She enthusiastically helped people join India’s great festival of democracy, but on D-day, Kanan Dhru — like millions of Indians — didn’t want to vote. Here’s why:
I have put in a lot of my time and effort to make sure as many people as possible registered to vote for the Lok Sabha elections.
I also participated in Matdata Jagriti Abhiyan, or Voter Awareness Movement, where we disseminated information about candidates and information about voting rights in Gujarat’s urban and rural areas.
Finally we came to D-day on , Thursday a festival of democ , racy as they call it. The day for , which so many civil society movements worked so hard. The day sovereignty would be transferred from people to their representatives.
Naturally, I was extremely excited.On my way to the polling booth, I started thinking about who I would vote for. I thought about the background checks of candidates I had carried out a few days ago. I remembered how let down I felt on knowing who the candidates were.
After working so hard in making sure as many people as possible came out and voted, I could not believe, I was myself an undecided voter! I saw a poster on my way to the polling booth: “If you don’t vote on 30/4, consider yourself a handicapped for next 5 years.” Yes, I was on my way to vote, but I was already feeling handicapped for the right choice. I was supposed to choose from a list of candidates where many had criminal records, many were post-60, and so many who had not even graduated.
I felt saddened at how little these candidates had to offer.
I felt saddened at the thought of choosing a candidate who made virtually no effort to come and talk to the people in my constituency, to tell us what we expected of him/her.
I felt saddened that I was voting for someone who I had barely met, someone who did not really care about my vote.
I got off from my car and my eyes could not help but notice a sticker I had pasted some days ago. “Acche ko chune, Sacche ko chune (vote for the good, vote for the truthful).” I felt shaken.
Where are all the good and truthful candidates?
At the polling booth, I first went to a stall that helped me check my name in the voting list. I noted that it was a booth of a particular political party I tried talking to them about the candidate and what he had to offer. They tried to convince me that I should vote for that person because he was from a particular caste.
Distraught, I went to a stall by another political party The volunteers at that stall were not even sure about the candidate’s background or election promises. I felt let down again.
Inside the polling booth, I got the mark on my hand and then asked the presiding officer if I could refrain from voting as per Form 17-A, so that my vote would be a ‘cancelled vote’ (not the same as ‘none of the above’) The people standing in queue behind me stared at me and started talking among themselves. The presiding officer and his assistant requested me to “cooperate”, since this would cause a lot of unnecessary trouble for them and would require them to fulfill a lot of “needless paperwork”.
I was confused. On one hand, there were candidates who did not deserve to be sent to Delhi, on another there were these government servants who were working very hard in making sure the process went as smoothly as possible.
I prayed to God to enable me to do the right thing. Silently I , went behind the partition and pressed a button on the EVM.
My vote was cast! Yes, I voted but disillusioned and distressed.
On my way back, I wondered: Will this vote be against corruption, against terror, against inefficiency — as the television advertisements kept saying? Will this vote be for the future of our children? Will this vote change the future of our country?
Well, it would be if only we consider this vote as a start of the process of change and not the end.
Kanan Dhru (25),is a law graduate from London School of Economics. She now runs an NGO in Ahmedabad working for democratic and administrative reforms.
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Article as Appeared in HT on 3.5.2009
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