Unhealthy poll campaigns

The State Election Commission (SEC) has decided to hold the polls to the local self governing bodies in the middle of November putting an end to the uncertainty as well as the controversies surrounding the matter.

The dates of the elections are not yet known and would be conducted in a single phase over two days. The political parties needn’t wait to seek public support as well as cooperation for expanding their footing in the state. For democracy to remain steady and faultless, people should be made part of the process and that would be accomplished only through the Panchayat raj-Municipality polls. These systems were envisaged to be implemented beyond the boundaries of coalition politics for effectively executing the system and accomplishing it at the public level. But unfortunately the efforts collapsed due to the proliferation of politics and interests of the politicians. As a result, the political interests and obstinacy not discerned even in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are reflected in these polls to the local bodies. The fifty per cent reservation for women was also not in any way able to affect the process. With the goal of women empowerment completely forgotten, even the women voters choose the same party candidate over the others however weak contender she is.

Accepting the stark reality, the parties and the Fronts should have ensured the formation of local self governing institutes prone to development through healthy and constructive activities. The awareness programs and the propagation techniques should have been rooted in the subjects focusing on the basic issues concerning the villages as well as cities, improving the life standards of the people, garbage disposal, health, education, unemployment, the highly rampant ‘drug culture’ in the state at present, increasing violence against women and the growing dominance of the different mafia groups. But the parties are apparently more bothered about engaging in unhealthy debates and issues that damage the essence of secular democracy and trigger overly sensitive responses thereby instigating conflicts between the people. Attempts are made to divide the people along religious, caste-based and communal lines in order to reap more benefits. The looming Panchayat-Municipality elections are seemingly the only reason behind the frequent harthals in the state. The Onam and SreeKrishna Jayanti celebrations were conducted on party lines and the tableau used in the parade led to a major commotion. The forces that battle each other in the name of Sree Narayan Guru actually think and act against the values and virtues taught by him. The clashes between the CPM and the BJP, the two leading cadre parties in the state would only bring about an irrepressible law and order problem. Both the parties should reanalyze their current position and adopt effective precautionary steps which otherwise would lead to their fall.