The Hindu : Gift of the gab and strong views

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 29, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka

Gift of the gab and strong views

By Raghava M.

BANGALORE, MARCH 28. Advocates form a sizable chunk of the electorate and politicians know the significance of winning over this section of society. Known for communication skills, they have strong views.

For Ashok Harnahalli, known in the legal circles for public interest litigation, politics is nothing new. By virtue of his association with his father, the former Minister, Harnahalli Ramaswamy, he knows it well.

A regular voter, Mr. Ashok wants an option to vote for "none of the above". This will help democracy as it gives an idea of the number of people not interested in the candidates selected by the parties. Mr. Ashok is unhappy with the system that does not provide deserving persons a space to contest the elections. But he is optimistic.

He is convinced that his vote will help bring about a change. "A change from bad to bad is also a good thing," he says.

T.A. Rajashekar, another advocate, feels sorry that the parties select their candidates on communal lines.

Deserving and service-oriented persons do not find a place in the list of candidates chosen by the parties. "We are missing an earlier tribe of politicians who had commitment towards society," he says. He suggests that the political parties reconsider their lists and select those who have concern for the problems of the people.

Basavaraj Mekki, senior advocate, hopes that the electronic voting machines (EVMs) will reduce or wipe out bogus votes.

He sees introduction of EVMs as a step in the right direction which will repose the faith of the voters in the system.

However, he complains that the election authorities have not distributed voter identity cards properly. Issuing them when the elections are fast approaching has led to a heavy rush of people at the places where they are issued.

An advocate from the younger brigade, Sachin feels that the use of EVMs will bring in greater transparency in the election process.

There will be no invalid votes and the results will be out in a short time. He says the EVMs will help resolve election disputes faster.

Mr. Sachin, who has voted twice, is yet to get his voter identity card. In view of the complaints last time that many voters had returned without voting as their names were missing from the voters lists, he will make it a point to check the electoral rolls much in advance. Santosh, Sachin's colleague, is worried if the EVMs will confuse the uneducated voters.

He has no doubts that the educated voters will press the right buttons, but "the villagers cannot understand this system of voting and there are chances of they being misguided," he says. Mr. Santhosh will vote for the candidate who has done good work and not by the party he represents.

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