My Vote My Choice

Election 2014; voting day is right around the corner and I’m definitely voting…..but whom?

Let me come straight to the point. I’m not going to defend or accuse a party, person or action. I’m going to analyze; and that may involve an evaluation of a party, person or action but again, only to analyze and not characterize.

So whom am I going to vote? Let’s see…what my choices are?

Janata Dal, BJP, BSP, Congress, AAP, TMC, some other parties that I have not even heard of….kind of never ever, and 16 independents. Phew…that sure is competitive. I mean for latter two options in the list. The first ones won’t even break a sweat on ‘bachcha” parties.

First things first, never-heard-of-parties and independents. Well tried but you are out of my potential-beneficiary-of-my-vote list. Hasta la vista…baby.

You…yes, you – who is reading and smirking…and thinking – What if there is a good candidate among the bachcha parties. Hold your horses. Now that I’ve your attention, read further and thou shall know it.

(Use http://www.google.co.in/elections to know about candidates/parties in your constituency.)

Janata Dal, BSP, TMC and others like you – sorry you too didn’t make it in my list of people/parties to evaluate.

Did I hear you ask “Why”?

Because you are not going to form a government at the center, that is why. I know you are just going to compromise…oops I mean support the big guns in favor of “considerations”, and I’m in no mood to waste my only leverage – my vote.

So finalists are Congress, BJP and AAP. OK OK, I know AAP is also not going to form government alone by any rational consideration. They are just there because they managed to stir up the hornet’s nest. Theirs is a back door entry…like Delhi.

On serious note, I think if not anything else…they have literally managed to bring political discussion on table (dinner table, office table, canteen table, [no]table…hell, actually it’s on every damn table). In a way it’s good. I believe in Dr. JP Narayan’s idea – solution to bad politics is not “no politics” but more politics, good politics. You may argue it happened as a result of Anna movement and not AAP. My plea to you is this - movement died but is survived by AAP. They have the inheritance and they are taking care of it too.

Coming back to subject at hand - who am I going to vote for?

I don’t personally know any candidate, so to give a fair chance to everyone; I went and checked their past performance, assets, criminal records etc…

(Use http://www.prsindia.org/ to check performance in parliament)

(Use http://myneta.info/ to check assets, criminal record, other details)

Guess what…its unfair comparison at a point. Because AAP candidate doesn’t have past performance details. He’s a newbie. He is Ex-Infosys CFO. But is being an ex-corporate honcho a qualification enough to be an MP. Not exactly. At times people say Kejriwal is good because he’s an IITian. My dear friends…if IIT/IIM were the breeding grounds for good politicians, political parties from around the world would be camping there for campus recruitment. Evidently they are not recruiting from there, hence I assume IIT/IIM qualifications don’t matter in politics. Case closed.

What about BJP and congress candidate records…well, they are more or less same.

Back to square one…who do I chose now?

Is looking at candidate enough to vote for him? Not according to me. Political affiliation and patronage is as critical as candidate himself. Political parties have “high command” culture i.e. high commands decide, you abide. If you don’t abide, you are either flung out, adjusted to a committee or panel to feel important or compensated.

Even if I agreed that candidate could bend the air, please mind that this is Lok Sabha election. My vote could decide country’s future. I need to look beyond my constituency, I need to look at the country. I will have my chance to think about local people and problems in state assembly elections. It’s time to show that I care. At least me with my belly full; need to care for things bigger than my streetlight, playground, sewage, garbage (what an irony), and whole nine yards. I care for foreign policy, defense, technology, industry, and plethora of national and international issues.

So who do I vote? heheheh…I promise I will it declare it now. No more fanfare, not another harangue.

Will I vote for congress? Will they change country, make things better?  They are saying yes, like we haven’t seen it yet. But let me see who’s going to do it from their party. Wait, they have not declared a name but don’t I already know the options. So if I vote congress, what do I get? Either they do another Laloo Prasad Yadav (put a proxy as head of government) or do women empowerment. Not that I am against a real and solid women empowerment, but for sweet love of god; how many times in single session can you do women empowerment.

Will I vote for AAP? With all due respect, first grow up. You have put up a good show and fight. You brought some serious competition. I give it to you. But you need to get a license before speeding on highway. You have good theories, but that’s the case with many others too. Back your theories with empirical evidence in constituencies you get, and for your own sake please don’t blow the next chance you get like you did in Delhi. I like democracy very much and in no hurry to replace it with ochlocracy. Do your homework, show some results and come back next time. The stakes are too high, can’t take chances boss.

Will I vote for BJP? Hmmmm…..ummmm. Undeclared wife (frankly it’s a non-issue for me), Yedurappa, 2002 riots, snoopgate, phalana-dhikna. There is a laundry list. But let me tell you BJP, you score high on my list. Not because of Modi, but because you have a better gallery of gentlemen and women than other parties. Better in articulation, experience and clarity of thought. Your only serious contender is NOTA.

Will I vote NOTA? Keep your fingers crossed buddy. You will know it.

Now that I have analyzed. I know who I am going to vote for. If you haven’t figured it out yet, please sit down for 15 minutes and think. I am not trying to change the world. I am just offering my vote to a 66 year old idea, and if something is moved by it, that's beautiful.

Disclaimer – for all who are wondering why the hell I wasted my time in thinking and writing so much while I could have had a chilled beer or a nice movie. Also for those who are still going to a poll booth to either play ‘Akkad bakkad bambe bor’ with EVM or get Vitamine-G/B. Next time you drive your pregnant wife/sister on a pot hole laden road while she braves the pain, tell her – you could do something to change the situation but you missed the chance.