So you think you can choose your MP?

Well I thought I could too…but now I am not so sure. All this electioneering is making me more and more confused. The psephologists on TV and the editorials in newspapers should help make your choice easier, or so I used to think.

This time , however, I am in a total quandary. Who do I favour with my vote. The party I want to win at the centre or the candidate who will do the most for the constituency I stay in?

India is a huge country and it is no easy task to report an election. Having once been in the shoes of a reporter covering a general election I think I know what I am talking about.
You talk to a candidate people close to him or her, people in the constituency and try to figure out some thing which you can tell your readers. Reporters are meant to be impartial and neutral and all that but obviously there are factors like upbringing and background which may influence a reporter’s perception of the situation. Most reporters place the facts before you and ask you to draw your own conclusions, Fair enough I say but this time I think I need something more.

The educated urban middle class voter is usually interested only in drawing room discussions. Few venture out to the polling booth. I have been a strong advocate for getting the complacent middle class out to the polling booths. After all how can you criticize the system when you don’t participate in it?

So my heart goes out to all those first time independent candidates who are making a statement. They know they are not going to win but they are making a point. People Like Meera Sanyal in South Bombay and Mallika Sarabhai in Ahmedabad. And if our present PM, (whom I hold in greatest regard) thinks we shouldn’t vote for independents I beg to differ. At least they dare to stand for election!!

It’s the ones with the large party backing that I am worried about. A weak candidate may hit the jackpot just because the party symbol helped him. In the constituency I stay other than the sitting MP not a single candidate has any exposure to parliament. Does that make them less competent ? I don’t know. Is my vote going to make a difference at all? Or will I just add to the chaos which will ensue when no one party gets a majority?

Despite all the confusion I guarantee I will vote…I hope you will too!