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"GANDHI abandons claims to lead India" and "Gandhi declines India's top job" were among the headlines in major American newspapers, even as the U.S. media welcomed the ascension of Manmohan Singh to prime ministership. After the Indian elections earlier this year, U.S. pundits marvelled at our democracy where the renunciation of power was unheard of. "This was a different story from the United States, where they counted, recounted, then tabulated chads and still the country had to appeal to the high court to figure out who won," columnist Tom Plate wrote in the Seattle Times. "Say what you want about India but it's the world's largest, truly practising and most wonderfully messy democracy." But does the Indian electorate think so? Bangalore
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How does the American election compare with our system of voting?-- Photos of respondents by Sampath Kumar G.P.
Indians think locally. Since we can never approach a CM directly, each locality chooses someone they think will be a good communicator. There is no vision of who might become CM or PM. This has worked for us.
Gurukiran, industrialist
In U.S.A., all classes vote equally. But in India, it's only the lower and middle class. That itself is an incomplete electorate. Plus, the multitude of parties ensures that the voters are also very ill informed.
Dheeraj, software engineer
Our multi-party system creates confusion. Every Tom, Dick or Harry can form a party and contest. The biparty system in the U.S. makes sure that we know who's representing what. That itself ensures that more people come to vote.
Sangeetha, manager
The U.S. election system is much more transparent, but imagine if we could vote for only Bush or Kerry! I'm glad in India we have more than just two options. Now, if the quality of the options would improve, it'd be great.
Amit Kumar, manager
I have a voting card with the wrong name. So it's invalid. Anyway, whichever party we vote for, there's no point. Frankly, I don't feel motivated to get up and go vote for criminals.
Mukta, designer
Nobody can do anything about India, so it doesn't matter who comes to power. Petrol prices rise, half the country will not have running water. We're not disillusioned without reason.
Deepankar, sales executive
There are too many parties and ideologies. Each pulls down the other. And campaign strategies vary from religious to regional. So the electorate is courted with emotions, not with issues of national concern.
Shekhar, marketing executive
We think, `I'll mind my own business. Who cares who's the PM?' Many Muslim women also don't vote because anyway they've to sit in kitchen. But the PM's policies are what decide our taxes and our vegetable prices.
Syed Salim, antique dealer
The amount of money Indian politicians spend on campaigns turns me off. All those promises and none of them fulfilled! There's nothing that inspires me to vote. I can never tell if my vote counts.
Priyanka, designer
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