Now, due to this compulsion to voter right I began to pay more attention to party manifestos and what each prospective government would do if they came to power. It went to such an extent that I argued with my dad that i wouldn't vote for a party but the person from our constituency whom I thought would be best for the job.
Don't understand? Let me take you through it - in India there are SEVERAL parties there are just too many, but generally when a government is formed it's a coalition of smaller parties with either one of the two biggest parties in the country - The Congress and The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) so usually voters will vote for one of these two OR for instance in some states the smaller parties are more popular, like the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and CPI-M in West Bengal and so on. But the way people get elected to Parliament is by winning in a particular constituency. So no matter what their party is whoever wins is answerable to that constituency, and represents that constituency's interests in the Parliament. So surely you should choose the best candidate for your constituency and not according to what party they belong to!
Anyway... moving on. About two days ago my dad and i were watching the news and the present Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, was basically doing a little campaigning. He is from the Congress and the Head of the party is Sonia Gandhi, and she was there too. Now alot of people believe that Manmohan Singh is Sonia Gandhi's puppet. I'm not going into details, it's such a dramatic political drama really! So after Mr. Singh was done with his speech the audience was allowed to ask questions. One of the questions was addressed to Mrs. Gandhi, it was: Since the fall out with CPI-M if the party were to ask you for help in forming a government would you agree? (those weren't the exact words but something like that.)
To fully understand this we need to go back a few months. The UPA government was formed by a coalition of the Congress, the CPI-M and some other parties. A few months ago the BJP which was the opposition in the parliament passed a no confidence motion against the government and the CPI-M sided with them. In the end the motion fell through and the UPA made it to the general elections.
Back to the question. Mrs Gandhi's response was - I can't comment on post poll arrangements. I told my dad: if i were to form the government, on principle i wouldn't seek the help of a party that pulled the rug from under my feet. My dad laughed and said: what were the words you used that they wouldnt. I looked at him puzzled and he said: ON PRINCIPLE.
That was the pill in needed to cure my need to uphold democratic values. Here's where J Galbraith's word's come in, he once said that India was a "functioning anarchy". There is no phrase that can beat that on describing India crisply, effectively and right on target.
