Less than 48 hours to go before the verdict is out. Beating the heat, star campaigners and their faithful sweated it out in maidans across the stretch of this bewildering nation, asking over 700 million voters to make themselves count.All five phases of polling have been completed with the mattering millions defying the heat, boycott-calls, militant-maoist threats and turning up in huge numbers.Scores of security personnel, people and even candidates have lost their lives in what are presumably, the bloodiest elections till date. Despite not having to encounter any of the aforesaid threats, on April 16,2009, I cast my maiden vote, thus being part of a massive exercise--one, whose scale and complexity is a nonpareil.Undecided until the nth hour, I decided,hesitantly to vote for the Congress(I).In the newly-formed constituency of Pathanamthitta, the main contenders in the fray were Mr Anto Antony of the Congress(I) and Advocate Ananthagopan of the CPI(M). Radhakrishna Menon of the BJP, the BSP candidate KK Nair, NCP's Mani C Kappan and a host of others constituted the also-rans.Mr Antony is currently the District Congress Committee President of the neighbouring Kottayam district, who had in 2004, unsuccessfully contested from his home turf.That he is a stranger to Pathanamthitta would be not be just one among "the nefarious campaigns of the oppostion"--its the blatant truth.Mr Ananthagopan has been a familiar face in my native Tiruvalla Assembly segment. He currently serves as the District Secretary of the CPI(M) in Pathanamthitta.
Three years of Lal salaams have failed to enthuse me.I was one of those who, in my naivete, joined the bandwagon of current CM VS's supporters as he managed to pour Red across the state during the 2006 Assembly elections. He was hailed as the saviour Kerala had been waiting for. The media painted him as the crusader against corruption, the champion of adivasi and women rights and as ardent environmentalist. True,as Oppositon Leader of the Kerala Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006, VS had done both himself and the State a creditable job. He had endeared himself to the prince and pauper alike, thanks to considerable media support, so much so that when the State committee declared that he wouldn't be contesting it sparked off a furore across the party machinery. The party cadre split, clandestine posters and protest marches rebuking the move appeared in VS strongholds. Karat had to fly in. The fault lines of factionalism in the cadre-party were rearing its ugly head again. Fearing a backlash, the CPI(M) retracted. A visibly delighted VS emerged from the party meeting. What followed in the media was a VS centric-campaign projecting the octogenarian's enviable energy-levels, austere lifestyle, humble beginnings and probity in public life. The sufferings that he had to endure, during the Punnapra-Vayalar Revolt--the Communist uprising against the Travancore administration of Sir CP Ramaswami Iyer-- of 1946 formed part of local folklore. He seemed only too pleased to oblige. T-shirts bearing VS pictures started doing the rounds, almost reminding one of similar Che Guevara ones.
Ever since assuming office in May 2006, one hasn't seen the promise translate into performance.VS was part of a Ministry that had more of Party State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan--supposedly the official,stronger faction--loyalists.Coordination between ministries was a problem and it not only dented people’s faith in the government, it also brought down the government’s performance. In-fighting was on show for all to see--contradictory statements were being issued from AKG Bhavan and the Secretariat. Machinations, corruption, scandals, maladministration--the 3 year old LDF government has offered nothing different. VS has been left powerless and fettered in a Ministry where the CM dare not call the shots.Nevertheless, his popularity and image as a straight-talking CM remains intact with his ratings standing at an enviable 34p.c.
Lets leave the State government aside. What did my MP, one of the 18 Left MPs from Kerala, do, worthy of note? Ms CS has been visible only during dharnas and protests of Left MPs in front of the Parliament complex. Fruitless protests, if you ask me.Ostentatious too. And apart from an Ambulance doing the rounds in Tiruvalla, I haven't seen any utilisation of her MP LADs scheme.My disenchantment with the communists has other reasons too. I believe every nation should build from Communist and socialist ideals. So too should every state.Kerala has and which is why, I believe, it has a high HDI comparable with that of the US.But there comes a time when socialism and communism should be not 'The' policy, it should be just one of them.I have, from my experiences, found myself becoming increasingly moderate.Communism that calls for revolution, that outrightly rejects the US and Israel no-matter-what, is an extreme ideology.The Congress(I) is the only other party in the fray, which although for purely political gains, comes closest to pursuing an eclectic, moderate stance. These are reasons, I believe, which prompted former UN Under-Secretary General, Shashi Tharoor, to run for Parliament on a Congress ticket.
Almost all news channels have predicted a rout for the Left parties in Kerala, with the people rejecting the CPM's alliance with Abdul Nasser Madani's PDP,allegedly a ploy to hush-up the SNC Lavalin issue--a scandal in which Pinarayi Vijayan is among the prime accused--and to eat into the Muslim vote. The ploy has backfired on both counts. The floating voter will definitely be influenced by Vijayan's tainted image.The Muslim vote has traditionally been for the Congress-led UDF, with the 2004 black-out sure to prove an aberration. The alliance will also repel the upper caste Hindus. They've, however, been able to hold on to the Ezhava-Dalit vote, their loyal votebank. The UDF certainly cannot claim a mandate in their favour, Kerala's history has been replete with swings alternating with every election. There is certainly an anti-incumbency sentiment. Moreover,they've done nothing in the Opposition to inspire. Would we vote for the Dr at the centre?Certainly.But we here in Kerala, as I'm sure do people in other states, vote according to local temperatures.
Now for the tamasha on the telly.Arnab Goswami, has clearly been spending sleepless nights.He appears disturbed, obstinate, worn-out and even childish at times getting into near fights with his political guests. Rajdeep Sardesai, too has been building up a lot of hype and noise. The only sane voices appeared to be the troika of Prannoy Roy, Barkha Dutt and Nidhi Razdan on NDTV.The entire gist of the endless, seemingly meaningless discussions, that interestinlgy is vying for prime-time with IPL coverage, is to find out that magical combination that will constitute the government of the 15th Lok Sabha.The media is doggedly behind every move that the political honchos make, so much so that "third front" man HD Jr. had to cover his face coming out after a late-night meeting at 10 Janpath, trying in vain to escape incognito. His father even had to issue a clarification, saying the HDs and their JD was firmly with the "third-front".Every statement is being intently read into.An off-the-record statement is being seen as "information from sources".Attempts of the two major National Parties,who btw are confident that they wont garner enough votes for a comfortable majority, to woo regional parties are almost being reported from inside close-door meetings.This is what is being debated in studios for hours on end.Why this may appear meaningless is because it is obvious that political parties can do nothing except backroom negotiations until the numbers are revealed on the 16th.Why it is not is because all the speculations and discussions predicated on them offer the viewing masses ample opportunity to decipher what-exactly-is-going-on.
Whatever happens it is clear that the elections are going to deliver a fractured mandate. The voter has voted with a feel for state temperatures.India Indecisive.Couldn't put it better...
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