To All Indian Adults

Guess What?

This post is about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections that are to be held from 11th April 2019 to 19th May in 7 phases across India.

In short, it is the biggest democratic exercise across the world; more or less, a festival.

As we all know, voting is a Constitutional right granted to Indian citizens over 18 years of age to choose our own representatives. Yet, many of us refrain from using this right and rest at home since it is not mandatory.

Does a single vote matter?

Of course, every vote matters.

We may feel our single vote is trivial. But imagine what would happen if this becomes a national attitude. The entire efforts of the Election Commission (EC) and even more importantly, the only opportunity when a citizen overpowers and gets a chance to uphold the value of democracy turns futile.

In this world, where there are conflicts even within a nuclear family, it is not fair to expect the entire democratic experience to be smooth. Numerous government functioning, economic policies or corruption might have rendered us unsatisfactory impression on the government. But this single reason of poor governance shouldn’t stop us from voting.

All we can do is change ourselves.
But sometimes that changes everything.

Let us be determined to utilize the medium that is offered to express – through support or rejection.

How?

By casting vote on the day of elections.

Is that all, then? Can we just blindly press any button on the EVM/the NOTA or any party that our family prefers? Certainly, No.

Make some analysis on the candidates. It is important to make informed political decision.

But Why?

India follows First Past The Post electoral system to choose members of the Lok Sabha, according to which the candidate who gets the maximum votes in a constituency gets elected. The vote share obtained need not be a majority, i.e., need mot be more than 50%.

In such a situation, very small number of votes may change the margins of winning. So, it is needed to choose the right candidate. How do we do that?

Go through the background of the candidates – educational, financial background (like assets), number of criminal cases involved, etc. Submitting these information has become mandatory for the contestants after a ruling of the Supreme Court.

Where can we find such information?

1. From the affidavits of candidates that are submitted to the Election Commission. You can find them here (constituency-wise).
2. If you feel it harder to go through the affidavits of all candidates, there is an easier option. The Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, has simplified the work for us by tabulating the essential details of the candidates at MyNeta so that it is easier for comparison (again, constituency-wise).
   Note: As of now, the compiled details exist on MyNeta.info only for those states and UTs where elections are to be held tomorrow (11th April 2019).

Though these cannot be the only parameters to determine the morality and commitment of the candidate towards the society, it is important for the voters to know such basic details before voting.

Only when we have decided not to vote for any of the candidates, we can opt for ‘None Of The Above (NOTA)’ and exercise our right to reject.

Being proactive with a positive intent can trigger a good change.

Pledge to vote; Make informed choices; Cast the vote.

Be a responsible citizen!