Between devils and the deep blue sea

In November, a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Maharashtra Election Watch found that 629 candidates contesting the Maharashtra Assembly polls had declared criminal cases against them. REPRESENTATION PIC/istock

Elections, for me, have been a recurring source of amazement for a long time now. On the one hand, this stems from pride and astonishment that such a massive exercise is conducted at all, and that it appears to take place so effortlessly given how massive this country is. I don't refer to cities as much as the nooks and corners of India, where the poorest amongst us find it within themselves to show up and do their duty the way apathetic city-dwellers rarely do. This pride comes from watching millions participate in the electoral process, the hours they spend patiently in line, and in all weather, some travelling long distances just to make sure their voice is heard.

That pride is almost always tempered by the reality of who these votes are cast for. On the other side of those patient folk are lines of politicians - some in power for decades, others rubbing their hands and awaiting their turn - who often compel me to wonder if no one else is available. Are these the best we can find? I can't be the only one feeling this way. We all know that politics routinely attracts the worst among us, and that not everyone has the kind of moral bankruptcy necessary to join a political party, and yet the disappointment is palpable whenever campaigning season comes around.

I understand that elections are sometimes looked at as a sign of hope, but often wonder when that is displaced by what seems like mockery. I felt it keenly this time around after the Election Commission filed an FIR against a politician, accusing him of distributing cash for votes and violating the Model Code of Conduct. That announcement was quickly overwhelmed by a series of denials and counteraccusations, disappearing into the ether the way so many criminal acts do in these parts.

I thought about how jaded a state must be, to read about a minister allegedly caught distributing money for votes, and then move on without trying to understand the implications of that accusation. I thought about the movies we were raised on, the winks and nudges with which we were told that ‘free and fair elections' only referred to how much someone was willing to pay for a seat at the table. I thought about the jokes we routinely make, involving ministers being abducted to five-star hotels and locked away while votes are counted. When hope is a rare commodity, how else can one react but with humour?

For me, the campaigning process now feels like a slap in the face, a rubbing in of the fact that we are never allowed to choose from the best. All we are offered are the dregs, those who have no qualms about insulting communities, people, or beliefs, if those insults can polarise voters into picking one party over another. Mud-slinging is now a manifesto, possibly because everyone has come to terms with the fact that promises about real change only remain on paper.

I recognise how naïve it is to assume that this doesn't happen elsewhere, given the coarse behaviour we have all witnessed in that other big democracy, the United States, for much of this year. For all the ugliness on display there though, it is still telling that 10 Indians tried to enter America illegally every hour over the past year. More than half of those apprehended were from Gujarat, a state routinely praised for a model of development no one has ever seen. What does that say about governance, and how little it means that we have a smoothly functioning electoral process?

For several days before this year's elections, localities across Bombay were subjected to the howl of loudspeakers proclaiming the worthiness of candidates. It was another glaring display of how the people themselves are never high on any party's list of priorities, existing only as the means to an end. Citizens are important only as potential voters, after which they can be forgotten about until the next election.

So, despite how amazing it is that we appear to have a robust process in place, here's a reminder of what that exercise leaves us with: In November this year, a survey by the Association for Democratic Reforms and Maharashtra Election Watch found that 629 candidates contesting the Maharashtra Assembly polls had declared criminal cases against them; 412 of these stellar individuals have been charged with serious criminal offences, including rape, murder and attempt to murder. Nothing about that is worthy of applause.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.