Saturday, April 5, 2014

How an Indian voter should vote this election?

Before I comment on how an Indian voter should vote let me make it very clear that this is my personal opinion.  The ultimate decision about whom to vote for is to be taken by your own free will. However, please do make an informed and responsible decision as each vote counts and it will decide the future of our nation.

It is very evident that the real choice to be made is between Congress and the BJP. Aam Admi Party is claiming to be a serious contender but after how they handled Delhi, I feel they are not ready yet. Their inexperience will be disastrous for us. So, I am not considering them for my analysis here.
Between BJP and Congress, whom should we vote? To be specific, should we vote for NDA or UPA? If corruption is the deciding factor then please do not think that NDA would be majorly different from UPA. Moreover, corruption thrives because we as society are corrupt and we breed corrupt politicians. If we sell our votes and end up electing a corrupt politician then we should not blame political parties for it. 

The next factor is about being secular. Is Congress better off here than BJP? If Modi is being blamed for 2002 Gujarat riots then Congress was responsible for 1984 Sikh riots. In fact, I am sure that 1984 was more brutal because media then was not as active when compared to 2002. So, the ground reality of 1984 is not known to many. 

Now look at how the two political parties are structured. Congress seems to be a family affair since Jawaharlal Nehru's time and the legacy continues till date. BJP on the other hand is not dependent on dynasty. Even though Manmohan Singh is PM and has been the PM for last two terms, even school going kids know that he was not in control at all. Someone else was calling the shots. Maybe Rahul Gandhi would be elected PM if Congress wins this time but after listening to his interview with Arnab Goswami on Times Now news channel, I think his understanding of issues is far from reality. Now compare Narendra Modi with Manmohan Singh or Rahul Gandhi. When Narendra Modi talks we can sense great confidence and courage which feels reassuring. That's how the leader of the nation should be. In Congress too there was a strong leader in Pranab Mukherjee. He too would have been a strong PM candidate and may be that was the reason he was nominated by Congress to be the President of India. Pranab handled External affairs ministry very well. He talked tough with Pakistan. If he would have been in the race for PM, deciding between Modi and him would have been a tough call.

We have given the Congress party more than enough chances but they have not justified our faith in them. Hence I feel that we as a nation should give Narendra Modi a chance. Let us see what he can do in the next 5 years. If he doesn't do well let us go back to Congress or maybe choose the Aam Admi Party if they mature by then.