Preside over us, don’t please us

Congress was never the party I favoured, but the election results have pleased me.

The electorate's verdict has proved that people cannot be fooled by words, what is really heartening is that the returned candidates are relatively honest and those who had suffered and sacrificed at least for the good of their state and city. The best part is people have risen above the petty politics of cast, creed, mandir and mosque. The vote has been for the vision and not for baseless promises which if implemented will only increase the division.

Today we the people are looking forward, starry-eyed, to a new direction, and to a new way of true governance and not just populism. In these times of recession Dr. Singh and his brigade of minister will have to take more governmental decisions than political decisions.

It is high time that we the people of this country realize that the government spends our money. If Government takes a decision to revise some price or puts a restriction over something, we should be willing to cooperate. At the same time Government has to ensure that the tax payer’s money is spent on nation building and not on development of vote bank. William Thackeray once observed: "Men serve women on their knees. When they rise, they go away." It is the same with our electorate. They love and worship their leaders. But when the spell is broken, they unfailingly transfer their commitment elsewhere. The country can never prosper or be saved through the efforts of only ministers and civil servants. The people must be associated at all stages with the formulation and implementation of policies.

The agenda of the government should be to exercise fiscal discipline, to remove corruption from the governmental machinery and to do all that they can to achieve apt conversion of population into human resource. This is easily said then done because this will require tough decision making, but if it is not done now it will be too late. Please govern us and not just please us ,build a nation that we can be proud of.

The path ahead is not rosy and as small humble nothing I can only say:

"Much to cast down, much to build, much to restore;
Let the work not delay, time and the arm not waste;
Let the clay be dug from the pit, let the saw cut the stone;
Let the fire not be quenched in the forge. "

Emotive slogans and promises have robbed elections of enthusiasm

No, I did not vote………….

Call me a skeptic preacher or a hypocrite who writes and talks about the public participation in affairs of national interest but does not cast his vote when time comes.

What stopped me was not the heat or crowd, what made me change my mind was the fact that I read in papers a series of lofty, unrealistic and utopian promises made in flowery and cosmetic language which can hardly be kept. Populist slogans and promises are made just to gain votes unmindful of its ramifications on the country its people and economy. They want to make everything free without giving a slightest idea as to how they plan to raise the revenues. Sensitive, emotive and divisive issues and non-issues are raised to gain electoral dividends. Unrealistic, unattainable and illusory promises are made which could hardly be put into practice. I fail to comprehend which common man they are talking about.

Will somebody explain to me why the salary of defense personnel should be exempt from income tax? What crime has a teacher, doctor, industrialist or a clerk done? Defense of the nation is just another profession and I don’t consider them heroes in anyway. I was part of the defense for a major portion of my youth and I don’t think that defense personnel in any way is more patriotic than a farmer who ploughs his field early mornings to produce crop that you and I eat.

Lincoln defined ‘‘Democracy as the Government of the people by the people and for the people’’ but our politicians have degenerated it into ‘‘Government off the people buy the people and far the people’’.

In a true electoral democracy elections are the means to form the governments but not the ends therein. The end being developmental issues, welfare, health and education, infrastructure and quality of life of an average citizen. Though elections are integral part of democracy yet we definitely cannot say that democracy is elections and electioneering only.

If we want to make electoral democracy successful and meaningful, then the government must make election manifestos enforceable.It is only then we can make voting compulsary for every citizen and not voting a punishable offence. Let these people do what they say and run the country. As long as election manifestos continue to be just a bundle of lies, electorate like me will continue to loose interest in elections.

Do we deserve Democracy

Election time again.

You look anywhere it is either elections or IPL.

A series of musty allegation and fusty counter allegation, clichéd promises and stale dream selling is viciously present in the air all around. Lincoln wisely commented “you can’t fool all the people all the time but you can fool enough of them to rule a country”.

Where this democratic sham of choosing between thief and robber takes us? How good is this cheap form of socialism that feeds on slogans and promises?

Will Durant, after a lifelong study of various civilizations, summed up that: "Democracy is the most difficult of all forms of government, since it requires the widest spread of intelligence".
Our Constitution was aimed at making India the land of opportunity; our politicians have converted it into a land of opportunism.

Who is responsible? This is democracy, right ? This incredible army of pudding-headed mercenaries or present day kings that we have are our selection. So the enemy in is no one else but we. We the voters who have elected them to rule us. But then what choice did we have? We had to choose between devil and Satan.

Can a jewish king improve the situation? Do we need a dictator or army rule? There cannot be many substitutes to democracy but the people of character will have to come and assume the reigns. People who are successful in other walks of life and do not enter politics for profession will have to remove the stink with fragrance of their character.

The mortals like you and me should not be indifferent to the world around us. We need to react and keep the rein of these politicians in our hand. We the youth of this country shall pledge to ask questions that from where they will provide the rice and wheat at 2 Rs per kg.What plans they have to reduce the govrnmental expenditure?We the litrate need to question their vision. We as tax payers should be aware about what these insensate kings do to exchequers money in their fetid exercise of cheap and opportunistic politics.

Please, please do react, even the most contradictory word will prove we are alive……………..

victory of our silence will mean demise of democracy.