AGRA ELECTION SCENE....LOK SABHA POLLS 2014

14 APRIL 2014

Ahead of the April 24 polling, a puzzling ambience of fear and apprehension envelopes the city of the Taj Mahal. While those supporting Narendra Modi are vocal and aggressive, the vast majority of silent voters fragmented in to socalled vote banks, refuses to open its cards to give an inkling of what's turning them on and for whom.

“The code of conduct imposed by the Election Commission and the presence of scores of observers, has robbed the campaigns of excitement and thrills. Indeed we have a duller campaign we have never before witnessed. No posters, few hoardings and banners, no groups of boys roaming the streets shouting "gali gali mein shor hai ...xyz  chor hai," no loud speakers blaring filmi music and messages. Its all so good but the election expenses have not come down," comments activist Anand Rai.

Adds an old timer Surendra Sharma, a hotelier, "elections in our country are a kind of  secular festivals, in which all shades of people take part and as the first two phases of the exercise indicates there will be a record turn out this time. But surely the colour and frenzy of electioneering as in the 1960s or 1970s are missing. No longer is there any creativity in slogans or poetry writing, parodies, caricaturing of candidates, or wall writing. Many people who used to find seasonal employment are sorely disappointed. Agra's main printing hub in the Seth Gali, is no longer buzzing with candidates getting publicity material readied. Lohar Gali in the heart of the city no longer sells stickers or badges of parties. The flags are rare, buntings have gone."

"I remember the days when foreign tourists used to curiously watch political processions and ask questions about elections. No one knows there is an election fever right now here," says tourist guide Ved Gautam.

The EC code of conduct and guidelines have virtually terrorized the strategists and managers of political parties. The observers camping in the city have been alert and have called for records and shot out stern warnings. The fear is writ large, as scores of companies of central para military forces have been staging flag marches and checking vehicles at random.  The local UP police officials and the district administrators are alarmed and panic-stricken, as quite a few have been transferred as punishment for laxity.

“Surely all this is welcome. Ever since TN Sheshan set the in motion a slew of reforms, there has been a lot of cleaning and the whole exercise has become transparent, fair and participatory in the true sense. People are now getting used to new technology and innovative mechanisms," comments a senior government official Chandra Kant Tripathi.

But there are others who feel “maja nahin aa raha hai,” (no enjoyment this time). Vinay Paliwal, former Janata party activist said “the campaigns provide an opportunity to sensitise and educate the masses politically, which is necessary for the strengthening of democratic processes. We should have gone step by step rather than going whole hog like this time. It’s so abrupt and sudden. The most objectionable part is the long staggered  polling process. This has resulted in halting all developmental work for almost two  months. Go to any government office, they are only discussing elections and waiting anxiously for the results."

A new experiment being tried out this time is various organisation organising chaupals where candidates are ragged and bullied and forced to sign pledges. "The tourism industry held one such maha chaupal three days ago, another was held Saturday evening at the Goverdhan hotel. A fledgling party like the AAP has released its local manifesto which is Agra centric. They have promised to make the whole city wifi-enabled to facilitate free use of internet. Various local TV channels have also organised debates and discussions where candidates have been thoroughly grilled," says KC Jain of the Agra Development Foundation.

 

The changes are salutary and in the positive direction. But these should be followed by strict measures to reduce expenditure and perhaps state funding of political parties in future.  "Also why the whole process should be so long and staggered even when you have EVMs and latest communication technologies," asks activist Sudershan Dua. "We should now have permanent election offices and booths where people can exercise their vote any time according to their convenience in a 24 hour framework. Also they should consider online voting in future," says Wake Up Agra president Shishir Bhagat.