Elections are held in every five years as mandated by the constitution of India. Elections play a consequential role in transforming society from an all- round point of view. It is indeed for good governance and strengthening democracy. Nevertheless, any every election, people elect the candidate by their choice to expect the best governance to happen. Elections are very sacred element of Indian democracy, where the utmost choice is given to the people to elect their rulers and bring out remarkable change in the society. Yet, politicians ensure that every election becomes the costliest one. Though the election commission strives to regulate all irregularities, the practice of distributing money and liquor outlasts during the election campaign.

In the name of elections, all politicians and their candidates introduce filthy practices among the rural people for their political leverage. The focus shifts from electing a suitable candidate to calculating how much can be extracted from the candidates during the campaign. The burden placed on the people due to the election frenzy in the name of democracy in the name of democracy is shattering their lives. They are keeping ordinary people in dark by escalating their Machiavellian politics.

Of late, the local body elections particularly Sarpanch Elections in all villages in Telangana state have proven to be the costliest elections ever. The candidates for the Sarpanch position or ward members spent a considerable amount of money to win the elections although the voters are intimate friends of theirs. Elections are always elections irrespective of the kith and kin or intimate friends. These elections certainly created challenges between the parties. Nevertheless, people who are defeated mercilessly in the elections are eternally dismayed, while winners of course are exhilarated. Success and failure are common phenomenon in elections.

Yet one should take it sportively. Alas! It is not to take it sportively because the hard-earned money of the contestants who belong to the middle-class, was spent recklessly. Apparently, elections are far removed from current elections. In the past, electoral success banked upon personal reputation. In the contemporary era, it is inextricably connected with financial power. The contestants are genuinely afraid of what people’s choices might be. The mindset of the people seemed to be so weird compared to the past. People are changing along with the advancement of technology.  But the losers subsequently have fallen into a huge number of debts that cannot be cleared so easily since they have hardly any source of income to clear the debts that was incurred due to elections. Their whole income will rest on the agriculture that would generate it once in a six-months after all necessary deductions. In reality, people should realize the practicality of these elections in an acceptable way.

Lakhs of rupees is a huge amount of money for ordinary people. Even the winners will not clear the debts which were incurred during the campaign. Election expenditure is like whitewash on the wall. One cannot get it back at any cost. Contestants are exceptionally worried about their image. Thus, the contestants vie with each other in lavish spending, demonstrating their prestige and skill. Of course, they bear the brunt of it over a period of time.

Middle class people always remain as they are. They suffer in silence, and they always have a strong sense of self- respect, but these elections will make them different. The elections, however, will transform them. Ultimately, the campaign per se petered out for lack of support. It is absurd to see voters discussing the distribution of money, forgetting moral values in public domain.  Casting vote is a constitutional right for people in the country since our country is the largest democratic country.  However, people deliberately violated the model code of conduct and mired in corruption. 

Let us ask some questions? The Indian constitution is a sacred one so why do people ignore its sacredness? Why is the system so weird expecting something to use their vote? The constitution should be respected and revered. Both bribing voters and accepting bribes for votes are illegal in the society. 

Weird things were witnessed in local body elections. People are engaged in all sorts of narratives about the contestants. They prefer the candidates who paid more than others- no matter the candidates’ credentials. People wanted money and never considered the foreseeable consequences. Furthermore, people openly brag about taking money in exchange for their vote during elections. The narratives of emerging from Panchayat elections have become a trendsetter. It’s shaping discourse in other public spaces. 

 This sort of trend should be stopped, and moral values being protected. In villages, kinship relationships should be sustained. When the contestants win the election by distributing liquor and chicken and so on, how can they be expected to work for the village’s growth? does he/she come forward to work for the growth of a village. Whatever the amount is sanctioned to the village, he / she may expect something from it. The services may not be fair. One cannot question him/her for any mistake. Subsequently, the development of a village will come to a standstill.

Voters should be conscious when electing candidates. In the past people in villages would help each other without expecting anything in return, now favor is expected for everything. The change is taking place with a view of supporting the people. It is reported that after the local body elections, the contestants who lost in the elections died of cardiac arrest. It is an awful state of affairs. The best solution is that common consensus should be brought to elect the candidates unanimously irrespective of political parties in the villages.  We can put an end to all sorts of dismay and tragic elements in the family.  

People are living in a highly materialistic society and take elections in a matter- of -fact way. They have to understand the practical realities of society. If this trend continues, it is difficult to find a practical solution to the problem. An amicable solution is for educated youth within families to promote the importance of voting through door-to-door campaigns. Only we protect our most precious system. 

Long live democracy!