Omkar Dattatray
Elections are the breath and soul of democracy and can be said to be the lifeline of democracy .Election is the biggest festival of our democracy and a democracy sans elections are a meaningless proposition and therefore we cannot think of a vibrant democracy without the elections .Through the medium of elections ,the people in a democracy choose their representatives who rule over them and thus a democracy signifies the rule of the people and thus democracy is rightly called as the government of the people .The people who are the voters wait anxiously for the elections and there is great enthusiasm and fervor among the people so for as their participation in the elections is concerned .Our electoral democracy is meaningless without the elections and elections give meaning and solace to the life of the people in a democracy .People read voters celebrate elections as a big festival of democracy and through it people empower their representatives who rule over the people .The plant of democracy has no meaning without elections and the democracy is unthinkable without the elections .India is the largest and big democracy of the world and here elections are held after the expiry of the term of a government and the people take active part in the elections .Prime minister Narendra Modi has rightly said that the election is the biggest festival of democracy and has welcomed the schedule and announcement of Lok Sabha elections and expressed the full confidence that the voters will vote for NDA/BJP .Modi further said that this time voters have beforehand given the result of the elections and made it clear that the voters will vote for NDA/BJP in large numbers .Millick Arjun Kharge the congress president has also welcomed the announcement of the poll schedule and said that now the hand will change the destiny of the country and he further said that this is the last opportunity to save democracy .The Dimple Yadav of SP has said that when western democracies have again switched towards the ballot box system of voting and then what is the reservation of switching towards the old system.Jai Ram Ramesh of congress said that the congress has no objection to machine voting but it should also be ensured that that it should be associated with the VVIPT .The general election has been announced in seven phases across the country , final phase will be on first June and the counting will be done on June 4,and results will also come out on the same day .But it is very disturbing that the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir have not be announced while four other state assembly elections will take place with the Lok Sabha polls and this is a glaring discrimination with the people of Jammu and Kashmir .Farooq Abdhulla of NC has rightly criticized the election commission for not announcing the assembly polls in J&K with the Lok Sabha polls .Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowardy has also criticized the EC for not announcing the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir along side with the general polls .Election is the big Tamasha and biggest festival of the democracy and the people have welcomed the announcement of the general elections .In all 97 crore Indians will exercise their franchise in the 18th Lok sabha polls and at least 1 crore new voters will vote in these elections .Indian elections-unraveling the biggest festival of democracy. ”So much of the next election will be about which party can offer the best economic prospects to the whole of Indian society and especially the very poorest .But the politics are very complex. ”Within next few days ,India will start to vote to elect its seventeenth prime minister .This will be the largest election the world has seen ,with 900 million people eligible to vote- bigger than the population of Europe and Australia combined .The massive electoral exercise will be conducted in seven phases from April 19 to June 1.The votes will be counted on 4th June and the results will be declared on the same day .India’s lower House known as Lok Sabha has 543 elected seats .The BJP led by Prime minister Narendra Modi ,currently holds a majority in the Lok Sabha ,governing as part of a broader coalition called NDA .The BJP led NDA is battling the main opposition congress ,along with a host of regional parties ,for reelection .The BJP is building its campaign around the theme .Modi Vs All ,promising strong leadership and avoidance of anarchy if elected .It is highlighting various social welfare schemes introduced by the BJP ,most notably ,measures to curb black money ,steps to check inflation ,free medical insurance up to dollar 5,500 per year for poor (Ayushman Bharat Scheme) ,reservations for the economically backward sections of society .,free cooking gas for poor households ,a hike in state -procured prices of basic crops from farmers and providing electricity to all villages .The opposition is highlighting issues of rising unemployment ,agricultural distress ,and how wrong policies have crippled the economy.It has also been attacking the government over allegations of corruption and cronyism in a dollar 7.87 billion defense contract to procure fighter jets from France .While opposition parties are talking about a united front ,there is no clear decision on who will lead the battle against BJP led NDA. .Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday welcomed the announcement of Lok Sabha election dates and said he was fully prepared for the ”biggest festival of democracy ,reiterating that the next five years would be about a collective resolve to make India the symbol of prosperity ,all-round growth and global leadership .Asserting that the BJP-led NDA was fully prepared for elections and going to the people .In a post on X which reflected his confidence ,Modi made light of the opposition’s challenge ,saying his rivals were rudderless and issueless while repeating BJP’s battle cry of ‘Abki Baar 400 Par” ‘All they(Opposition can do is abuse us and practice vote-bank politics.” Their dynastic approach and attempts of dividing society are not being accepted .Equally hurting them is their corruption track record .People don’t want such leadership. ”PM said ,adding that the war against poverty and corruption would go on at an even faster pace. Asserting that the BJP led NDA was fully prepared for elections and was going to the people on the basis of its track record of good governance and service delivery across sectors ,the PM said 10 years ago ,when he assumed office ,the people were feeling betrayed and disillusioned thanks to” INDIA alliances pathetic governance .”In fact the nation was creating new records of development and had become the fifth largest economy and crores of people were freed from poverty .Now the biggest festival of democracy the elections will give a third chance to the BJP/NDA and it will again rise to power at the centre since it seems that the election fight will be one sided affair as the INDIA opposition is a divided lot and they have yet to declare their Prime ministerial candidate and Pushkar Sing Dami has rightly commented that the marriage procession of INDIA alliance is still without the bridegroom .Any way it can be safely and surely be said that election is the biggest festival of democracy and all the people should actively participate in this democratic festival.
(The author is a columnist,
social and KP activist).
