E-Paper
Fishing for votes
Democracy, by definition, is a form of society that functions by the principle of ?by the people, for the people and of the people?.
Democracy, by definition, is a form of society that functions by the principle of ‘by the people, for the people and of the people’. To put it simply, in a democratic society, those in power provide the people with what the latter want. The phenomenon of universal franchise works according to this basic principle, and even though it means that at times what the people want to be done takes precedence over what needs to be done, it is a machine that functions well enough. But what does one make of things if, prior to the polls, the contestants start making non-abstract material promises if they are voted to power? In Tamil Nadu, the opposition DMK has pretty much spelt out a goodies-for-votes deal. DMK chief M. Karunanidhi has promised rice at Rs 2 per kilo, free colour TVs for ‘poor housewives’, waiver of cooperative loans and Rs 15,000 for marriages of girls from certain strata. Not to be outdone, the ruling AIADMK has upped the stakes by promising 10 kg of free rice, free computers for students passing out of Class 12 and 4 gms of gold for brides below the poverty line — not to mention the usual pre-poll sops of new jobs, etc. Clearly, these are good times for the Tamil voter either way.
Such competitive campaigns clearly points to one basic flaw in Tamil Nadu politics and governance in general. Instead of providing ways and means by which the people of Tamil Nadu can be armed with a standard of living — and the purchasing power for rice, TV sets, computers, gold and what have you — political parties are doling out one-time freebies. One would be interested to know where the capital for all such untimely Christmas gifts will come from. The annual Plan outlay for Tamil Nadu in 2005-06 was Rs 9,100 crore while the capital budget of the government was Rs 4,843 crore. What the freebies will cost defy even back-of-the-envelope calculations. We know that Tamil Nadu has an enviable record for its industrialisation and administrative acumen, but as far as we know it has not reached the communist ideal of providing everything to everyone, and at no cost.
The latest pre-poll one-upmanship may not deliver to the politicians the goodies they are looking for: votes. For as any seasoned politician will tell you, sops never did win an election till now. Dangling gifts in front of a wise electorate should result in voters taking the gift and running. And with everyone doling out freebies, no single party can possibly tempt the voter to part with his franchise just for a few pieces of silver that amount to very little in the long run.
