And my vote goes to... (Part 1)

Hi

Well, the whole election hoopla and the "Jaago-Re Stuff" that has been going on for the last three weeks gave me the feeling that I was watching some Oscar-nominated thriller movie. So many twists and turns happened within a span of two weeks that if made into a movie, this election would certainly be a blockbuster hit, purely for the entertainment quotient.

I want to clarify that the opinions in this post (and the next) are purely mine. I do not mean to argue on this with anybody, nor do I want to become the "enemy camp" person to those whose views are different from mine. I just want to tell who I am voting for and my reasons behind it.

Since my vote goes for the larger picture in all cases, I see the party and not the person who I am voting for. It was a similar case in the US Presidential Elections, where the larger picture was man-to-man and not party-to-party. In our elections, we elect a representative who decides the CM/PM by the way of a majority.

As in the last election, both the Lok Sabha Elections and the Vidhan Sabha Elections are taking place at the same time. Approximately 5 years ago, the CM Naidu called for elections a year earlier trying to ride on his “popularity” wave and on that of the NDA (Remember the “India Shining” Campaign?). He lost by a huge margin and at the centre, the NDA also lost power.

This time on, my vote goes to the Congress (I) Party at the State Level and the Lok Satta Party at the National Level. It may sound odd, and some of you may not even know what the Lok Satta Party is. But these are my choices and I shall try to justify them.

At the State Level, the Congress (I) Party, led by the CM Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy has undertaken many reforms in the state. After the utter neglect of the villagers and their welfare by the Naidu administration, YSR led the state to introduce and implement many schemes for the poor and the needy. Houses were built, food was given and welfare was spread. Coupled with good rainfall, it ensured that the farmers were happy. Sure, there were some grey areas too, especially in the matters of corruption. But his administration was good overall. I would rate it 3.5 on 5 and feel he deserves another 5 years to continue his schemes.

If we go by the process of elimination, five main parties are in fray in my constituency – Congress (I), TDP (Telugu Desam Party), TRS (Telangana Rashtriya Samithi), PRP (Praja Rajyam Party headed by Chiranjeevi) and the BJP. I have lost faith in the TDP because of the very negative campaigning it has been using and the unattainable policies that it is promising to the people, especially the villagers. I do not support the TRS ideology of a separate Telangana state and the entire movement has also lost steam in the last year. My personal admiration of Chiranjeevi is not too high for me to vote for a party which says it will cater to all sections of the electorate equally and promise special and extra status for the BCs in the very same speech! The BJP has no right being in Andhra Pradesh and any talk about “Ram-Rajyam” is certainly not appealing to Christians.

At the National level, I would usually consider voting for National Level Parties, which include the Congress (I), BJP, BSP and the Left-Parties. Although I support the Congress (I) Party in this regard, I would like to vote for the Lok Satta Party, which is a new party floated by a visionary IAS Officer, JP Narayan. He has worked a lot in trying to bring about reforms in the election process and increased transparency, all in the last 10-12 years. His aim is not to win, but to spread awareness of his mission and vision of the party. By fielding well-educated and non-criminal candidates, he is on the right track. My vote is to show my support for him and his vision and to ensure that he gets atleast some boost in his popularity. A good number of votes are going to keep his faith in the people and ensure that his work keeps going on.

Contd in the next post…