It's Election Time Again
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| The Election Story |
Before We Get Started
Just whom, or on what issues should one really vote this time? Should the choice entirely be based upon the premise of disappointment of the previous pick? If the promises of previous term have all disappeared into thin air, what is it that guarantees any change this time? What is it that makes one so hopeful this time?
How exactly does one ascertain if this candidate be different from their predecessor, or one political party be better than the other? Has it finally come down to the point of all this being just one of those chores or responsibilities that one must fulfill?
If casting vote and paying taxes—a duty of a good citizen, then what is the basic duty of a politician? More importantly how far along are they? Finally, last but not the least, whether or not there's really any sort of accountability whatsoever?
A whole lot of similar thoughts, mostly questions and anxieties echo in the pre as well as the post ballot ethos. Most very relevant and all very much unanswered. To be honest, even the barrage of questions above wouldn't even cover the many facets of this complex affair. Similarly, no simple explanation would satiate even the naysayers, the critics being a different ball game altogether.
This vicious circle goes into repetition term after term. So much baggage, yet surprisingly or not so surprisingly there is so much of optimism, almost every time. On the flip side of this unanimity the divide grows, and so does the hatred. With time we are progressing only to digress, and real issues have all lost relevance. Discussions or debate are clearly no longer fruitful. They mostly turn ugly or bitter. Shouting contests, verbal spats to even swearing. From virtual lynch-mobs to real fist fights—between strangers, among friends, and even family members. An electrically charged environment with not just the opinions but the people, more divided than ever. The elements of patience and courtesy have pretty much dissipated.
This isn't anymore about issues, or the action plan; or about integration, progress, development etc. It's reduced to a pig-fight, that's downright ugly. All in all its nothing but— politics of chaos!
Just Another Election
Similar to things that happen before or after elections, the elections
itself are now more or less bau (business as usual) affair—wherever they
happen—whenever they happen. Be it a democracy, plutocracy, autocracy,
constitutional monarchy or even a military junta or dictatorship. Yes!
Dictatorships, after all they need legitimacy too. Irrespective of whether
they want it or care about it, and irrespective of the usual drill. A
military dictator may usurp power through a coup; but an electoral
legitimacy even if stage managed eventually becomes a must. We saw it in
the west, until the great wars brought them to a bloody end; and we
continue to get glimpses of it across the third-world, even to this day.
The justle for power is almost never ending, whether it's those that acquire it, or those that desire and desperately seek it. They are always more than willing to bend and break for an opportunity. We, the people, only see snippets, those as well mostly hand picked. What we comprehend is not entirely credits to cognitive ability but more than often we're skillfully decieved. A lot of stuff is usually happening in the background especially in the run-up to the elections. Of course it varies from country to country, even region to region within the country, and is based on multiple factors.
Above all there is the gullibility of voters that transcends everything, and is pretty much a common and most influential factor in every election. The issues are all relevant, long as they align with that gullibility; both in terms of touching on the subject as well as addressing it, theoretically of course. The focus by no means is on alleviation, rather by all means the elevation of the individual we refer to as a politician. The bigger the noise the better. Good publicity or bad publicity, it simply doesn't matter. Once you make inroads all is forgotten. Then beating the drums and honking the same rhetorical cacophony, the 'change' bogey travels to and fro on those roads, paved-in with the blood-and-sweat of the exchequer. And when its over, all is supposed to be forgotten, forgiven, and we start over as if nothing happened. The same old stuff, just a different day.
Everything Else Can Wait
When the world was brought to a standstill during the pandemic—lives, businesses, and even homes were destroyed. It became evident that irrespective of chaos, or the critical need of the hour, all else could wait—but not the elections.
And not so surpisingly, when all priorities and basics including day to day affairs took a back seat, elections were still on schedule; and proceeding with a full fanfare. Lest we forget, this happened when social distancing and nationwide lockdowns were being enforced and mandated. We saw it during the worst of first waves in the oldest democracy and we've been witnessing it during the successive waves and upheavel elsewhere too. People weren't allowed to step out to make a living but politicians were pulling massive crowds while campaigning. This went on for several weeks with disregard to everything.
To be honest, nobody really is a stranger to the pandemic situation anymore. It affected everybody—job losses, no source of income, rising debts, existential crisis, extreme-stress, depression, and list goes on. Philosophies of life on a slippery slope; hopelessness, all around but it just didn't matter. All else can wait, but not the elections. Around the globe, one election after another. Despite the restrictions, lock downs, dwindled or collapsed economies and above all the covid-paranoia (otherwise still very relevant). Everything else can wait, rather should wait!
An election is a moral horror, as bad as a battle except for the blood; a mud bath for every soul concerned in it.— George Bernard Shaw
The Big Lie
Undoubtedly, repeated lies eventually become facts and the ultimate truth. And that's relevant to every discourse not just the electoral-rhetoric.
So much preparation, planning and expense are at play for this extravaganza. And with power, prestige, money and interests at stake, things are not meant to go south. That's exactly where myth-maker's illusion comes into play. It involves propaganda, marketing and effective PR. Not just the state machinery but both mainstream and social media come into the picture as conduits. And that's precisely how a palatable mix of misinformation and disinformation comes out of the blender.
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| Electioneering and Role of Media |
"Let me control the media and I'll turn any nation into herds of pigs and sheep." Now whether or not Joseph Goebbels, aka Hitler's propaganda minister, really said the above statement is as irrelevant as former US President Trump calling a mainstream media channel—fake news. But it doesn't matter. The fact is and history reaffirms that Goebbels not only mastered the art of political propaganda, but his concepts like the 'repeated lies' actually led the sheep to siege with horrific consequences. But that was then, governments controlled flow of information and there was no internet or the social media. The populace didn't really have the means to validate the information, nor the sources that told the other side of the story. Then again, fast forward to the present—the internet age, and you see the abuse or effective use of these mediums for propaganda. Its reached the point where one can't really be sure of anything anymore—pinnacle of fake news perhaps.
Most of us are well versed with the fact that politicians are pathological liars. Whether prior to elections or post, they can conviniently lie through their teeth. Their online bandwagon and onground foot soldiers would further improvise inflating the lies. Neither cares about the effect it may have on the populace, especially the naive. Nor is there an ounce of concern over the immediate consequence of such lies. For example those potraying a section of society as criminals or freloaders etc.
Mannequin of Hope
For politicians making a promise is never a difficult thing, and nor is shamelessly justifying not keeping one. Promise the star, the moon; just about anything, it doesn't really mater. After all there is no accountability, and if and when the need arises, same can be easily managed. The power play, gimmicks, petty rhetoric and even whataboutery can cover for it. They would tell how they are far better a choice than their predecessor, even if they achieved zilch. They can even throw-in some freebies if need be and bring in a strawmen to change the discourse. It isn't entirely the case that the citizens are so dumb, or naive to not see through this act. But even for them, it all comes down to same old the business as usual notion. The bottom line being: "It's all wrong but that's how it is, and that's how it shall stay!"
Then there are also the complexities of one's own priorities and/or issues and this is where the sly old fox called 'hope' jumps in and does the trick. And how difficult is it really to jack up that hope, or to even paint an utopia on the canvas of their thoughts, aspirations, as well as conscience. Now this hope is a bit crooked too, and at times sadistic. Like the thin line between opoids and painkillers—one and the same and not necessarily. So politicians play their little game called appeasement, which is nothing but mass appeal confined to a target audience.
Catering to race, color, prejudices or more commonly a communal-strife, religion/region/community based phobias etc. All targeting specific audiences, and eventually catering to none. Across the nations, politicians have their own ways of the supposed appeasement. The desperate lot sees hope in that appeasement, no matter how despicable it seems. The Indian electioneering is an ideal case study for such tactics.
Sometimes the so called appeasement can go beyond absurd like how we saw during the pandemic: Vaccine for vote. Among the usual list of tall promises this was a winner from the Indian state of Bihar that went to polls in first week of November 2020. A winner in terms of being utterly ridiculous and not the other way round, as was also overwhelming reflected in the public opinion nationwide. But that's that, what's important is, if at all that influence a voter's mind. Absolutely! Beyond doubt, it does. Especially when the state in question is the poorest and most densely packed, and amongst the largest providers for the migrant labour force. As the pandemic wrecked havoc everywhere, they too lost their jobs. Surviving on daily wages, they were forced to return home en-mass.
However, they knew it all too well that eventually they'll have to return back to cities and vaccine then would serve as free visas, providing not just entry but also insurance as well as acceptance. In retrospective, it was again the hope that did the trick amidst uncertainties of not just the availability but also the fear that was all around. "Who would foot the bill though?" People don't care to delve into that, moreover they don't have the time or the luxury.
The educated and/or fortunate ones called it a despicable move, while
those desperately trying to survive argued, "why not!". Whatever be the
case, the fear of virus itself—was like an antigen that had already firmly
established it's immunogenicity. And with 2020 Bihar elections the promise
of a free vaccine even without the electoral rhetoric that followed
subsequently, had proven to be highly efficacious. We saw similar noises
of pinning hope on vaccine both by the incumbent and the challenger
elsewhere too.
So back to hope. In simple terms for average population and primarily the
middle class, the elections more than anything else are more about
electoral promises; and these promises directly imply hope. Now, imagine
if politicians were to fulfill their promises, how many lives would have
been touched? There's no rocket science to it—even if the promises of one
electoral term were full-filled, lives of tens of thousands, if not
millions would have changed for the better.
And by the way better doesn't imply anything extraordinary but the very basic—atleast for the developing world. But then again on the flip side if the needs were fulfilled, the politicians or their creed would go out of business. So, it's that staus quo that has to hover on the borderline of change—so close yet so far, every time one looks at it, and especially during elections. There has to be that perpetual need to flaunt the idea of hope. Hope for not just basics but hope for the better. It's weird though, these mannequins so old and fully exposed with just the captions, somehow manage to capture our imagination through and through.
No Fair Play
As far as winning the elections goes, indeed it can never be said with
absolute authority that there's a fair play involved. Whether it's the
electoral-rhetoric, the electioneering or everything that's happening
behind the smokescreen. Also quite amusing is the fact that at the
penultimate moment, some predictable and some unpredictable events,
controversies etc always tend to crop up.
Now here's another important point, the promises made during rallies or
campaigns are mostly specific but the achivements shared later are more or
less generic.
Ultimately, just inflated cost for sugar-coated lies. And this is the wager when the candidate or party comes back asking for vote for the next term.
What's becoming more and more commonplace is exploiting the societal divide. With the rise of populist regime, the strategy now seem pretty maintream. The United States for instance, even to a apolitical person, a naysayer saw the most divisive election ever in 2016. It begs the question though, what was this promise that tore the nation apart? Surely, besides the observers' bias, other terms & conditions would apply. If we compare this to the elections in India, there definately exists some parallels.
Needless to say, purely from an Indian perspective, this too is business as usual: Before capitalism, socialism happened to us but to newly liberated slaves it didnt really mean much. The one thing that Brits ingrained in the Indian minds and soul before they set us free was divide and rule. We haven't failed our former masters in that regard.
The more divided the people are, the easier it becomes to rule them. Just one poke on touchy subject and then watch it snowball into a big controversy. Daggers pointed at fellow countrymen. All the big talks of all lives matter, become irrelevant. Whose fault, doesn't matter but the fact that things are allowed to go out of hands seems pretty despicable.
Those who cast the vote decide nothing. Those who count vote decide everything.
— Anonymous
The Idiosyncrasies
In India there's a popular electoral adage: "People don't really cast their vote but vote their caste." Nothing cryptic there, but simply truth and the obvious irony! From Indian monarchs, to the colonial British, and now our good old politicians—they've all succesfully exploited these societal divisions for their benefit. Even to this age, not just the aging population but the youth are diving into these fault lines and pushing forth the prejudices, which actually makes this a more sad affair. Again, this a broad generalisation to set the tone of the argument. It does not hold true for every community/section or the divisons therein. Besides, socio-economic factors, the region, religion and more importantly the ethos—all play a crucial role. Its a complicated story but the same factors more or less drive many other idiosyncrasies.
So this whole talk around participation seems meaningless especially when your representatives are trying to harness the divide by either poking or provoking a particular section of the society.
In the vibrant democracy of India represented by a staggering 18% of the world—there is no limit and no shying away either. The elections here are like the forever festivities. All so colorful, the fanfare, the noise, the dance and the music. It just never ends. Each year if it's not the national elections, then individual states would be going to polls. The electioneering just carries on and on. Now the cost to the exchequer is one thing and the impact of the repeated electioneering on the minds and overall health of populace is another. Needless to discount the preparations that goes behind such massive exercises. At the end of it one is left with the question: "Was it really worth it?" And that question doesn't just hover around the cost , or choice, or who you cast the ballot in favor of; but the exercise in its entirety.
Every time there's an election the poison is spilled in air. These weaponized aerosols travel farthest of distance without loosing their potency. Besides, when you already breathing the foulest of air in the world, then you are bound to choke, one way or the other. Hundreds of 24/7 media channels, thousands of digital and print media and several million active users, its utter chaos. The pounding of information is simply overwhelming. So much so that you ultimately give up on your basic cognitive abilities and just go with the flow. It doesn't matter where you are, the poison is always being spilled at a touch of a button traversing through air at 5G speeds to the end user.
During the 2024 campaign itself we saw the incumbent break all norms and
indulge in vile campaigns that were directed at certain sections of the
society—in so far as even calling them infiltrators. In retrospect how we
judge that even with our biases is far different from how we do it real
time. To the politicians that's what makes the difference.
In India, during the electioneering heat Pakistan and now also China
crops ups in the discussion, nothing out of the ordinary.
Leaders are not running the countries—lobbies, businesses and their
interests are. That's true even for the most advanced, or even the most
powerful nations. Civilians are mere pawns having their momentary
delight.
Some people vote for the party, some for the candidate, while there are some that vote their belief or believing in the ideology. They all believe these are different choices, and that they have chosen wisely.
— Ashutosh Joshi
Running Out of Juice
There isn't anymore a creative element in the undertakings. Whether it's east or west, it's all the same and now all too obvious. It's like that popular carnival arriving to your town. However that signboard, "we're now open," no longer irks curiosity. If one looks at the Indian political landscape, it's quite apparent that elections and electioneering are like our festivities—it just don't end. Festivities though bring joy to people as well as businesses, elections on the other hand are cost to the exchequer—not just one incurred on their pockets but on their lives and well being.
In the electioneering pandemonium a lot is said or done only to be forgotten or conveniently and rather shamelessly shyed away from. So the million dollar question is, how is it still working and working so well? They call it rhetoric or persuasive language in simplest of terms. But if it is persuasive and only meant to gain or divert attention—why do we end up falling for the bait every time? Is it our intellect or disillusionment with this facade? Like how the voters are referred to as 'intelligent', everytime they need to be lured to the polling booth. Most of them know and understand, they're being mocked, but they feing ignorance and just play along. "What's the point, it's all irrelevant", they argue!
The decline in numbers at the polling booths is telling in itself—voters are beginning to wake up. They are getting sick of hearing the same rhetoric, the pandemonium of electioneering and all these worn out lingos. The divisive tactics, the free lunches with the obvious catch. The cheap theatrics too now look old school as the what's trending generation have everything accessible at their finger-tips. The repackaged old wine seems loosing it's charm, as diy-crafts like fast-fashion fills up the space. And as more and more people wake up to the harsh realities and decades of brainwash, the politicians too have to figure out new ways to save their empires to lure the voters. After all democracy needs participation. At least to decide the politicians fate before they set their own course.
But what choice do we really have? Even if it's choosing a candidate. It's a necessary evil we must partake as we choose between the greater and lesser evil.
For The Greater Good
Perhaps the one, or I should add, the only fundamental right that is so much stressed upon, emphasised, promoted and even put into practice by manipulation, coersion, etc, that is our right to vote. Time and again its importance is reiterated by official as well as unofficial channels, the right-left, civil society groups, and even clergy, godman, fanatics etc. When all else fails we are advised that it's all for the good, without emphasising on whose!
For some, often most, voting is choice between the greater and lesser evil, and those are the only choices. Some believe that they are fullfilling their commitment to nation, to the constitution, by chosing a leader they feel is the ideal choice; others are just drummed up or brainwashed to believe that the said candidate is the only choice they have. For first time voters the rationale is not all that important, it's the excitement to excercise their right for the first time. And for most of them, that dissipates in no time, once they witness and comprehend the aftermath of their choices.
Often people get carried away or influenced by their own prejudices or by the propaganda that pollutes the ethos. Consequently, they don't vote for a candidate rather they vote against him/her. So it doesn't matter if the oppenent has had a bad reputation and/or a bad track record, they will choose him and convince others to do the same. For instance that can be the view of many people on the choice of a populist leader. Ultimately, what you get is what you voted for. Often it becomes one hell of a bargain, choking the life out of you.
But atleast for now in this democratic ethos or what is left of it, people can still protest and voice there disappointment: "not my president", "this government has been sold", name-calling and plethora of other lingos. Would we still have that luxury in next few decades? Hard to tell, considering how free speech is being muzzled, and democratic rights are being forfeited under whatever pretext or filmsy excuses. Not that hard to visualise, we are already witnessing it in bits and pieces.
Viscious Circle Repeats
Soon as the electoral pandemonium fades, the tunes even though still cacophonous, begin to change. The dust doesn't settle rather it blows up, re-energised and redirected to asphyxiate us in umpteen ways—taxes, inflation, unemployment, reforms, new norms, even the supposed act-of-god. As always, it's contrary to everything we had hoped and voted for. It's like the invisible hand is constantly at play, dealing the worst hand, almost everytime.
And as the chosen one's term concludes, new theatrics resumes. But as usual the status quo persists, and the vicious circle goes into repetition. As for the people it's a dream of utopia or the 'neverland', where unfortunately they'll never land—right until the end! However, the darn unrealistic hope or some pretext, still brings them back to the negotiating table, where they are empowered to lose—yet again!
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