It was a pleasant and quiet morning. I woke up around 9 AM, i was feeling powerful but still powerless. It was the D-Day when the citizens of this wonderful nation would stand up and get their finger marked. Most of the companies in bangalore had declared a holiday, so that the 80% odd unregistered voters could watch IPL matches and have a blast. I suspect some of them might have taken the friday off and extended it for a wonderful loooong weekend.
Surpringly, yours truly is a registered voter and this is the 2nd time that he would be casting his vote. Of course, I did cast my vote (don't expect me to reveal the candidate, as if u care :P). I pulled up my sleeves (damn, i wear only Half sleeve Tees), decided that i will use my right to vote and make a mark in this elections. Given the fact that many like minded people are not voting, i didn't bother to go through the profile of all candidates. No point voting for some independent unless there are many people who would evaluate like you and vote for him. So i decided to vote for one of the Big 2. (I am not a fan of the 3rd Front and to me the 3rd front represents Doom of India). After some thought, i voted for one of them and i am not too emotional about the results.
The most interesting parts of the 2 elections where 'i exercised my right to vote':
1. The polling booth where i vote has been empty in both the occasions. I just walked in, cast my vote instantly. No Queues, No Hungama; just vote and get marked.
2. There is a rule that the Party workers cannot put their tents in 100m/200m radius from the polling booths. So they choose the most convenient spot which is allowed by law and put a nice little tent there. The innocent (read ignorant) citizens believe that they are the guiding force and park their vehicles all around their tents and rush to them. After they confirm that their names are there in the list, they rush to the polling booth by walk. Why all this drama? Illiterates know better i say.
Turnout at the constituency where i voted was 45%. This means 45% of the registered voters voted. Probably the number of registered voters would be around 50-60% (my guess) of the actual population which in turn means that only around 25% of the eligible voters cast votes this time around. Even with so many awareness programmes running around i the voter turnout didn't increase very significantly. I was able to get lots of information about each of the candidates who were contesting. Many of them commpained that they couldn't get enrolled in the lsit easily even though they tried hard. I have no choice but to pity on them. I remember being stranded in the 2004 elections. The corporation office was in the same lane as my house and the polling booth was next door, still my name was not in the list. Thats the irony. Some di$%head is trying to apply his intelligence to manage the voter's list i guess (or its just another bug in the software)
The day online registration and online voting come into play, the elections are going to be kick ass. I am eagerly waiting for that day. For heavens sake, i transfer all my money online, so why shouldn't i be allowed to vote online.
If 3rd Front comes to power, i better sell all my investments in equities. And for all those so-called-literates who voted for 3rd Front, you have made the mistake of ur life. Election commission and other authorities should bring a 2 party rule to this country. I just hope the Big 2 individually win 'atleast' 55% of the seats. I don't care which one of them gets more. I can list down 'n' things here but whats the use if i just list it in my blog? Someday, when i am really irritated and lose all my patience towards this dirty game of coalitions, i might do something ( may beee ).
