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The Indian Elections
I wanted to call this blog 'The Indian Election for Dummies' - a reflection of my level of understanding, as opposed to that of any readers. However, I don't think I even know enough to qualify me to write something of that title! I am ashamed to admit that my understanding of British politics is a little sketchy, never mind that of India's. Yet I didn't think I could really just overlook the fact that, during my time here, the largest democracy on the planet has gone to the polls to elect its government. So for what it's worth, here's what I know!
They are called the 'Lok Sabha' elections, which apparently means something like "House of the People by the Constitution' and not "All the People's Election" as I had interpreted ('log' in Hindi mean 'people' and 'sab', means 'all' so you can see my confusion). And well, as you can imagine, the apparatus - the cogs that allow a democracy in the world's second most populous country to function, are pretty damn impressive. Imagine what it takes to enable 700 million people, who speak over 22 different languages and are spread over an area of 3,287,590 square km, or 1,269,345 square miles to vote.
Well, if nothing else, it requires 828,000polling booths and takes a period of 28 days. Unlike Britain, voting in India takes place electronically. India can boast a highest polling station at a dizzy 15,000 feet or 4,572 metres, in the Himalayan foothills. Again in contrast to Britain, where (last time I checked) being homeless means no voting rights, the Indian voting system has introduced schemes enabling some 40 nomadic tribes in the state of Gujurat to cast their vote….electronically.
There was intense media coverage of the run-up to the elections. Apparently television in particular, has become an increasingly important means by which parties spread their messages. So much so that one local state government, which is closely affiliated with a TV company, supplied several lakhs (100,000) of TVs to people in its constituencies and has budgeted 25 lakh for TV s for the 2009//10 elections!
In Delhi I witnessed some rallies on the streets, but no one wearing badges or displaying posters on their homes. As far as I know, political campaigns and gatherings were relatively violence free in the Delhi area. But just in case, the government instituted three "dry" days in the run up to Delhi polling where alcohol could not be purchased for love nor money (this kind of scuppered our 'big night out' plans that week). Same deal on the day that the election results were announced. And what with a few festivals, which were also designated "dry" days, the "English Wine Shops" (as Off Licences are somewhat ironically called here) have been more closed than open in the last month.
There were however, several shoe-throwing incidents. Yes, this has become thee 'in vogue' way of expressing disapproval and dissent in India. The first incident was head-line news and then a host of copy-cat incidents followed. At some events, politicians actually spoke from behind a protective net! I joked to my journalist friend, that pretty soon people wouldn't be allowed to wear shoes at these rallies and press conferences. I think they might actually be implementing this in some places now.
And so what of the actual politics? Well, there aredozens of parties - so I guess I can be forgiven for being a little confused about it all. The issues that concern the electorate obviously vary - in rural areas the reliable and regular supply of electricity and water are paramount, less so in urban areas. The two heavy-weight parties are the Congress, which was founded during the British Raj and headed up the independence movement. It was dominated by the Nehru-Gandhi family post-Independence and to some extent still is.The other party is and the BJP, who are a Hindu nationalist party whose social policies are conservative and want to spend big bucks on defence. Then there are numerous factions and coalitions etc. It is all a bit mind-boggling.
There also seems to be a bit of a tendency to "keep it in the family"; the 'Gandhi-Nehru dynasty' being the most infamous example of this. Nehru, his daughter Indira and grand-son Rajiv (the latter two of whom were both assassinated), have all served as prime-minister! Sonia, the Italian wife of Rajiv is currently the Congress Party President and her children Rahul and Priyanka have been actively involved in the most recent elections. A bit of political scandal is provided by Varun Gandhi, son of Sanjay (Indira's other son, who died in an airplane accident) who has turned-coat and is now a prominent BJP member. Tragedy, scandal, intrigue, romance love -they give the British Royal Family, or the plot-lines of Eastenders a run for their money.But unlike in the UK, a fair amount of respect is paid to a politician's privacy and I get the impression that the public judge and value their politicians for their political acumen and ability, rather than for the details of their (admittedly fascinating) private lives.
Anyway, back to these elections. There was much doom-mongering before the results were announced on 16th May, because the BJP were forecast to take a lot of seats from the current Congress government. Everyone was very surprised (some more pleasantly so than others) when the Congress party did really well, actually taking back seats in BJP strongholds. I can't help hoping that there is a similar unexpected turn of events in the next UK elections, otherwise I might have to leave the country (again!).
Well, most of you probably know more about this that I do, and those that don't can read about it at the Guardian and Wikipedia websites (from which, you will soon realise, I have filched most of my information!). I also completely renounce any responsibility for the accuracy of what I've written and warmly welcome corrections and elaborations from those of you who know better!
I am afraid that this isn't a terribly personal or inspired blog. It was written more from a sense of duty, than inspiration. It definitely reflects how removed I have felt from the process - and I suppose is indicative of how much I am still an outsider to this country, despite my interest and affection for it.I suppose for me, the nitty-gritty of the political process has not been very accessible, what I found incredible was to witness the workings of a political machine, of a democracy, operating on a scale of India's magnitude.
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