By Adarsh Sharma
“Social distancing se hi hum ise hara sakte hain.. 2 feet ki doori mask hai zaruri…(Social distancing can only help us defeat this virus and a minimum of 2 feet distancing coupled with a mask is imperative for our survival) is advised by the PM in his message to the nation with the common man at large baffled by the scenes of his election rally the next morning! “You must first learn to practice what you preach”, says an agitated sports enthusiast, Saurav Yadav, who battled Corona in the course of its initial phase last year. “Sab dikhawa hai, ye sab vote ke bhookhe hain.. bhashan do vote lo bus yehi kaam hai” cries Manish Tiwari, a driver by profession who lost his brother-in-law in 2020. The discomfort and trauma are the exact same for millions of infected men and women who locate certainly no substance behind these void security messages circulated by one and all in energy. Political parties across the spectrum have failed to instil the faith and resolve to fight against this deadly virus largely by means of their actions on the ground. Holding mammoth election rallies, roadshows and religious gatherings to woo the electorate across states going into elections has additional aggravated the damaging sentiments for all the political parties across just about all social media platforms.
“The government is only interested in our votes, they are least bothered about our well-being, it seems our vote is far more important than our lives”, is the underlying sentiment shared by several, says Chandni Dewan, a banker by profession. “Why can’t the Election Commission or the parties themselves postpone these elections? Why can’t they just wait till things get back to normal?” asks Mayank Gubrele, an IT specialist. People like Mayank & Chandni are most likely echoing the issues of the population at substantial, but why is it that political parties with elaborate digital media infrastructure and strategists fail to gauge the sentiments like these? Why is it that Parties like BJP, TMC, AAP, Congress and other people with committed social media cells and teams fail to acknowledge the gravity of the scenario? Why is it that courts have to intervene and remind the elected representatives and governments of their duties and responsibilities? Or is it just not probable to halt or postpone the elections or events of mass gathering in the present menacing situation?
Democratic elections, by the extremely nature of it, is incredibly difficult to be held amidst the spread of an infectious illness like Covid-21. Not only do elections demand intense public interaction and mass communication but meticulous arranging, preparation and execution at each level. It is in no way a day’s, week’s or a month’s exercising, from Election Commission to political parties from probable candidates to the confirmed ones absolutely everyone gets involved at least 2-3 years in advance, ahead of the culmination of the prevailing term. From mobilising job force to devising election method from allocating and arranging funds to hiring election strategists the expense to the exchequer is large. The query, thus, is why can not the exact same machinery utilise its energy to prepare and combat a pandemic like this? Is it the lack of will or sheer negligence on their component? To answer this, let us attempt and comprehend the modus operandi of election expenditure at the grassroots level.
Almost all the promotional activities which includes rallies, media campaigns, roadshows, promoting collaterals (caps, badges, banners, posters et al) are executed on one hundred% advance payments. Such is the credibility of payments that none of the vendors agrees to even a day’s credit period. “Bhaiyya kaun jeetega kaun harega kaun jaane ek baar election khatam paisa hajam, fir koi nahi sunta isliye sab paisa pehle lena padta hai,” says Ram Kishor (name changed on request), owner of a tiny printing unit at Delhi. “We agree to execute any Radio or TV ad campaign only on the realisation of 100% advance payments, when it comes to election campaigns. We can’t afford even a day’s credit to any political party,” shares Mr Rajat Kapoor, owner of an marketing agency in Gurugram. “To mobilise the karyakartas on the ground, we need to pamper them with a lot of stuff which requires hard cash and other things, sab kuch mahino pehle se karna padta hai,” shares a party worker accountable for searching into arrangements at the booth level.
The revenue is allocated and distributed effectively in advance to handle each aspect of election promotions, largely in money. Once it is accomplished and all set there’s extremely small possibility to step back. The funding procedures and donations received by the political parties are nevertheless as clear as our understanding of the “existence of life elsewhere in the universe” and the expenditures incurred on the general election campaign are way also higher to let go of. Besides, most of the candidates who handle to get tickets additional place stress on their respective parties to go ahead with the approach of elections as their pockets are restricted and they can ill-afford the postponement. All this combined collectively tends to make it tricky for effectively-ready political parties to step back and just about not possible when they can sniff a probable victory. The tenacity to continue with their scheduled promotional activities in the course of unprecedented instances, when the pandemic is at its peak, does more harm than very good to the general image of the leader and its party. Parties enjoying a favourable position more than their competitors typically have a tendency to neglect or overlook the brewing undercurrents inside the masses outdoors the circumference of their battle zone.
In the words of a popular election strategist, “elections are all about creating a wave of emotions and setting a narrative”, and it is precisely due to this explanation that parties do not want to break the momentum and carry on with their scheduled programmes irrespective of the stringent suggestions set by the Election Commission. People typically criticise the governments citing violations of their basic rights but turn totally ignorant of their “duties” in instances of need to have. The exact same constitution which has offered us immense “rights” as the citizens also expects us to carry out our “duties” towards the nation. With men and women prepared to flout each norm and keen on supporting their political idols irrespective of the pandemic, the part of an independent body like the EC becomes all the more essential. It is certainly for instances like these the commission was showered with powers to handle the uncontrollable(s).
There’s no denying the reality that the uninterrupted conduct of elections, even in the course of prevalent testing instances, is critical for democracies to sustain and thrive. But, elections in a demographically substantial democracy like India demands vibrant, at instances chaotic, political interaction and mass mobilisation on a substantial scale, the pandemic scenario not only tends to make it immensely difficult but has made havoc in terms of the ever-growing quantity of Covid positive instances in poll-bound states. With current typical and poorly maintained health-related infrastructure, governments across states and at the centre could ill afford any negligence and that is sadly what has occurred. The political parties are guilty of continuing with their promotional campaigns in the middle of a raging pandemic. West Bengal is currently displaying a large spike in the quantity of fresh instances following large rallies by a variety of political parties. Assam has not shown any important raise, most likely since there had been only around 500 plus active instances in the complete state in the course of the time rallies had been held. The men and women attending these mega shows are equally accountable for spreading the virus, for even if they had been least bothered about what’s taking place about them, they have place lakhs who came in speak to with them at danger! The challenging lessons and incidences of history, such as the influenza pandemic spread across Europe among 1831 to 1837 or 1918 Spanish flu influenza pandemic which killed more than 50 million men and women in 3 waves have totally been ignored and of course, no lessons learnt. If only the time taken by the political fraternity to prepare for these elections was utilised in setting up the necessary health-related infrastructure, offered the threat that was looming substantial more than our nation, the scenario on the ground would have been totally unique. Mankind even though has constantly managed to come out as victors but with more than 1.5 years gone by and Covid-21 difficult us with complete fervour and attacking us vigorously this certainly appears to be the actual test of Power!
All the opinion and exit polls have currently failed to predict its outcome so far, all eyes now set on the final outcome.
(The author is political consultant and analyst)