Vote 09

We voted for the Parliamentary elections this year in the Bangalore Rural constituency, formerly Kanakpura one. Candidates wise, there was nothing to choose from really. So using an elimination based on their credentials and their misdeeds, I picked one. I had trouble finding my name in the voters list. Finally I got a list which was completely in Kannada, which I cannot read. But I traced my name by my apartment number which was the only legible thing on it. The whole process is pathetically immature for a country that has been going over this process for more than 60 years.

It was also really strange that there were absolutely zero campaigning here - at least some workers approached us for votes, but this time no one seems to care. Comparing with my earlier constituency Kannur in Kerala, where a hot battle was on between CPM and Congress, this was a damp squib. It was easy to know who was contesting in which constituency by just driving across Kerala, but here you would have to look up the candidate list at the polling booth. While the domination of non-locals in a city like Bangalore could be one of the reasons, I also think some of the basic metrics about the population also might be at play.

The percentage of literate folks are 77.8% here, it is at 93.3 in Kannur and most of the literates in Bangalore may not have voted either. Another telling metric is the Infant mortality rate which is at 39.1 in Bangalore rural whereas just 7.2 in Kannur. Definitely it talks a lot about the electorate. [All the metrics are from Google India Election site http://tinyurl.com/dexyf6]

I also looked up metrics of Amethi from where the Gandhi scions have been winning for ages - infant mortality is at a whopping 82.7 - it is amazing that Congress with the Gandhi family at the helm most of the time couldn't do much about this basic measure about the lives of the people in the constituency. It also talks about the ineffectiveness of the whole democratic process in my opinion. Literacy at 63.9% and with just 13.9% household with electricity !! Telling numbers about the efficacy of the whole democratic rule in this country. I believe the infant mortality rate of the country compares to that of some of the poorest African countries.

Where did we go wrong after 60 years of indepedence ? Does anyone bother about the basic amenities of the common people in this country ? Independence and democracy hasn't helped surely in my opinion.