Mahayudh

Tomorrow is a big day in Maharashtra. It is not Ganapati, the other big day for the state. The voting machines will spell out the verdict of the battle at the hustings. It has been a bitter battle with blatant parochialism replacing real issues. Anyway, the media, both electronic and print, has been harping on this election being fought on a hollow plank. This, despite a severe power shortage, failed monsoons, Bt cotton and farmers’ suicide, the swelling urban slums, and a Gharchiroli emerging from the grossly under-developed belts in the cash-rich state.
The Election Commission and the state government did not want an abysmal turnout recorded in the Lok Sabha elections, and therefore, had declared October 13, the poll day, as a holiday. The day was a Tuesday, and just right for a tempting long-weekend with a casual leave on Monday.NGO campaigns, urging citizens to step out worked…they all stepped out of the cities. So toll plazas registered maximum vehicle entries on highways linking getaways. They all got away from this poll tamasha, flaunting the deadliest weapon to crush democracy: Apathy.
Those in cars never cared. So the definite target audience was those struggling to keep themselves from sinking further into the poverty line quagmire. In fact, a domestic help was ruing the fact that she was not home to collect the monetary “gift” from political parties. She lost Rs 800 that day (The break up was Rs 500 and Rs 300 from two different parties). That was a lot of money, especially during the Diwali week.
Lack of political will has made most citizens nonchalant, and they have repeatedly flashed their indolence by keeping away from the poll process. There is a reluctance on the part of the political class to focus on real issues as there is a temptation to fall back on hysteria generated so easily by regionalism and communism.
Maharashtra is getting painted in all hues. The surge of saffron fundamentalists is vying for attention with the red struggle in Ghadchiroli. To complete this communal and parochial warp and weft in the political fabric of Maharashtra is Raj Thackeray’s high-decibel call for the beleaguered Marathi manoos to snatch the jobs and respect earned by the non-Marathas in this land of Shivaji. Raj Thackeray’s campaign slogans has discoloured the original Maratha manoos sloganeers, the Shiv Sena. The Congress hopes to cash in on this split in native loyalties.
This battle might not spell out a clear winner, and suitcase politics might just take over. Alas! Democracy, the sacred river, is forced to flow into our country’s political sewer. And that stinks.