My Voting Dilemma
Like many Indians, I too am fed up with the non-governance by the current GOI, led by Sonia Gandhi thru her proxy Manmohan Singh. Most of the blame has been dumped on the head of MMS. I did not have great expectations from him and had dubbed him Pradhan Munshi years ago. (see earlier blogs).
On the other hand I had vague memories of the NDA Sarkar led by Atal ji as being an effective Government... even if he started by adventurist Nuclear Test which led to sanctions that only are being lifted...half heartedly n grudgingly. The one bright spot in MMS tenure being his bold repartee: So Be it.
So I was ripe to vote for BJP this time around. When Modi threw his hat in the ring, I thought his timing was premature and will give his detractors lots of time to weaken his position.
However as events unfolded, as Modi has taken over the BJP and has become larger than the Party, I am a bit scared.
His decisiveness, his firm control of his campaign, are what I expected of him.
But I was scared by his record of 'ruthlessness'. An example soon emerged.. to wit the hooligans' demo in front of Advani's home when he had demurred at endorsing Modi. That was a glimpse of this man's methods. As his campaign grew, it became obvious that NONE in NDA/RSS dares cross his path.
Note: Har Har Modi slogan which had to be scuttled becoz the Saints protested. But for all we know 400 vans with this slogan are still doing the rounds.
And now the Final call: Vote for Me, Modi..... in each constituency.. not vote for the BJP/NDA candidate in your constituency.
We know hat in Gujarat Modi runs a one man Government with efficient/ruthless Men Fridays. There must be more than one Amit Shah in his Team.
Will that be the pattern even at the GOI level under Modi Sarkar.
Will RSS BJP NDA have any one who will be able to partner Modi and be the sobering, uniting influence. Who will be the Vajpayee to Modi this time around? Arun Jaitley? Rajnath Singh? Advani? All these are not capable of standing up to Modi, leave alone tempering him.
For a while AK-14 n his AAP party game hope that salvation was at hand. But disillusioned we are with them. Look at the way they ruined their God send opportunity in Delhi. They are also men of clay, the behaviour of some of them has shown up. Incorruptible when not in power is no great virtue. But Power corrupts...and those who come out un touched by corruption when in power.. they are the virtuous men. Many of us who looked for a ray of hope in AAP, are disillusioned.
The voting day dawns, tomo, in NCR where I am camping. It draws near i.e. 24th April in my home constituency Bandra.
My dilemma:
Should I vote for Poonam Mahajan of BJP who has no credentials at all.
Should I vote for Pervez Palkhivala of AAP, of whom I know even less than Poonam.
Should I ignore Priya Dutt who has worked my constituency for many years.
( I may be angry with her late father for setting up Jhuggi Jhopri at the entrance to otherwise serene Reclamation. Most politicians pursue votes, where ever they are.)
How can I vote against Priya Dutt, though her party is under a huge eclipse.
How can I support non-entities merely becoz they have aggressive parties behind them.
Yet I want a change and Congress is NOT going to be able to give it to me.
That is my Dilemma. I am sure many in my constituency will share this dilemma
