30 4 / 2014
Lucknow Elections - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Until now it has mostly been about information dissemination and preaching, but as of now it’s about making a decision. And when it comes to making a decision, I want to make an informed decision (at least I want to think so), post evaluating the pros and cons. Lucknow goes to vote today, and the candidates in fray are Rajnath Singh from BJP, Javed Jaffrey from AAP and Abhishek Mishra from SP.
As I think of Rajnath Singh, the BJP president, the earliest bad memory that strikes me, is of him being in tears when Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiyya, the dreaded mafia don from Kunda was arrested by the Mayavati government in 2002. While the common man was happy in the sub-conscious (we were not brave enough to be vocal then, and social networks were still in their infancy), and praising the guts of Mayavati, this guy was crying out loud in a press conference, attributing this as an attack on “Thakurs” which he himself is proud to be, with total disregard to credentials/doings of Raja Bhaiyya. Once he was out of jail, the police officer who led the raid on his house died in an accident, and till this date, no one has gone to jail for that:
http://www.firstpost.com/politics/sps-murder-why-we-can-never-underestimate-raja-bhaiya-647797.html
Though this is a reason enough for me to not vote for him, given his petty caste based politics, but I will reconsider given the thousands of crores of advertising money that is being flushed down my throat, which says - “Achhey din aaney waaley hain!”. On second thought, this guy has run away from Ghaziabad, just to mitigate the risk of him losing from there. I have checked with friends living in Ghaziabad, and they confirmed that he did nothing (even ardent BJP fans living in Ghazibad confirmed this). And if we go purely by statistics, he has performed poorly:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/mps-rating-rajnaths-performance-below-average/458776-3.html
With Rajnath Singh out, next is Abhishek Misra from SP. Though SP is not worth considering, but this guy certainly has the credentials - he is a PHD from University of Cambridge, and an ex IIM-A professor. But the sad news is that he is the sitting MLA from my constituency, and he hasn’t done anything great (yet). Additionally, just before the assembly elections I had emailed him asking why should I vote for him. He never wrote back. Seemingly, he doesn’t give a f#@k about my vote, so why should I! Negated!
Next is Javed Jaffrey from AAP. The primary argument against him is that he is a comedian. I am a software engineer. Someone else is a Banking professional. Is there something wrong with being a professional. And I bet he is a good comedian, and is good at what he does. I have laughed numerous times listening to him. Being good at his profession is a plus for me. And people from all walks of life entering politics is good as well. I personally believe that until you, me and the person living next door isn’t going to enter politics, nothing is going to change. Until now politics had been the last resort of people who couldn’t do anything with their life (minus rare exceptions in the sea of incompetent political leaders and the so called cadres). I am glad that this changed with AAP, and the common man dared to talk and walk politics. For many now politics is a matter of choice, not just a way to hoard money and power, just because they weren’t good at anything else. They left what they were good at, just for greater good. Don’t let them reconsider their decision, thinking this was in vain, and they are not fit for this (perceived) shithole. Though there can be bad fish in them, but based on that reasoning alone, I am not going to throw the baby out with the bath water. I am an optimist, and I hope for a better India soon enough.
Additionally, I found this google hangout video of Javed Jaffery convincing enough of his intentions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHnACIRL3Zo
If he doesn’t do anything for his constituency just like the Govinda’s of our age, I will be the first one to shout out loud. Any other candidate who I haven’t mentioned here, is either not worth mentioning, or wasting words on, or isn’t popular enough.
Until now, I have always cribbed about not having a good option to vote for. All political discussions started at “sab chor hain”, and even finished at that. This time around, I have an option, and I am going to make full use of that opportunity. If you are going to vote the same way you did in the past, the way your parents told you to, and their parents before that, don’t crib later ki “iss desh ka kuchh nahi ho sakta”, primarily because “tum nahi chaahtey ki iss desh ka kuchh ho”. Vote wisely, and decide for yourself (it’s time you grew up, and grew out of caste, creed and religion). Some people will try to persuade you that you are wasting your vote on a losing candidate, but do remember that if enough people waste their vote on the losing candidate, then that candidate wins!
PS: Excuse the typos, as I am typing this in a train, and the lights are off. All the best Lucknow! Excited to vote tomorrow!!!