The supreme revelation, yet again, is the Indian voter’s commitment to the democratic spirit. No one can take him or her for granted. This is the same voter whose ability and acumen to exercise his franchise freely was once doubted by the world.
Even though the Indian voter is often accused of being swayed by caste, clan and community considerations, and cajoled by promises that might not be fulfilled, he has repeatedly demonstrated that he keeps his own counsel and can spring surprises. He may be portrayed by politicians and political pundits as hankering after crumbs, but he has shown that no amount of crumbs are a substitute for liberty. It is high time that this revelation is internalised by the political parties.
For the Indian voter, elections continue to be an emotional issue and anyone who thinks that fulfilling the lower order needs is all that is required to secure his support, will have to see the voter as a human being with complex demands. He may repose his confidence in your promise but he will not place his faith in you if you begin to ascend an altar of your own making. Perhaps that is where one can discern a subtle difference between the rural and urban voter; the one swayed by an emotional appeal and the other driven by their self-interest.
The other major revelation that can be seen, election after election, is the outstanding performance of the gigantic electoral machinery, which is well primed to function efficiently and capable of handling this incredible task with aplomb. We need to recognise the national duty that an ordinary public functionary performs, discharging it during elections with diligence and integrity. This is the grand fabric woven together by the ordinary poll official along with the ordinary voter. The script that Sukumar Sen began to write with his astute understanding has continued and become more convincingly an “undocumented wonder” of the wonder that India continues to be. That this 15-million strong machinery functioned meticulously, irrespective of the controversies surrounding the Election Commission of India (ECI), is a tribute to the standard operating procedures devised over years.
The ECI revealed itself somewhat like “an ineffectual angel fluttering in the void, its luminous wings in vain”. Despite finding itself under clouds of different hues and being depicted as a “fallen angel”, the ECI took satisfaction in delivering an event-free, violence-free election. It revealed itself as a constitutional body that admittedly employed tact in some situations, sparing the bigwigs of different parties equitably to display its commitment to providing a level playing field. The spate of violations of the Model Code of Conduct that the ECI was called upon to handle, perhaps also revealed the MCC itself as an inefficacious arrangement meriting a thorough review.
The repeated knocking at the door of the SC revealed it as a messiah, sometimes reluctant, as it raised hopes but also dampened the spirit of unduly expectant litigants. Perhaps its hands-off approach allowed other institutions to reveal themselves in their true colour and character.
The civil society organisations revealed their doggedness in chasing transparency despite the accusations hurled at them. They persisted in their quest to seek information from the poll body whom they found beyond approach and reproach. The poll body, on the other hand, kept assuring them that it was an alert watchdog not unduly alarmed by every suspicious movement. In the end, it would prove that it was capable of guarding the interest of its best friend, the Indian voter, whose interests were also vociferously and successfully claimed to be protected by the civil society organisations. It was an interesting revelation that two organisations seemingly alienated would be working for the same cause.
Social media revealed its capability in relentlessly carrying the burden of presenting anti-establishment views and showing the blight that the mainstream media had reduced itself to. Going forward, the ECI would have to think of new guardrails for media behaviour and for a more equitable coverage of candidates and political parties to avoid the disproportionate exhibition of a select few.
Pollsters stood exposed to the accusation of behaving like happy short sellers, forsaking their professional rectitude. Their revelations by way of exit polls stopped many heartbeats, almost reminiscent of the fainthearted dying “many times before their death” and the valiant waiting for D-day to taste “death but once.”
Another revelation was that just as mixing business and pleasure is not a good idea, mixing religion with politics is a potion with an expiry date. However devout Indians might be, they like to preserve their sanctum sanctorum and are generally averse to human transgression.
On the political front, it was a revelation for those who may be trying to forget that regional aspirations and identities are a political reality and efforts at assimilating all into one is fraught with risks. Democracy reveals itself gradually, sometimes the pattern is along expected lines and sometimes it could be dramatically different.
It was also revealed that human charisma has an expiry date, maybe longer in some cases where its charm begins to diminish before it fades completely. It is also a fact of Indian politics that no matter what your oratorical magic, you need something more to translate that into votes and victory, as Kanhaiya Kumar and Tejashwi Yadav might understand.
Similarly, you can’t write off a political force or personality in a hurry. Many, like the old warhorses from Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, revealed phoenix-like abilities. The ultimate revelation was the irony of politics in which sometimes you can revel in defeat and mourn in victory.
There were a few mysteries that were resolved, such as the alleged misbehaviour of the much-traduced EVM and VVPAT and a few documents like Form 17C that became famous and revealed themselves as effective tools to countercheck suspected manipulations. What remained a mystery was the invocation of the names of leading businessmen in the campaign rhetoric. The incontrovertible revelation, however, was that May and June are summer time in India.
I only wish that as a nation we don’t have to see the revelation that William Butler Yeats saw in his poem ‘The Great Day’.
“HURRAH for revolution and more cannon-shot!
A beggar upon horseback lashes a beggar on foot.
Hurrah for revolution and cannon come again!
The beggars have changed places, but the lash goes on.”
The writer is a former Election Commissioner
