Congratulations to the 6.3 percent of the Goan voter population that voted like kings in their mission to select servants at the recent elections. Congratulations also to the 1.2 percent of the voters that opted for NOTA (None of the above) in an apparent sign of disgust of the election process that seems to have made it a habit to regularly dish out candidates not worthy of their selection.
Amusingly the election commissioner of Goa while announcing the NOTA figures, had a false sense of achievement that Goa had the highest NOTA voters among the five states that went into state elections, without realising that more NOTA signifies more people losing faith in the election procedure. A reason to be alarmed about, for the agency that conducts elections in India, as it is their primary responsibility to design smart processes with tamperproof hardware that will not only conduct free and fair elections, but will attract clean and smart candidates into the political landscape. At the moment it is way behind the curve and has allowed crooks to manipulate it and if not addressed on war footing, it could eventually bring about the downfall of Indian democracy.
The total 7.5 percent voter population will have a bright future in their personal endeavors, not because they chose to vote with a majestic mindset in search of servants that will serve the entire constituency and not for their personal profit, but because they are the first ones to embrace change which means swimming against the tide and resist the temptation of personal inducements. Not an easy task to turn the tables in a Goan scenario where politicians have always kept the citizens under their thumb. It’s just a matter of time, this trickle turns into a tide since a single digit percentage debut armed only with just an idea and no financial muscle, should be quite encouraging. It now needs some fine tuning of their election strategy, auditing its own volunteers for making any last minute deals if any with other party candidates flushed with cash, investigating a drop in campaign intensity a week before the elections, correcting its mistakes and keep up the relentless effort throughout the term of this government, because to make inroads into the mindset of Goans will take some more time as political slavery is deeply entrenched in them.
Remember the few weeks of peace we had after the elections and the date of the results, and then come the election verdict and the entire Goan population is on an overdrive as if everything depends on it. Fine, politics is one of the important factor but we must stop giving it too much importance. Instead our continued effort should be to design and implement transparent government systems that will keep the politician out of loop as far as possible. Politicians on their own will never give up on the power they yield, but our relentless efforts on a daily basis will eventually force change which will not come overnight, but is going to be a gradual painstaking struggle.
Not that there has been no change, even this election saw change in the mindset of voters and more importantly some candidates. For example even though the party of servants did not win a single seat, it forced some politicians to see the writing on the wall and a preview of things to come. They have lost elections deliberately so as to seek retirement and those that had the unfortunate luck of winning, intentionally dozed off allowing their friends from the other team to form the government. After all how many politicians have the energy to campaign door to door or the humility to fold hands to seek a job from their voters. Their ego will not permit this change because all this time they have been throwing money on the face of their voters and claim votes.
There is also another factor the party of servants will have to address if they really want to take a shot at forming the government. They must understand that change can come about even without forming the government. You just need smart people with integrity and consistency to do it. Elections in Goa are won or lost on the premise of greed and fear. Citizen’s greed to avail the various disbursements the government doles out and fear that they have to face questioning by the MLA during the process of these disbursements. Since the local MLA is in the loop for all payouts, self-centered ignorant citizens will always find it difficult to vote for change and prefer to vote for the ones that have done their work earlier. If the party of servants exposes this arrangement and work towards keeping the MLA out of the loop, than we have a level playing field and only then will they be able to break the ice with the voters.
Religious institutions can also help, as most schemes and job announcements are routed through these sacred places, it would be better to place it on their notice boards and avoid making announcements on the public address systems. Imagine the fear factor of the faithful that go to worship and are forced to listen to names of politicians that are habitually corrupt, manipulative, or just not smart enough. Politicians are always on the lookout to seek legitimacy of their ill gotten wealth and there is a urgent need to deprive them of using the religious platform.
All good things come in small packages and therefore the party of servants needs a proactive media savvy leader in Goa who regularly communicates with the citizens and exposes its wrongdoings without waiting for instructions from Delhi. The post election government formation was one opportunity they squandered in educating Goans that had voted for the same regular parties bundled with some new coconut parties. We Goans ought to have realised this before the election itself that a party that contests elections with just a handful of candidates is always going to look out for its own self interest. These types of expectations get built up only when we as a society are in search of leaders to solve our problems and the problems of the state. If we had voted like kings than we the people would have the chance to call the shots, for those that already did, Respect! For those that took money to vote, the Generation Next will never forgive you.
(The author is a business consultant)
