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The battle of the ballot box is hotting up in Karnataka. Who is going to snatch the ballot box? That is the big question. Snatching — not by means violence. It is a heinous and deplorable criminal act, punishable under the act. Who will snatch it, not literally, but figuratively? Does any one party succeed in walking away with the contents or do the several parties tear the results asunder and carry the battle to the legislature and convert it into a Kurukshetra?

Horse – trading:
If they do not succeed through wielding the weapon of the vocal cards, do they indulge in horse-trading? All these methods are not unfamiliar to our rulers. They are adept at it. In the olden days, our rulers were waging wars by wielding weapons of physical destruction. The methods have changed. It is war of minds and money is no bar. The mentality has not changed. The common people, poor voters, are helpless victims who have to be satisfied with witnessing the battles, which become curiouser and curiouser with every election. Can we not avoid this torturous and treacherous process and adopt civilized means? “Nah! We are not Gandhi Mahatmas”, say our netas. “Our path is paved with good intentions and not good methods. Politics is the art of the possible, not of ideals. Between thought and action falls the shadow. That is the way of the world.

Rights and wrongs:
Whatever may be the ways and means adopted, our netas, past, present and future, the moralists are not tired of reminding the players of the rights and wrongs. Democracy is Dharmayuddha. Kurukshetra war was between good and evil. Our elections has become a war between two evils. Who is the “lesser” evil? That is a question which has no simple answer. There are two parties to every election. They are the electors or the voters on the one side and the candidates on the other side. The electors or voters who express their opinion through the ballot box do so by naming the candidate in whom they have confidence, by marking against his name. But the election is not that simple. There is a political party behind the candidate and the voter has to judge the party also. A good candidate may belong to a bad party and vice - versa. Judgement becomes difficult. Finally he may have to vote by judging the party.

What is the criterion for doing so? There is the manifesto of the political party. It says what it does, what it does not and what it prevents. So the manifesto is the all - important document that the voter has to consider. But unfortunately, the manifesto of several contesting parties are released in a hurry, without as much as a second thought about the policies and programmes. The present-day practice is for the candidates to jump from one party to another, for them all parties are the same. Today he is in a secular party. Tomorrow he opts for a communal one. The next day he may join a regional party. His decision does not depend on the merits of the party; but it depends on whether he has the prospects of getting the nomination.

Political Refugees:
This speaks volumes about the worthlessness of the candidates and their utter disregard for values. The voters have to punish such candidates by refusing to vote for them. If the voter applies this criterion, a large number of candidates get themselves eliminated. The voter must look down upon these political refugees! Then the voter has to see what the manifesto of several parties have to say as it is an all-important document which the voter has to look into with utmost care. Unfortunately, it is prepared with utmost carelessness. The manifesto is supposed to contain a number of items. The first one is the ideology for which the party stands, and its plans to give effect to this ideology with reference to its policies and programmes. Then must come the consideration of the several problems confronting the State and community and the measures that would be adopted to solve these problems. The policies and programmes are very important.

But unfortunately, no party pays attention to these aspects. Some parties are formed at the last minute by the disgruntled elements and so-called idealists who do not know the real problems. It is the practice of the several parties to give a list of the “rewards” that the voters would be getting if the party comes to power — like rice at Rs. 2 a kg., colour TV, bicycle to school children, etc. Such promises should be deemed as violation of the code of conduct. They tend to seduce the voter. After all, the parties would not be giving them by spending their funds. It is the tax-payer's money that is at stake. It also amounts to discrimination. All the States ruled by the particular winning party do not get this privilege!

Populist measures:
Now it has become the common practice of every party that comes to power to offer such things to certain unprivileged sections of society. Why should the party perpetuate the practice of making the poor people live on doles? They should take a vow to eradicate poverty and create an egalitarian society. Populist measures only delay the creation of a just social order. Without a rational programme of development, they become a crime. The voters should refuse to accept overt and covert gifts. They should not vote for them. As the Election Commission is strictly enforcing the code of conduct, the voters and parties are adopting several clever ploys to woo the voters. A candidate has distributed copies of a beautifully printed book of prayers (stotras) of Gods to all and sundry, irrespective of the constituency.

Mining power - money power:
He may argue that the gifts are not just to the voters of his constituency but to others also. Distribution of calendars, note books, and many novelties is a flagrant violation of the code of conduct. Mining power and money power, not to say muscle power, are ruling the roost.

As the elections are being conducted in a hurry, several defects have come to light. Names of many voters are omitted. Photographs are not available to all voters. Many bogus names continue to exist. Election must be fool-proof. Political parties must work to educate the voters all through the years. They should not wake up at the time of election.

HSK
Courtesy: Star of Mysore

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