Voter apathy threat to democracy: JP

Hyderabad,Nov 24: The reasons why the Hyderabadi voters shied away from exercising their franchise in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, either out of revulsion or contempt for politics, is a matter of grave concern, said Lok Satta Party president Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, here on Tuesday.Addressing a media conference, Dr Narayan said the voter behavior does not bode well for democracy.  Assuming, the percentage of polling was 44 percent, a party polling less than 15 percent in a multi-cornered contest would have got away with a seat in the Ghmc Council. “Could you call such a local government representative and our democracy full-blooded?” “What is more tragic is that the voters have come to view elections as a spectator sport,as a fight among some parties or politicians and have little to do with them.

The Ghmc electorate has once again underlined the truth in the maxim that bad governments are elected by good people who do not go to the polling booth.“When voters remain indifferent,parties with no credible agenda sweep the polls by luring the electorate with money and liquor and fielding candidates with criminal antecedents, money and muscle power.It is the voters themselves,who pay a heavy price for their indifference since their day-to-day living hinges on the type of candidates they elect or choose not to elect.In a local government,people have to depend on their elected representative to address their problems ranging from drinking water and sanitation to street lights and roads. The corporator who gets elected by spending up to Rs 2 crore would be interested in making many times more than his or her investment in the business of politics, and not in resolving people’s problems.

”Dr Narayan said the voters should realize no amount of arm-chair criticism of politics and politicians would provide them an iota of relief for the next five years.  Politics is the only means by which they can improve their living conditions.  By deploying the weapon of vote in their hands, voters can dictate politics and politicians.” On complaints of names missing from the voters’ lists, Narayan said the authorities should be ashamed of the state of affairs.  Following a prolonged agitation by the Lok Satta, the Election Commission of India had made the post office the nodal agency for registration of voters in some towns of Andhra Pradesh.Apparently because of shoddy implementation,many voters found their names missing.On the suggestion that voting be made compulsory with attendant penalties for failure to vote, Dr Narayan said its implementation in a vast country like India is riddled with problems.