My Fisrt Vote
I Voted. I am one among those guys who voted for the first time, in the 2nd phase of Genereal Elections on April 23rd in Andhra Pradesh. And this is the story of how I voted after initially vowing not to vote for anyone.
To begin with, I wasn't all that excited about voting. All I cared was that I finally got an address proof in the form of EPIC (Electoral Photo Identity Card). But every one including family, friends, relations, acquaintances and even film Stars wanted me to go out and vote. And almost all of them had a lot of free (and wise) advice regarding who I should vote for. Most of my friends advised me to vote for Lok Satta Party ('for change', they said; but, I understood it as 'just for a change'). Few of them wanted me to vote for a 'Strong Leader'. But I did not want my vote, that too my first ever vote, to give mandate to the mob to further their 'Reign of Intolerance'. A lot of my aquaintances exhorted me to vote to restore to our 'Community', the glory and greatness it has been denied for too long. Community here means Caste (and Religion, in some cases). And when I pointed to them that people of all communities have been voting on those same lines of Caste and Religion almost since the dawn of Democracy and have been rewarded, all along, with nothing but the wrath of other communities, I was so politely asked to 'STFU' and 'GTFO' and was looked upon as a pariah. (Having said that, I should state the fact that I have always been a Half-Blood.) My relations wanted me to vote for ruling party as our family had traditionally sailed with them. But I wasn't interested in extending the 'Reign of the Dynasty'. And the first family of Tollywood (a.k.a Telugu film industry) wanted me to vote for the one and only true Telugu party to restore the Pride and Esteem of the Telugus, which according to them have been pawned on the roads of our national capital. I couldn't help wondering what they did to help us during the 16 years of their rule or how they would ever implement the most ridiculous poll scheme I have ever heard, Money Transfer. Thankfully, no one asked me to vote for Comrades. I wasn't interested in their antiquated policies or their double standards (embracing capitalism in one state even as they opposed it in others and sympathizing Naxalism in one state and fighting it in others).
Yet others tried to instill some sense into my mind and get me to vote for some one, even if I was interested in voting for no one in particular. But none of those exhortations, requests, appeals, enlightenments convinced me of the power of my 'one in a billion (or thereabouts) vote'. But then it happened. It is totally unrelated to Politics. And more interestingly, it is related to, guess what, MOVIES! Yes, movies. It was an article about Dasavataram. Though I watched it and never even got an inkling of the notion, Mr Kamal Hassan (in the article) said that the film Dasavataram is about 'Chaos Theory'. Googling it lead me to believe that in its simplest form Chaos Theory can be put as 'a Butter-Fly flapping its wings in one part of the world can cause a storm in some other part of the world'. I don't know about you but, I was hooked. I just loved its simplicity and it offered me peace of mind. I, then and there, decided to vote, confident that my 'one in a billion (or thereabouts) vote' can set off the next revolution. I just thought voting in democracy can simply be put as making the best of the worst. But all of this lies on the premise that I was doing nothing wrong by simply voting. And there was the catch. And it was Orkut that released the catch. Yes, Orkut.
It can perhaps be put as the most meaningful Orkut status message. Of course, we all get status updates with silly questions, lurid thoughts and indecipherable codes & symbols and I am no different. After all, my friends are all just of your-friendly-next-cubicle-Orkuter type. But, this message was different. It was - 'Choosing the lesser of evils is still choosing evil'. Wondering what it actually meant and what its origin was, I just googled the message. And I ended up on the Wikipedia page - 'http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_of_two_evils_principle'. And there it began- the doubt that voting might indeed be evil.
Perhaps, I would still have simply voted. But all the while they were exhorting me to vote for the parties and candidates of their choice, all the people I mentioned above also explained why I shouldn't vote for the others. While they were wide off the true course while extolling the virtues of their choices, they were invariably true while pointing out the evils of the rest of the choices. There is no denying the truth of that part of all of their arguments. So, it dawned upon me that, voting for choices most of us have right now is indeed evil.
After few arguments and a few more reflections, I have come to firmly believe that voting for those who don't deserve it, just because the rest are far worse, is indeed evil. Just consider this, how many of our politicians promote their self interests, putting aside even the promises made in manifestos. And consider the kind of harm that was inflicted by such deeds. And why are polticians getting away doing this? Just because they have the mandate. The popular mandate. The winning majority. Simply put every person who has voted for a winning candidate just because he wasn't as bad as others, is letting them free. So, what can I do about it?
That's the exact question I asked my self and sought answer for in many places. Then I heard of article 49-O of our constituion. From what I have understood, article 49-O gives any voter who doesn't want to vote, a chance to see that his/her vote isn't abused. Simply, such a concerned person can walk into polling booth and ask the presiding officer (or is it returning officer?!) for form 17 and record his statement in that form that he wishes to abstain from voting. But the Election Commission of India doesn't keep any record of those opinions. Nor do parties care about them because they don't really matter when it comes to majority. Having found about article 49-O and form-17, though a little disappointed that all my efforts would amount to nothing, I still decided to do my part as a dutiful citizen and fulfill the obligation to vote. I have made up my mind to use form-17. But then, I did not know what it is to vote!
Just imagine this situation: The polling booth is packed. Polling agents eagerly verifying every name in the rolls. A few voters having an argument with the polling officer over the discrepancies in names. The polling officer threatening to have them all removed by force. The Police man trying to pacify both the voters and the officer. The same thing playing over again and again every now and then. Amidst all this, people voting one by one. All eyes in the booth riveted on the voter. Air is hot and humid all around. Tempers are a little testy. Just hold on to that frame. Now imagine yourself asking for form-17 in that exact scene. Just imagine the look on faces of all those around you and the polling agents of various parties in the booth. I imagined and didn't exactly fancy that situation. By the time it was my turn in the line to produce ID and check my name, I abondoned the idea of asking for form-17. I was mechanically moving simply following the instructions. We were asked to vote first at the parliament poll EVM and then move on to the assembly poll EVM. Having all my carefully thought out scenarios busted, I was a little off balance. Indeed, I was so dazed while voting for parliament ballot that I don't have any recollection of whom I voted for. May, seem a little incredible. But really, I only remember recognizing a few names on the EVM and hovering my finger on those names. I am now not sure who I voted for. Later I sobered up as I moved to the assembly ballot. There I found the name of the only candidate I knew personally and just pressed the green button beside it. And that was how I voted. Not once but twice.
Right now, while the 'be-a-dutiful-citizen-and-vote' part of my conscience is satisfied, the 'do-only-the-right-thing' part is totally pissed off. After reflecting on what went wrong I looked on the internet for more information. It was then I came across demand for inclusion of "NONE OF THESE CANDIDATES" option in the ballots. Of course I have once heard of it and have often joked that I will only vote when that option is included in ballots. I also found out that inclusion of that option is more correct than article 49-O as the right to secret ballot of a person is not violated. I now sincerely believe that this option should be included in the ballots. We really need it and all those ballots should actually be counted. We need to do this even if there is no apparent use other than giving all political parties a reality check.
It is high time media raises awareness among the public about this and encourage debate a lively debate. Does the inclusion on 'Right to Vote for No One' solve any problem? I don't know. But I guess we at least give it a try to break the status quo. At least it is more meaningful than 'No Taxes' campaign, started after Mumbai terrorist attack. And it can be even more useful when there is a groundswell against political parties that completely fail in their duties.
Finally here are a couple of articles about the Right to not Vote I found after voting: http://bit.ly/spDMK and http://bit.ly/AX3Vn
Note: 3 states- Orissa, Sikkim and our Andhra Pradesh held elections for their respective constituent assemblies along with General Elections. Hence I got to vote twice.
