I didn't vote, but co-incidentally exchanged a couple of mails with Vivek Menon, a foreign-returnee who stood for election as an independant in my area (he was a finalist in that strange "Lead India" contest of the Times of India). I didn't vote coz I wasn't in the electoral rolls, coz I have no idea how to get on them.
One of the things that keeps getting reinforced in me but I never change my ways is that when you move to a new place, if you (ie I) don't get the basics sorted out immediately (car regn. , cooking gas, water , electricity and if you care about it, voter id), they never get down and later has a disproportionate impact on your quality of life
There are timid signs of life in the electoral scene with very random people starting to try to do something. There are some tiny parties now (partitrana, jago, loksatta) and independants like vivek menon above who are giving it a shot. God knows we need it.
There is an option when voting to not choose any of the candidates, to express protest.
The newspapers have started giving out the financial worth of the candidates. Everybody is a crore+, and some are way above that. With the rise in tax receipts, government also is relatively flush with funds and it shows in the paraphernalia of governance -- high end cars and SUVs, long road escorts for government dignitaries. It stinks.
NGOs are distributed across the country but they don't have much of a presence in any particular constituency. How to build them together into a stronger voice in politics ?
One of the things that keeps getting reinforced in me but I never change my ways is that when you move to a new place, if you (ie I) don't get the basics sorted out immediately (car regn. , cooking gas, water , electricity and if you care about it, voter id), they never get down and later has a disproportionate impact on your quality of life
There are timid signs of life in the electoral scene with very random people starting to try to do something. There are some tiny parties now (partitrana, jago, loksatta) and independants like vivek menon above who are giving it a shot. God knows we need it.
There is an option when voting to not choose any of the candidates, to express protest.
The newspapers have started giving out the financial worth of the candidates. Everybody is a crore+, and some are way above that. With the rise in tax receipts, government also is relatively flush with funds and it shows in the paraphernalia of governance -- high end cars and SUVs, long road escorts for government dignitaries. It stinks.
NGOs are distributed across the country but they don't have much of a presence in any particular constituency. How to build them together into a stronger voice in politics ?
posted by VK at 2:14 AM
2 Comments:
yooohooooo!!!
I finally voted... Yep..!!!
For over a decade I had been trying to get myself into voter rolls...but it used to involve a visit to some office all time... never managed to do it..
Last 1-2 yrs even registered few times online - didnt work either.
But finally this time - it clicked. They were collecting Form6 at tons of locations... so you could download the Form6, fill it, attach a proof of address...and submit. We used a telephone bill or a bank statement for Proof of address --- dont need a ration card etc as we feared.
However getting Election Photo ID Card (EPIC) done was tricky since it involved going to designated locations etc... However, finally we just voted showing our DL/PAN etc as photo id proof... Simple!
-Sidharth
Heartfelt congratulations.
You did something that most middle/upper class Indians nowadays never manage to achieve :-)
So whom did you vote for ?
--Vijay
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