Voter-nama

Amidst the welter of data thrown up in the Indian Express-NDTV-ACNeilsen opinion poll was an interesting little nugget on popular attitudes to the politician. One of the most durable figures of fun and often active dislike 8212; especially in societies as political as India8217;s, more so in periods of election campaigning 8212; are the people we spend so much time and effort to vote into office. The opinion poll captured, rather nicely, the love-hate relationship the voter has for the voted.

It discovered that, on the one hand, 66 per cent voters believed that politicians were 8220;doing a good job8221;. On the other hand, 74 per cent believed that people entered politics to make money, rather than serve the nation. If you put these two readings together, you arrive at a somewhat startling conclusion: That the majority of voters believe politicians are doing a good job making money. No, that may be a trifle unfair. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that voters have got more immune to political misdemeanour and have finally come to terms with the amoral politician. Come to think of it, they have had little choice in the matter given the ubiquitous nature of political wrongdoing. Every generation has had its favourite scandal, right from the days when the Mudra affair shocked a newly-independent nation and led to the resignation of T.T. Krishnamachari, half a century or so ago, right down to Dilip Singh Judeo8217;s on-camera indiscretions late last year.

But there is something disconcerting about this new-found equanimity with which voters regard political representatives who make money and don8217;t serve the nation. Their outrage and anger are powerful weapons to keep such individuals in check. After all, it is not the criminal-justice system as much as the prospect of losing popular support, that would most trouble the criminal in politics. As Churchill put it so long ago, democracy is about the little man or woman, walking to the little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper. It8217;s important that that little person doesn8217;t lose the sense of knowing when to cross out candidates who don8217;t stand the test of democracy and law.