E – Election Time

It’s election time and this summer, the whole nation is caught up in the heat. I think the 2014 general election is one of the most talked about, covered and anticipated elections in India. This is one topic on which I have some or other discussion everyday be it in office or at home or with friends (It's not only Media who is super excited about it). With the last phase of elections taking place on 12th May, we will soon be bombarded with all the different exit poll results. Everyone of us is waiting for May 16 when the results will be out. M even suggested we take a day off to see the live results on TV. :-D 

One of the world's largest democracy is into polls and hats off to election commission for managing it all. I am sure its not an easy task. There have been many issues like missed names on voter lists, allegations of bias and unfair treatment, fudging of numbers, etc. However seeing the herculean task of doing elections in such a diverse country with such a huge population, EC is able to plan and conduct the elections without any major issues. This in itself is a huge achievement. When I & M went to cast our vote here in Pune, we were pleasantly surprised to see how smooth everything was. There were lot of polling booths and officials present at the Polling Centre to handle the large number of voters that a city like Pune has.

As per report, there has been a decent increase in the percentage of people who have voted till now as against the previous years. General public has a lot of enthusiasm to vote this year - with a large number of first time voters, youth who have become eligible to vote, plus the emergence of AAP (Aam Adami Party) who is professing a fresh kind of clean and honest politics. However one of the reasons for this is also the awareness that EC has tried to create through various channels/drives, urging the nation to vote.

The major issue in this election seems to be corruption and development. People are disappointed with the way UPA2 has handled the country over the last 5 years. There were lot of scams and we moved backward. For me, the major disappointment was the way everyone in the Govt seemed to have a thick skin and arrogance, not caring of what people think. And hence everyone is looking forward to a change. BJP led NDA has exploited this resentment to the fullest and their campaign is mainly focused on the development plank. From the looks of it, they seem to be headed for the highest number of seats, however we, Indians are known to give surprises.. sometimes even painful ones (remember 2004.. I couldn't believe that NDA lost it that time :-( ). Anyways lets hope, whatever happens, we have a stable Govt. (I dread the situation where we have a weak third-front Govt. which is a khichdi of all these regional parties and their PM-in-waiting leaders). And hopefully, it will be a Govt which will try to take the country forward with a vision of development.  Waiting for May 16 with lots of hope!