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Better Democracy

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Voting took place in 93 constituencies across eleven States and Union Territories on Tuesday – the third phase of the ongoing elections. With this, more than half the number of Lok Sabha seats will have been accounted for, as four more phases of polling still remain. Concern has been expressed that, as the elections proceed, the level of debate has been deteriorating and can get much more vitriolic in the coming phases. There are those that claim there has never before been such animosity exhibited between parties and leaders. It may seem so if one dives into the noise generated by social media and TV talk shows. Fake news and videos are further aggravating the atmosphere, with politicians having to counter not just arguments, but also misrepresentation and outright lies. The ECI order to take down fake videos will have little effect as they are being generated faster than they can be counted. It is the people who will need to exercise their judgment to sort through the propaganda.

But these elections do not by far represent the worst stage of Indian democracy as is being claimed. Have the people forgotten when entire communities were not allowed by dominant castes in areas across the country to even cast their vote? Violent clashes and booth capturing were normal, more in some states than others. Ballot boxes were looted or stuffed by mobs patronised by political parties. Some elections in states could well be described as stolen. However, because of the size of the electorate, the mandate was generally as the people wished. The credit for this must go largely to the Election Commission as it introduced reforms when required and the contribution of TN Seshan and JM Lyngdoh stand out in this regard. The introduction of the EVM was a giant leap as it not only made bogus voting very difficult, but also substantially speeded up the counting process.

The present lot of politicians, who have not experienced the difficulties of past elections, or have very conveniently forgotten, may find it easy to denigrate the electoral process and make all sorts of unsubstantiated allegations, but the truth is that all the heat being generated in the present is just from the exercise of ‘freedom of speech’. It may hurt sentiments as hate speech, but it does not prevent people from exercising their franchise the way they wish to. Anyone who claims otherwise is very probably attempting to deceive for personal interests. India’s democracy has advanced, not fallen behind.