Dance of Democracy ???

Elections are even rarer than the cricket world cup. They happen once in five years (if there is a stable govt). They are the biggest show of democracy in this country. People from all walks of life come and vote and choose their government. But are elections as effective as they were before? I beg to differ.

As the years have progressed after independence, the % of people voting has been steadily decreasing.
Last elections saw a measly 40 – 50% voter turnout. This year too the first phase has seen a mere 60% turnout. And this too after a lot of star campaigning and processes like online voter card registration. With the incidences of Naxal attacks on the poll booths throughout the country, the subsequent phases are going to see a sharp decline in the number of people turning up to vote.

Every election we focus on the big people and stars that come and vote. Sometimes it looks like a gimmick and good way to get some cheap publicity. No one focuses on the millions of people who simply don’t bother to turn up and vote. Has someone tried to find out why are they abstaining from exercising their right? NO. Not even a single organization is taking this into picture.
We see all these big starts who urge us to vote, not only for us but also for our future. Don’t they realize that everyone knows how important it is to vote? Everyone knows how his/her vote can make or break a candidate. But still they refrain from voting. WHY? During and after elections news channels are busy showing interviews of different party candidates and who is bad mouthing who? But I am yet to see a single interview of a person who did not vote explaining the reasons for such inaction.

So at the end of the day if just 50% of the people are voting and that too there is no single majority party that forms the government, can we say that the government has been formed by the consent of the majority of the country? Can we say that majority of people of India have faith in the people who are running the country? The statistics certainly prove otherwise. Hence it brings us to the very important question of are we really a democracy?

Well it is for us to decide !!!!