ELECTIONS 2019
Elections, in a democracy are, for the people and by the people. This election’s results will be available on March 23, 2019. If the writing on the wall is to be read, then in all its probabilities, it appears that Mr. Narendra Modi, is going to prevail in the elections. The election this year has been more about personalities than political parties, where people had to decide as to who they should make their Prime Minister. Here, the personality between Mr. Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi is immediately compared and Mr. Modi comes ahead by a wide margin. Mr. Modi is not only a forceful orator, a good communicator, but also maintains his high profile image making people believe that their future is safe in his hands. Contrary to this, the second largest party i.e. the Indian National Congress has failed to establish a communication link with the people of India. Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi is available for TV interviews. This makes their point of view inaccessible to the people. But, Rahul Gandhi has faced the press in Press Conference very frequently. But, he as the President of the Indian National Congress has shown an impressive performance. Not only has he improved his position in Gujarat Assembly but also snatched three states from BJP i.e. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh and became a coalition partner in Karnataka. If all these are to make any impact then there may yet be another surprise in verdict 2019, where we might see a coalition government. As I have said earlier, elections are for the people of India, but unfortunately this election has witnessed a wide use of foul language and spreading of hatred which is a very painful state of affair in a democracy. Having said all these, let me remind my readers that people of India are very strong and mature. They are full of surprises. Nobody thought that after the death of Indira Gandhi, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi would win 400 plus seats. After successful economic development, nobody imagined that Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee would lose the elections. These are just a few observations towards Lok Sabha Elections.
Elections are not always won on the basis of performance. Sometimes it is won on the basis of caste, polarization of votes, money and muscle power.
We have carried a special in-depth article as our cover story which has been contributed by Mr. K. V. Venugopal and provides a background to Election 2019 with special reference to North East.
It is for the first time again that those who were demanding a separate country and fighting with India voted in the election, thus reflecting their faith in democracy. This is a big achievement for democracy and we have also carried a special article as to how the Kuki militant of Manipur cast their votes during the election 2019 which has been penned by our Mr. Amlan Home Chowdhury.
Dr. K. K. Jhunjhunwala