste time in explaining what Lok Sabha elections are & its importance for our country or society as if that is needed then don’t read ahead because what I want to share is understanding the importance of your own vote, elections or not doesn’t matter actually! It’s about the attitude not to vote is the main problem & if voting is just some 58% then nearly 42% people don’t value their own vote in our society is the logic! And look at the effect of this non-voting approach, in hypothetical figures. If there are 10,00,000 (ten lakh) legal voters in an election for a Lok Sabha seat & out of that only 58% voters vote then it’s just 5,80,000 people who have voted. Now if there are some fifteen candidates contesting for the LS seat from this constituency & four of them are representing major parties & gets nearly 80% of total votes among them & if margin of the winner is 50,000 votes, then at the most, he will be getting 2,50,000 votes making it just 25% of the total voter’s vote. This means the elected candidate will be representing the entire constituency only because just 25% of voters have chosen him, will he or she be able to do justice to the job, ask yourself! Here you may say even all the ten lakh voters would have voted even then it won’t be that 100% of them will vote the same person & I agree that but it’s the pressure of all ten lakh voters has votes & that means he is responsible or answerable to ten lakh people is the responsibility on the candidate, is we are forgetting! In any democracy always there will be nearly 50% of the people which will remain unhappy as their vote didn’t got them the candidate which they voted in power but that doesn’t mean their vote has been wasted, it means there are more people who wants another person in ruling yet the message is clear, you value power of your vote & you executed your power by voting, this aspect of democracy we are missing by not voting is what I wanted to share! And by avoiding voting, in a way we are allowing the entire country to be run by mere mercy of the 25% voter’s choice, is what we need to understand!

One more aspect of voting by all is, whichever candidate gets elected he or she knows that all the voters has voted in the election & that figure the respective candidate is answerable to especially to those who hasn’t voted to him or her as then the responsibility to perform increases with the increased numbers of the voters! Take example of the society we are living in, when any member doesn’t come to vote in the society meeting which has been called for taking decision on some work to be carried out in the society & yet if the society goes ahead for execution of that work & later the member objects for the work then he has morally no right as he didn’t vote, the same principle is applicable for elections of local body (PMC) or the country (Lok Sabha), right? And then problem is not just about not voting in one election but its reflection of our attitude towards our responsibility as today its Lok Sabha election, tomorrow it might be State Assembly, after that there may be civic body (Municipality) of city & if we keep on avoiding voting then we don’t deserve a good government because we ourself have chosen to keep away from forming a government! And then we will keep complaining this govt don’t work, that govt is corrupt but we forget that we only allow this govt to be in power by opting not to vote, this is my point of sharing!

Lastly, the political parties & politicians also must soul search about their behaviour (I know I am fooling myself but we should not give up trying, right?) as when someone votes then that vote may or may not be in favour of them as an individual or as a party but that voting is by believing on some promise & stand that candidate (as well its party) has taken while appealing voters to vote & when after election that promise is broken & the stand is changed, then people start disbelieving the voting system itself, which results in avoiding voting, is also a big factor in lesser voting percentage in our State! At the same time the agenda or promises you are throwing on the face of the voters also must be by understanding voter’s needs which unfortunately is deteriorating with every election, especially Nation level elections like this. We need development & progress but the fact is, right from choosing the candidate to winning elections all things revolve around issues which are hardly of any interest to the common man. And if you don’t believe me then read the current news (about election campaigns) or speak with common voters which are around us. Every candidate is speaking about how other party has made mistakes & how they are corrupt & caste & religion & free electricity, free food grains, free education, reservations in govt jobs, caste wise census (janganana) & such but where is development, creating jobs in private sector, skill development, affordable housing, basic infrastructure like water & public health & many such issues, nobody give any concrete promise on that, this is one more reason people are fade up with elections! Though if someone makes a mistake & we react with another mistake is not a right thing but here is where wisdom differs from education, please think over dear non-voting citizens! Rather when it comes to voting the so called poor & uneducated people are wiser than we the learned as they know this is the only hope or chance they have, to change their fate i.e. by voting! At the same time by just casting your vote your responsibility is not done, rather it's started from here as for the next five years your vote has given you the right to ask questions about your needs to the candidate which gets elected via your voting!

I had first thought of giving the title to this sharing as “Why People Don’t Vote” but it would have given the wrong message so changed it to “Why People Vote” as people vote as they believe in hope that they can make change & that hope never dies rather with every voting it increases! Friends, to conclude, I will say only one thing, to vote is not just your right but it’s a sign that you are alive & you respect as well realize the power you hold within & if you don’t respect that power within, don’t ever expect others to respect you or your needs, so do vote for your own self-respect, adios with this note!

Sanjay Deshpande

smd156812@gmail.com

Sanjeevani Dev.

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