About 46.5 per cent of the Hyderabadis have gone to the
polling stations to vote in the GHMC elections on 1st December.
The figure is understandable and even slightly higher than
that of 2016. Nothing warrants us to expect more and be disappointed. Even
among those 34 lakhs who voted, 80% are living in populous and low-income areas
or 'bastis' and they have voted
because the political parties have collectively spent some Rs 320 crores on
them, along with promises to do other things.
Others voted because of their affiliation to the party or
caste or religion. Some celebrities have voted for the sake of visibility.
The remaining 40 lakhs residents in the city who are
educated, professionals like the techies and others who are in the private
sector or in other institutions, and who consider themselves to be belonging to
lower, middle and upper-middle classes have not voted. Is it because they are
ignorant or lazy or indifferent? Who is to be blamed for this state of affairs?
On the other hand, the life of a vast majority of the urban citizens is filled
with many democratic decision-making practices and alternative voting in the
family, in schools, colleges, universities, offices, labour and trade unions
and professional associations, and even among their caste or religious
communities. The companies have their Board-Room democracy. The colony
associations and the apartment-building associations have their elected bodies.
Despite this habit, why are they not motivated to go and vote in the political
elections, even though they have been active on the subject in social media?
The non-participation of a vast majority of urban middle class in the voting process is a political statement to those who want to understand it.
Their non-participation in voting is a political statement
to those who want to understand it. The latest GHMC elections is a good
example. Most of the thousand candidates who came forward to shape the destiny
of this metropolitan city do not belong to the silent majority of the citizens
who are aspiring and striving hard to lead a higher standard of living and
life. Most of the candidates are unknown to the locality till the Party has
identified and parachuted them. Some have filed affidavits admitting pending
criminal cases. During the campaign, they do not and cannot talk to the active
residents in the colonies and in the apartment buildings, where nearly ten lakh
families are living in the city. The candidates are surrounded and the party
rallies are filled with people, the bulk of them are hired for the day. The
likes of such candidates, in the past, have once elected, felt authorised to
collect commissions, sometimes exorbitant from the contractors for minor works,
and from those who do un-authorised constructions. The sudden enrichment of the
elected corporator after a couple of years of exercise of authority in the area
is visible.
The Ward Committees and the Areas Sabhas that are supposed
to provide the avenues for active citizen participation are not constituted,
and where it is symbolically done, they are filled with loyal followers of the
corporator. At the outset, the participation of the political parties and
politicisation of the campaign on issues not related to the local development
and to the quality of life of the residents displeases the urban elite to such
an extent that they do not want their participation in voting to be taken as endorsement
of the focus that is being given by the politicians. Further, many of them are
becoming more and more aware of better democratic behaviour and practices in
the developed countries, because of the family connections. In this election
campaign, party leaders without understanding and respecting the urban mindset
tried to excel each other in offering free things and money, sometimes
unsolicited, as it is their habit in the rural areas. In the urban areas, the
citizens are willing to spend money for a better quality of services, rather
than seeking free things. The urban societies are by nature and evolution are
composed of many diverse communities living side by side, for generations and
often diverse families reside together by necessity, even though, now and then,
they quarrel over trivial incidents. When political leaders promoted caste-wise
activities, and uttered hate-speeches against some communities, which cannot be
wished away out of existence, the urbanite felt uneasy at heart.
The Ward Committees and the Areas Sabhas that are supposed to provide the avenues for active citizen participation are not constituted, and where it is symbolically done, they are filled with loyal followers of the corporator.
It is in this context that we must think of introducing many innovations to improve the situation. But, making voting compulsory is not a healthy trend, as it is mostly done in dictatorial regimes and in single-party regimes. A certain percentage of NOTA votes should have a negative impact on all the contesting candidates. Money spending in the elections can be left free without limits, as we are unable to prevent all political parties from indulging in political corruption. Seats -reservation has no sense any more in the fast-evolving urban society. One single national electoral rolls linked to Aadhar card would be less susceptible for repeated mistakes and manipulations. The CEO and the SEC should have a large panel of skilled and trained staff (voluntary and paid) available on call for election duties, whenever required. This will eliminate many political misunderstandings and suspicions on the collusion of officials in favour of the ruling party. At present, these constitutionally-mandated bodies are not associating the civil society organisations and are keen to ensure the approval of all parties in whatever they undertake.
While making e-voting the norm, several alternative serene voting methods over a period of time can be adopted in a way to avoid elections to be a one-day hectic mela. The State Election Commission, soon after the appointment by the Governor, should be guided by the Chief Electoral Officer of the Chief Election Commissioner of India, so that he can remain immune from the pressures of the ruling party in the State. As in the Panchayat elections, political parties should be barred from fielding candidates. The Ward Committees formed with the democratically-functioning civil society organisations need not be co-terminus with the life of the Municipal Council. Above all, more than cooperative federalism at the state level, it is the democratic decentralisation of power by way of devolution of funds, functions and functionaries in the spirit of the 74th Amendment that would strengthen self-government at the municipal level by the people. There is a further need to recognise the management of resident welfare associations as the 4th-tier of area government by the local micro-urban communities. The urban citizens who provide the bulk of the resources for the national budget deserve these facilities for their active participation.
0 Comments