Poll-tricks galore

We all need answers when they shine on our television screens and bombard us on social media platforms with their respective rhetoric claims and counter claims We think every election they should not make mere promises but give us a concrete action plan that can address the core issues of the nation which is still struggling to get over basic problems decades after independence Political parties continue to treat us as if we live in a fools paradise creating their own agendas and forcing them on usThe Lok Sabha elections 2019 are no different Some parties think problems like poverty unemployment agrarian crisis arent as serious as they are because they have done enough to address them in the short time the voters had given them They seek votes harping on an agenda that appears completely different from what they had said was their primary duty towards the citizen of the countryOffering money is the normOther parties say these problems continue to persist even after years of them being in the government but dont show a way out that could prove sustainable in the long run The common act of benevolence between these parties is that when they cant solve the problem through policy making they just ensure that the target group is given some money or sopsOffering money ahead of or after the polls in the garb of public welfare schemes that are branded with attractive acronyms has become the norm This happens despite historical failures of similar schemes Remember farm loan waiver schemes that various governments announced in the past 20 years Government relief or no relief farmers suicides continue to happen in affected areasIt has always been a matter of convenience for political parties when it comes to strategic campaigns Be it BJP and the Congress or the powerful regional parties that dream of installing their own PM two months from now on they have no guts whatsoever to debate the real issues when they appeal to the voters for their valuable support The narrative isnt all about the real national issues mdash internal and external mdash but it invariably becomes individualspecific in which important personalities from all parties are violated by way of allegations counterallegations and insinuationsWith 10 days to go for the first phase of polling the picture appears clear as to what the worlds largest democratic exercise would have on offerDebates do happen but that zone is restricted to the controlled environment of television studios These debates offer common voters no vision programme or agenda Shouting at the top of their voices the participants hardly make a point that should be taken seriously At times the debates are worse than liquor den quarrels Since these guys follow the directives and the line prescribed by their respective parties we shouldnt expect their respective leaders to say anything different when they address poll rallies across the countryThe dontspeakrealissues effect trickles down to the low rung party workers who have been toiling hard at many levels in the past two elections The advent of social media has given a Himalayan rise to the easiest and most effective method of campaigning through digital way These workers are engaged along with the professionals who manage social media warrooms for the parties and individual candidates Once the course is charted on a daily basis mdash its usually damning for the rival parties or individual leaders mdash the particular posts are made viral Trolls from both sides do their job religiously The voters are flooded with memes and posts that intelligently divert attention to nonissuesIssues turned into nonissuesWhen real issues are made into nonissues the voters start thinking about the caste community and religion of the candidates in the contest In fact the candidates are selected on the basis of these three major factorsExceptions could be very few across the country All national or regional parties follow the practice of making their talks of alleviating caste discrimination and bringing in social equality redundant Even in the segments that are reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes the candidates from dominant castes and subcastes get preferenceIn this election Prakash Ambedkar made a departure from the practice in a fashion that exposed the parties that have made the caste system a weapon for victory He mentioned the caste of all candidates while announcing the Vanchit Bahujan Aghadis nominees in Maharashtra His argument was that he had tried to give representation to the caste groups that have been ignored consistently by other parties In a way Ambedkar did not hide the bowl while attempting to drink the water from the big pond of the electorateOur election system may have reformed in the past 30 years but the spirit of representative form of democracy is still missingDharmendra Jore is political editor midday He tweets dharmendrajore Send your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomCatch up on all the latest Crime National 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