by Anubhav Chauhan, BMS’24

Back in the year of Independence, 1947, One could have claimed that all the politicians elected were like minded, self motivated and clear goal oriented ministers backed by the shared freedom struggle. Fueling it with much diplomatic means, be it Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, Sardar Vallabh Bhai patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, having one goal, one clear enemy, one solution.

Of course India will not survive with individuals believing – “power in hand and primitive ideologies in mind”. Taking notes from our neighbors is not a bad thought.

Having the longest written democratic constitution which took the nation leaders around two years for critically considering, analyzing and preparing the legal framework for one of the most diversified nations in the world, why is it so that it is still far from near perfect? Even after 70+ years in its existence, why are there targeted killings of depressed classes, sometimes even politicians? The so called politicians may have been behind bars but never in a cage, regulating their operations via conmans, gangsters.

So what led these new age politicians to follow the path of unjust means? Is it because of the difference in opinionated goals, or is it the legacy of extremists leaders that was left behind, getting their voices heard only through rough politics? Or maybe because they cannot pinpoint one clear enemy?

It seems like it is high time now that we reconsider our choices of unsound assertive gangsters to sit on chairs of responsibility and to make laws for us, because at the end of the day politicians are servants of the public who serve us for a specific tenure and again look up to us after their term. A look into how the political agenda changes with respect to the interest of the vote bank indicates the shallowness of our dear leaders.

Now a question arises as to why there is financial and diplomatic backing to gang leaders, positions of responsibility sold with a mere price as that of 14 lakhs, targeted killings of critics or potential rivals? Is it because people have become ignorant and do not care about overall development anymore? Or because pragmatic people still living in the society fear the ones in power and are not influential? Or because the judiciary does not want to get involved sensing their probable transfers suspensions from the ones that have cracked the loophole and are sitting at more authoritative power? Or because the judiciary does not have any direct involvement in legislation processes and controversial acts get passed because the voting process does not demand any logical explanation but the power of many? Or maybe people cannot sense the foresightedness of the leader they are choosing because, we as voters do not ask for their educational merits but are just concerned about short span leverages provided.

Enough politics is now considered a foul sport and competent individuals don’t want to step in the ring. How can anybody trust ministers with lengthy criminal records on their tax money? Getting competent individuals in the same frame as gangsta turned politicians should be the first priority.

How the new age voters like us can fulfill our responsibility fully:

1. Note their stand on issues and their response to changes, choosing your candidate not only by people’s opinion but by thorough research.
2. Decide what you are looking for in a candidate, matching all the individuals with similar interests.
3. Education isn’t the sole factor you’ll judge in the preferred candidate.
4. Dive into the history of the candidate, the upbringing and the influencing environment.
5. Analyzing the environment if the candidate ideology is the perfect fit for the environment you would like to live in.

I hope these measures when incorporated would help us better understand the political game