AIFON

It is interesting to note that political parties react violently to innocuous comments made on Twitter. From Karthi Chidambaram’s issue to the current Shivsena protest on Shobha De, it is clear that political parties show extreme sensitivity to Twitter and Facebook comments.

From the apparent look of things it therefore appears that the social media is having a profound impact on Indian politics.

A doubt however remains if the people who protested in the streets either in the case of Shobha De post or in case of the Palghar incident had actually experienced the twitter impact themselves. Most of them might not be netizens at all but were reacting as if their sentiments have been seriously hurt. If Net is not their cup of tea, and only some page 3 followers or NRIs are the followers of Twitter/Facebook, it is difficult to understand why these proterstors took the trouble of staging demonstrations.

These incidents need a deeper analysis on how the social media is affecting the public behaviour.

A question to be asked is if these political parties are concerned with their vote banks, do they think that their voters are in a majority on the twitter/facebook space and therefore would be influenced by such comments? With the penetration of internet as it is, it is impossible to think that these twitter messages really posed an electoral threat to them.

Despite this truth, why did these parties took up demonstrations in the physical space and gave publicity through press and TV that there was one set of people who proposed Mumbai to be made into a union territory? Was it not a self goal scored by them?

While AIFON may feel happy that Internet is actually stirring up the political parties, one cannot but feel that the political parties have highly exaggerated the impact of twitter comments of the type Shobha De made, on the political space on the ground. Perhaps somebody within the party who considers himself to be a “Cyber Media Expert” must have mislead the party into believing that the damage caused by the twitter deserved the kind of demonstrations that followed.

If this is true, then we can see an interesting twitter war in the coming days between Congress and BJP.

Naavi

The win for Congress in Karnataka is as much a defeat for BJP as the war against corruption.

Between two parties both of whom were accused of Corruption, Voters seem to have chosen Congress as if Corruption in the distant Delhi is better than corruption in Karnataka.

Those who fought for educating the voters could not come anywhere near achieving success as they were relegated in 4th position even in the so called educated constituencies of Bangalore urban area.

Future for democracy in India appears bleak and the hold of Caste and Corruption appear to be invincible.

Netizens need to however continue their efforts to consolidate their efforts and try to become a strong lobby of their own.

Vijayashankar

As the campaign for the elections on May 5 is going through the last stage, Voters have not been able to get a clear picture of what they need to do. Media has been unhelpful since they are only projecting the same old leaders with the same old promises, all of which is either untrustworthy or downright disgusting.

Many political parties are offering incentives to voters in their manifesto as if they want to recruit them into their fold through a bond of corruption. None of the existing parties deserve a second look for rejection. Voters are torn between the option of giving the voting a go by and selecting a candidate who will only proliferate the corrupt and non performing governments.

Some analysts are trying to spread concerns in the minds of voters that a “Hung Assembly” is not good for the State and hence they should vote for the party which is most likely to win.  In this category there are only two choices namely the Congress and the BJP. BJP is reeling under a massive “Anti Incumbency” pressure and the carry over of corruption charge from the earlier CM’s regime. Hence the analysts appear to favour Congress as the only party which can provide stability.

However, many voters consider Congress as the other name of Corruption and with the latest CBI saga, intelligent voters will never trust Congress. With Congress leaders from the Center making laughable statements in their campaign and the local leaders strongly divided, Congress is fighting against itself. The single visit of Mr Narendra Modi has brought out the weaknesses of Congress to the fore like no other BJP leader has ever done. He is likely to address 2 more meetings and will dent the Congress image substantially.

Under the circumstances, the possibility of Congress also failing to make 115 seats on its own s very high. Hence a hung assembly appears to be the most likely scenario in Karnataka.

Further, the voters of Karnataka have a mission during this election. They need to make a statement that they cannot be taken for granted by politicians who run on their own for 5 years and come back with promises in the last month before every election that they will be a changed lot. Voters need to put their foot down and reject all sitting MLAs and major parties as a default rule. Exceptions need to be well substantiated and few.

If in the process there are more independents, so be it. If therefore there is a post poll alliance, so be it. If alternatively, there is Governor’s rule, so be it.

If none of the parties have absolute power, let’s hope that there will be a check on the ruling class.

What is important for the Voters is to ensure that they send at least a few worthy candidates to the assembly so that they will at least raise citizen issues. In this connection it is necessary to look at select independents who have distinguished themselves with public service and minor parties like Loksatta. If even about 15-20 such people are in the assembly and are vigilant, we can expect a better governance and a check on corruption.

Voters should not therefore hesitate to support candidates for the fear of them not being in one of the parties which can get a majority on their own in the entire state.

The number of votes cast on parties other than Congress, BJP, JDS, KJP,  will indicate the strength of the Responsible Voters who want to root out Corruption and lack of governance in the State. The loss of voter share collectively by these four parties will represent the strength of the silent voters who can make more difference to the outcome in the coming elections.

Netizens who constitute 10-15% in the state should ideally be in this “Non Congress-BJP-JDS-KJP” band.

Let’s wait and watch  the post election scenario to find out how much of these voters have been able to make a difference.

Vijayashankar

In chosing a candidate for exercising our votes we are often confronted with manifesto’s of different parties. Unfortunately the integrity of political parties is so low that whatever they state in the manifesto is not considered reliable.

Now in Karnataka, almost all parties say they will waive farmer’s loan and provide rice at Rs 1 etc.,.

Firstly alleviation of poverty is a Governance objective that cannot be converted into passing out some doles from time to time. Parties should say how they are able to raise the poor from their present status to better status in terms of income. They should also state how they will bring down the spiralling prices. This will be more important than Rs 1 per kg.

The real intention behind this Rs 1 per kg scheme is to ensure that in the name of such a program politicians can make money.

Even the farmer loan waiver scheme will have a commission payable to politicians which may be a certain percentage of the amount disbursed.

What people require are innovative ideas that make poverty melt away in the society even if it takes time. Present politicians have no idea of even how to attempt poverty alleviation programs other than taking money out of tax payer’s funds and distribute it to the voters.

In fact in case of candidates who are  past MLAs or belonging to political parties, the manifestos are of no consequence. Only the past performance is of consequence. In the case of sitting MLAs, the way they have used their MLA development fund is a direct reflection of their capability to serve.

Fortunately today voters have an index of corruption in the form of increased wealth of candidates between two elections. Despite the rare possibility of a few persons who might have earned wealth through genuine means, a majority of wealth gain is through corruption. Hence in case of all candidates and more so in case of sitting MLAs, “Increase in wealth since the last election” is a clear indication of corruption. Candidates should have the onus of proving that their wealth is out of legitimate transactions.

“Criminal Records” is also a parameter for consideration of the voters. In fact any candidate with one conviction and  more than one serious offence allegation should be summarily rejected. In case there are genuine cases where false charges are likely to have been made, the candidates need to provide a suitable explanation on the basis of which candidates may decide.

In the case of entirely new candidates or independents, then their intentions have to be gauged only through their manifestos. At the same time we cannot expect them to have a manifesto which is reflective of the national issues or some times even the state wide issues. We have to accept that their service vision is limited to the constituency and evaluate them only on that basis.

It is open for such candidates to also disclose their personal preferences on national and state wide issues since during the last assembly many of the independents became ministers. In order to judge the ability of candidates to raise to such occassions and also to meaningfully participate in debates in the assembly, education is one criteria to be used for evaluation.

Thus candidates need to look at Education, Past Performance, Policy disclosures and criminal records of each of their candidates before deciding whom to vote.

In the last few days there will be few analysts who will go around and say “Vote for Stability”. “..such and such party is likely to emerge as the single largest party. Vote for them so that they will be able to form Government on their own”.

Some will also say “Why vote for a candidate who is not likely to win. Vote for the candidate in your constituency who is most likely to win”.

I want voters to reject both these arguments.

We need to vote as per our conscience to the best candidate. If he does not win, at least we have given expression to our voice that we dislike corrupt politicians. If no party gets a majority, it is also OK. Let there be Governor’s rule or another election. Let us not be forced to elect an undesirable candidate on the pretext that stable Government is essential.

Stability of a Government is not dependent on numbers. It is a function of the integrity of the elected candidates to Govern the State for the benefit of all the Citizens. A good leader can work well even if he is heading a minority Government. A bad leader will ruin even if he has a brute majority.

I hope Voters of Karnataka will remember these thoughts.

Vijayashankar

A TOI study in Karnataka has revealed that “Corruption” is one of the major issues in Karnataka.

If Corruption is a prime election issue in Karnataka it is as much because of the daily dose of news we keep getting from Delhi rather than the local corruption news which are at least a few month old.

It is the non performance of the post-Yeddy regime of BJP that has ensured that the corruption tag continues to stick to BJP in Karnataka.

We therefore urge voters to reject both corrupt and those who support the corrupt through non performance during this election. If in the process our vote goes to a candidate who cannot win let us consider it as a “Vote of Protest”.

If at least a few of the good candidates get elected because of our efforts, let us pray that they will continue to carry our voice of protest into the assembly.

If in the process, Karnataka gets a fractured verdict, let’s welcome Governor’s rule. It cannot be more corrupt than that of the present politicians.

Vote to voice your protest.

Vijayashankar

As a responsible citizen, it is the duty of every one of us to ensure that we exercise our vote during an election. At the same time in every election we are confronted with a situation where none of the candidates seem to deserve our vote.

As a result many of the educated voters have stayed away from voting in the past.

Karnataka is now facing an important election on May 5th and we urge all educated voters to resolve not to miss their voting right.

We want you to ensure that you vote for the best amongst the available candidates using an objective decision making process such as the candidate score card suggested earlier.

Further, please spread this message by downloading the above banner image and incorporating it as a “Signature” into your emails so that every one of your friends will receive the message.

Vijayashankar as a voter of Karnataka

During the last Karnataka Assembly elections in 2008, I had written an article here in Bloggernews.net on each voter creating a score card for the candidates in his constituency and arriving at a score before deciding on the candidate.

In the current elections where the voters have an even higher level of confusion on chosing the right candidate, a score card based approach to selection of the candidate is even more relevant.

I am therefore drawing the attention of the readers to my earlier article available here: http://www.bloggernews.net/115517

In the article I had suggested voters to use the following type of a template.

(You can also download a printable copy here)

Constituency:……….. Rate on a Scale of -10 to +10

(The maximum total score above is +80. In order to add the Party preference, voters may add 20 points for their party of preference which accounts for national policies of the parties, national leadership etc. It is suggested that there can be a negative marks on this account to the extent of -20 if the voter thinks that a party is undesirable because of its national policies. )

I suggest the voters this time also to use this template adding additional parties and independent candidates as required and draw up the score of each of the candidates in the voter’s constituency before arriving at a decision.

Families and other communities can get together and discuss the values they can assign to each of the candidates in their constituency and arrive at a decision.

I invite each reader to pick a constituency (Details available at http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in after the date for withdrawals is over) and complete the above questionnaire and mail to naavi@vsnl.com.

I shall put it up on the web at www.aifon.org.in for public information. Kindly provide your name. In case you are a resident of any constituency, you are welcome to provide your address and contact details.

The e-mail address or name would not be revealed if the sender so desires. (Please indicate in the e-mail whether it can be revealed).

Voters can use the template to create their own score sheet and chose the candidate with the lowest negative score or highest positive score.

I also invite good Samaritans in each constituency to print this scoring sheet and the instructions (If necessary this entire article) and distribute it in their constituency. In rural side a Kannada version needs to be created.

Candidates are welcome to send in their self assessment of their score sheets.

NGOs like B.PAC may also try to invite the public to use an objective methodology like the above to chose a candidate.

I hope this will be the contribution of Netizens to the conduct of a useful election this time.

Vijayashankar as Voter of Karnataka

(You can also download a printable copy of the score card here)

I refer to the earlier article in which it was highlighted that the Netizens of Karnataka have a significant voice to influence elections in Karnataka.

I request all visitors to this site to start a Cyber Campaign to encourage Karnataka Voters to vote for a Non Corrupt and Functioning Candidate in the forthcoming elections.

In order to spread this message, I request all similar thinking individuals to use the following banner if required (right click and download to your computer) or create alternative message banners in all their e-mails as well as on websites and blogs which they control.

“Vote for a Non Corrupt, Functioning Candidate” (Issued in public interest)

Naavi