And for a Friday as campaigns for the Lok Sabha Elections heat up, some thoughts….. some musings…..
I am keenly watching two constituencies of personal interest to me; Mumbai South and Trivandrum. A short walk from my house on Carmichael Road was the residence of the Deoras. Murli Deora for a long time was centre stage and after his demise son Milind represented South Mumbai, a symbol of Urban diversity. If Malabar Hill and Colaba housed the millionaires and the CC Super Rich, Byculla and Shivdi brought in the labour, working class, not to mention the huge hutment colonies of Simla Nagar, Siddharth Nagar, Worli etc. etc. Hindus, Muslims, Parsis, Jains, almost every community and every economic level is represented in this constituency. The sitting MP is Arvind Sawant who then was Shiv Sena + BJP candidate. Now he is Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray faction). Milind, not getting nominated in Congress has migrated to the Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) and has already secured a Rajya Sabha seat.
India prepares for a 7 phase National elections to elect 543 Members to The Lok Sabha, starting April 19th and results on June 4th. The two main groups are NDA and the I.N.D.I.A block. In each state and almost every constituency the dynamics are different. Since the announcement of elections the Election Commission has strict guidelines and have the authority and organisation to ensure free and fair elections in each Constituency. It’s a gigantic task. But they have a GIANT of an organisation seconded for election duty from State and Central Govt departments. The Candidates in their campaigns use every available Marketing and Promotional tool. A fantastic combination of cosmopolite and localite media. It’s massively expensive and every serious candidate puts his/her best efforts to win.
But the Mother of all battles is in Trivandrum. 3 times sitting MP, Dr. Sashi Tharoor of the Congress, has to contend with Entrepreneur turned Politician Rajeev Chandrasekhar of BJP, current Union Minister of State for Electronics & IT & Skill Development. Also veteran Communist leader P. Raveendran is the left front nominee. Kerala being such a politically literate state, each party cadre person has his favourite newspaper and political affiliation. Nothing will make them change. It’s the swing vote of the urban middle class and the young first time voters who, in this three way contest, will decide the winner. It’s as tough as it can be.
No two constituencies are the same. Each is an equal fight. Let’s all be committed to our constitutional duty. Let’s cast our vote. May the best candidate win, the ethical way, the right way, the SEEGOS way.