The world’s largest democracy has entered the polling booth for the 15th time in its illustrious history. The whole country is anticipating a very closely fought election this time around. The interest generated in the elections is more because of the sudden rise in the electorate. A total of 41 million new voters will be exercising their franchise and this makes the total number of registered voters rise to 714 million. Media channels are going crazy with this statistic and it has become the yardstick in these elections. An electorate of such a size is the wish of many countries across the world. Yet in India, a huge electorate doesn’t always equal a conscious mandate.

In India, people are known to vote with emotion rather than rationale. Political parties have gauged this sentiment very well and are playing their cards tactfully. They use different methods to ensure that people cast their votes because of sentiments and emotions, rather than definite issues. One such method is the use of celebrities as candidates. In the elections this time around, this routine is at an all time high with parties fielding such candidates from various constituencies. This format, though, has a pattern attached to it. Parties have fielded celebrities in areas where they know they can convert the fan base into a vote bank. Hence an actor from Mumbai travels all the way to Northern India to contest from a Hindi dominated state. The chances of converting this fan base into a vote bank is greater than convincing the citizens of prime cities like Mumbai and Delhi to vote for a star who is there only to win the seat, and not to put in a conscious effort to help the electorate.

Other cards often successfully played by the parties include the use of communal flavour and class orientation. A majority of the people across the country vote for a candidate who is from a specific caste or religion. There are scores of examples where people have voted for a candidate because he is from the SC/ST quota that will represent that clan in the society or he is a religious fanatic and will save the community from the brunt of other sects. The average Indian voter is not even concerned with the fact that his candidate actually represents a party who has ignored basic issues like security or is from a party which is anti-development. The downside is that issues have never been an issue for the Indian voter.

One more very commonly used card is the distribution of ‘freebies’. The Indian election is probably the only election in the world where the voters are recipients of free television sets, free food, free electricity, etc. All of this actually comes to them before they cast their vote. Again, this is targeted at a certain yet huge strata of the electorate, the one which is more likely to caste their votes for the party which feeds them the most delicious ‘chicken biryani’.

Keeping these factors in mind, there is now a conscious fear about the very electorate the country is rejoicing about. The basic fact is that out of the 41 million new voters, a vast majority actually will vote keeping the above factors in mind and it is the same for the remaining electorate too. This can be proven better with the fact that out of this new vote bank, a majority is actually from the rural part of the country, which will easily fall for the cards played by the parties. Having a large electorate is not actually a very positive sign until that electorate actually makes a conscious decision and votes. The causes behind voting in these elections will be varied, but only a small percentage of people will vote by thinking consciously. The Indian media is harping on the fact that a huge electorate actually secures our position as an epitome of democracy. But the sad reality is that the larger the crowd, the bigger the problem. A majority of the candidates will again be victorious because they played their ‘select’ cards well and caressed the right vote bank in the right manner. They will not win because they managed to convince the voters that the country will have a fool-proof security system in place or more jobs will be generated for all the classes in the near future.

The elections in India contradict the notion that Quality matters over Quantity. This numerical game is actually the curse for India. The need of the hour is that the electorate should become more conscious before voting. Voters should look at the candidate’s profile and his party manifesto before taking a decision. One should keep in mind the criminal record, if any, held by the candidate, his education, his work, etc and then should exercise their right. The time has come for the voter to leave the Jaago Re[wake up] bandwagon and join the Socho aur Vote karo re[think and vote] bus!