Dear Friends
I have firsthand experience about voting in this general election, since I
contested this Loksabha election from Mumabi North Central. Many people, well
meaning, came to help me. All said, "hamare volunteers ko khush kardo". One
person came and told me he controls 1000 votes and would like to talk about
give and take. This I am talking about Mumbai. Earlier, I have witnessed the
same thing in villages.
The situation is hopeless. I went around the constituency, visiting various
booths. What I found is, in Anushakti Nagar, voting was very poor, booths
almost empty. Whereas in slum areas, even at 4 PM, there were long queues to
vote. What did I perceive? Where there was either incentive or pressure to
vote, there were long queues. Where this was missing, there were no people.
Moral of the story?
(1) Make voting compulsory.
(2) Person is not born corrupt. Hence, concentrate on people at the entry
point of voters list.
(3) Electoral reforms, simplification of the procedures are a must.
This year, in spite of jagore, agni and other ngo's pleading ppl to vote, no
body who matters bothered.
I feel, one action talks more than thousand words.
Akalpita
