At the outset let me thank you for the old video on the first general election. A very rare footage and such a clear picture of how much things have changed for the better. Like you have rightly pointed out, everything in India is of mammoth proportions simply due to the huge numbers involved. When we used to read about the Covid vaccines we used to feel proud of the huge numbers to get vaccinated. Same with the number of gas connections, bank accounts, houses with running water and so on. The numbers are more than the population of most countries!
The election process is no different. The number of officials working round the clock to ensure a smooth running of the booths. The task of ensuring that people even in remote and inaccessible places get a chance to cast their votes. There is the postal ballot for personnel posted far away from their hometowns. All these have to be completed within the stipulated time frame.
We have a lot to be grateful for. Women didn't have to fight to get their voting rights. No one was alienated on the basis of skin colour. Even trials and others living in remote areas were not neglected. Plus, there is so much of progress in the process.
Let's just hope that people will cast their precious votes judiciously and not simply consider that date to enjoy a quiet holiday at home. Atleast we should get a good democratically elected government. We surely deserve that.
As always, you have written an excellent piece to launch this election campaign.
When India votes, it is as if the entire world votes. India is the world in microcosm. Today, this is more true than ever before, with India’s sustained rise now consolidating.
Thus, it’s not surprising that those who are insecure about their own democracies will cast aspersions on Indian democracy. In fact, there is nothing new about this. Indian democracy has been attacked ever since 1947. For example, in the U.S., with the sole exception of the second term of George W. Bush (a very unique moment), there has never been a time when Indian democracy has not been attacked. In 1995, the New York Times thundered that India was a “shallow democracy”. Indeed, Hedley Donovan, the one-time editor of Time, admitted in his memoirs some 30-35 years ago that Western reporters were disappointed that Indian democracy had not failed after all their predictions to the contrary. No one should be under the illusion that the attacks are about Modi. They are about India. And, the more that India has risen, the louder the decibel level.
There is a competition for influence in this world. India’s democratic model is far more relevant to the vast majority of the world’s population than either the Western or Chinese models. Success for India, therefore, means greater influence. It is a zero-sum game; that influence will come at the cost of someone else. Hence, the more intense attempts to influence, interfere in the Indian election process from outside. And, too, those who have lost influence inside will try to draw from outside to try to get back in the game inside. That part, in a now-globalized environment, is a newer, more troubling feature.
All the while, the humble but bright, cultured Indian voter keeps becoming more literate, educated, and aware, triggering the non-violent social, cultural, political, economic revolution that India is witnessing. Some, both inside and outside, who observe are enlivened by it, inspired by it; others are scared, by it. Our motives affect our perceptions.
As to “level playing fields”, we all know that such things are aspirational. Ultimately, society shapes the contours of the field, depending on the circumstances. For example, In the 1930’s and 1940’s, when the U.S. was at a decisive juncture in its emergence as a great power, FDR and the Democrats dominated politics. Democrats rode that wave, controlling the House of Representatives from 1932 until 1994 for all but 4 years. That shaped everything from funding to voter registration to bureaucracy to media. India, of course, had Congress control for most of the period from 1947-2014, shaping everything from media to academia to bureaucracy. Now, people are screaming about “level playing fields” because it is much harder to be out of power when you have enjoyed having it for so long. Earlier, the people who had never enjoyed it had not lost anything. The former is a more painful experience. And, those abroad who were close to, and had invested in, relationships with those now out of power feel at sea.
The drama of India and its democracy will continue long after we have departed. Meanwhile, we will enjoy the privilege of witnessing it. Thank you for your contribution to documenting its story.
Dear Anil
At the outset let me thank you for the old video on the first general election. A very rare footage and such a clear picture of how much things have changed for the better. Like you have rightly pointed out, everything in India is of mammoth proportions simply due to the huge numbers involved. When we used to read about the Covid vaccines we used to feel proud of the huge numbers to get vaccinated. Same with the number of gas connections, bank accounts, houses with running water and so on. The numbers are more than the population of most countries!
The election process is no different. The number of officials working round the clock to ensure a smooth running of the booths. The task of ensuring that people even in remote and inaccessible places get a chance to cast their votes. There is the postal ballot for personnel posted far away from their hometowns. All these have to be completed within the stipulated time frame.
We have a lot to be grateful for. Women didn't have to fight to get their voting rights. No one was alienated on the basis of skin colour. Even trials and others living in remote areas were not neglected. Plus, there is so much of progress in the process.
Let's just hope that people will cast their precious votes judiciously and not simply consider that date to enjoy a quiet holiday at home. Atleast we should get a good democratically elected government. We surely deserve that.
Hi Anil, great article! Thoroughly insightful.
Hello Anil:
As always, you have written an excellent piece to launch this election campaign.
When India votes, it is as if the entire world votes. India is the world in microcosm. Today, this is more true than ever before, with India’s sustained rise now consolidating.
Thus, it’s not surprising that those who are insecure about their own democracies will cast aspersions on Indian democracy. In fact, there is nothing new about this. Indian democracy has been attacked ever since 1947. For example, in the U.S., with the sole exception of the second term of George W. Bush (a very unique moment), there has never been a time when Indian democracy has not been attacked. In 1995, the New York Times thundered that India was a “shallow democracy”. Indeed, Hedley Donovan, the one-time editor of Time, admitted in his memoirs some 30-35 years ago that Western reporters were disappointed that Indian democracy had not failed after all their predictions to the contrary. No one should be under the illusion that the attacks are about Modi. They are about India. And, the more that India has risen, the louder the decibel level.
There is a competition for influence in this world. India’s democratic model is far more relevant to the vast majority of the world’s population than either the Western or Chinese models. Success for India, therefore, means greater influence. It is a zero-sum game; that influence will come at the cost of someone else. Hence, the more intense attempts to influence, interfere in the Indian election process from outside. And, too, those who have lost influence inside will try to draw from outside to try to get back in the game inside. That part, in a now-globalized environment, is a newer, more troubling feature.
All the while, the humble but bright, cultured Indian voter keeps becoming more literate, educated, and aware, triggering the non-violent social, cultural, political, economic revolution that India is witnessing. Some, both inside and outside, who observe are enlivened by it, inspired by it; others are scared, by it. Our motives affect our perceptions.
As to “level playing fields”, we all know that such things are aspirational. Ultimately, society shapes the contours of the field, depending on the circumstances. For example, In the 1930’s and 1940’s, when the U.S. was at a decisive juncture in its emergence as a great power, FDR and the Democrats dominated politics. Democrats rode that wave, controlling the House of Representatives from 1932 until 1994 for all but 4 years. That shaped everything from funding to voter registration to bureaucracy to media. India, of course, had Congress control for most of the period from 1947-2014, shaping everything from media to academia to bureaucracy. Now, people are screaming about “level playing fields” because it is much harder to be out of power when you have enjoyed having it for so long. Earlier, the people who had never enjoyed it had not lost anything. The former is a more painful experience. And, those abroad who were close to, and had invested in, relationships with those now out of power feel at sea.
The drama of India and its democracy will continue long after we have departed. Meanwhile, we will enjoy the privilege of witnessing it. Thank you for your contribution to documenting its story.
Shiv