Thoughts and Reflections: 2014 General Elections
We have reached the nearing of the closing showdown of the world's biggest election frenzy, the General Elections of India. The Election Commission had been extra vigilant this year, credits to criticism from authors about it's functioning. The Independent Body did a lot to ensure the elections go on successfully and peacefully this year. Good work done, E.C. Millions voted, and millions didn't. The voter turnout has been 66.2%, which is a record high. The youth, the ones who have reached the age of 18, constituted 3% of the electorate, up from 0.75% in 2009.
Young voters constituted 3% of the electorate this year. Up from 0.75% in 2009.
What possibly could be a factor for such high voter turnouts? According to analysts, the youth feels they need to exercise their newly-bestowed rights, among which one is the Right to Vote. Moreover, campaigning by political parties have been excessively heavyweight. It was not just for a constituency. Opposition slammed the ruling, the ruling crumbled the opposition. That's what the situation like. There has been a flurry of personal attacks by supposed-to-be-responsible politicians. From Imran Maqsood to Amit Shah, media coverage awarded embarrassment for the parties. The Election Commission acted as a vigilant watchdog, issuing show-cause notices to politicians who have violated the Model Code of Conduct. And that's a significant reason why they need to be applauded.
Parties are also banking on their star power. They have fielded a lot of celebrities in different constituencies to challenge their opposition rivals. Even the "Aam Aadmi Party" has fielded some popular people, like Javed Jaffrey, or Gul Panag, etc. BJP and Congress, too are in the same hands. And for regional parties that have applied the trend, the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress wins hands down. From singers to Tollywood's leading stars, everyone's there. It's a star-packed show, mate.
Political parties have banked on the star power this election.
Numerous new insignificant parties were formed this year, too. From "Rashtriya Aam Party" to "Indian Lovers Party", new businessmen tried their luck by contesting the elections. Ironically, there are a few in the list of independent candidates, who say they will possibly be the only ones to vote for themselves (Reference: Metro Calcutta, part of The Telegraph). Imagine no campaigning, no bribing, no facing the heat. Good technique, independents!
There has been a demand for "reform" and change of power - as there is ahead of every other election. A significant factor to be considered is the Modi "Wave" that have sweeped across India. Narendra Modi, the BJP Prime Ministerial Candidate is popular for his records in his home state. Social media campaigning by the BJP IT Cell probably might have worked it out for him. From the number of young voters registered in the electorate, majority of them are active in Social Networking sites. And the topic of the Gujarat administration and Modi have never really subsided. They were always in the "Trending" list. However, international authors and Western governments are against the Modi government in India. Salman Rushdie said that the Modi-led government would prove to be a bullying one (Ref: Times of India).
The Newshour at 9 PM as always, has been the viral show everyone's looking to. Arnab Goswami's fiery speeches and debates with contesting candidates have changed many a minds. He has interviewed both Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. The reason why he is so popular is because he hits is right in the spot. He asks the direct questions that sometimes becomes difficult to tackle, and if one tries to skip and avoid it, he'll bring the subject back to the same topic, again. The youth calls The Times the "Election News Headquarters". New methods were implied by other media organizations as well. Rahul Kanwal of the Headlines Today led a "Election-Express", an awareness campaign for voters out there in different parts of India.
Rahul Gandhi of the Congress was interviewed by Arnab Goswami of the Times
Sensex, Nifty and other stock exchange markets have reached intra-day heights and set new records. Experts called that the investors poured in their money in belief of a stable government that will be formed in India. The Sensex recently touched an all time high of 23,000. The rupee too has been stable in the past few months and have not fluctuated or depreciated much. Changes were negligible. The RBI chief Rajan must be happy.
In all, the elections this year has been a grand success. Everything will soon come back to normal. I am happy that there were only a few incidences of poll-violence in constituencies. I am happy, the nation has voted in such numbers. I am happy, because India gets a fresh beginning soon.
What possibly could be a factor for such high voter turnouts? According to analysts, the youth feels they need to exercise their newly-bestowed rights, among which one is the Right to Vote. Moreover, campaigning by political parties have been excessively heavyweight. It was not just for a constituency. Opposition slammed the ruling, the ruling crumbled the opposition. That's what the situation like. There has been a flurry of personal attacks by supposed-to-be-responsible politicians. From Imran Maqsood to Amit Shah, media coverage awarded embarrassment for the parties. The Election Commission acted as a vigilant watchdog, issuing show-cause notices to politicians who have violated the Model Code of Conduct. And that's a significant reason why they need to be applauded.
Parties are also banking on their star power. They have fielded a lot of celebrities in different constituencies to challenge their opposition rivals. Even the "Aam Aadmi Party" has fielded some popular people, like Javed Jaffrey, or Gul Panag, etc. BJP and Congress, too are in the same hands. And for regional parties that have applied the trend, the Mamata-led Trinamool Congress wins hands down. From singers to Tollywood's leading stars, everyone's there. It's a star-packed show, mate.
Numerous new insignificant parties were formed this year, too. From "Rashtriya Aam Party" to "Indian Lovers Party", new businessmen tried their luck by contesting the elections. Ironically, there are a few in the list of independent candidates, who say they will possibly be the only ones to vote for themselves (Reference: Metro Calcutta, part of The Telegraph). Imagine no campaigning, no bribing, no facing the heat. Good technique, independents!
There has been a demand for "reform" and change of power - as there is ahead of every other election. A significant factor to be considered is the Modi "Wave" that have sweeped across India. Narendra Modi, the BJP Prime Ministerial Candidate is popular for his records in his home state. Social media campaigning by the BJP IT Cell probably might have worked it out for him. From the number of young voters registered in the electorate, majority of them are active in Social Networking sites. And the topic of the Gujarat administration and Modi have never really subsided. They were always in the "Trending" list. However, international authors and Western governments are against the Modi government in India. Salman Rushdie said that the Modi-led government would prove to be a bullying one (Ref: Times of India).
The Newshour at 9 PM as always, has been the viral show everyone's looking to. Arnab Goswami's fiery speeches and debates with contesting candidates have changed many a minds. He has interviewed both Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi. The reason why he is so popular is because he hits is right in the spot. He asks the direct questions that sometimes becomes difficult to tackle, and if one tries to skip and avoid it, he'll bring the subject back to the same topic, again. The youth calls The Times the "Election News Headquarters". New methods were implied by other media organizations as well. Rahul Kanwal of the Headlines Today led a "Election-Express", an awareness campaign for voters out there in different parts of India.
Sensex, Nifty and other stock exchange markets have reached intra-day heights and set new records. Experts called that the investors poured in their money in belief of a stable government that will be formed in India. The Sensex recently touched an all time high of 23,000. The rupee too has been stable in the past few months and have not fluctuated or depreciated much. Changes were negligible. The RBI chief Rajan must be happy.
In all, the elections this year has been a grand success. Everything will soon come back to normal. I am happy that there were only a few incidences of poll-violence in constituencies. I am happy, the nation has voted in such numbers. I am happy, because India gets a fresh beginning soon.
Comments
Post a Comment