India is a densely populated country of 1.39 billion and is divaricated into various cultures and customs. There are 28 states and eight union territories in India at present. The Indian constitution recognizes 22 major languages of India in its “8th Schedule” apart from the official language English. They also happen to be the major literary languages in India, with a considerable writing volume. However, we have more than 121 languages, including every dialect spoken across India by over 10000 people. As per the 2011 census report, the number of mother tongues is 19,569; however, 96.71 percent of the country has one of the 22 scheduled languages as their mother tongue.
Furthermore, being such a divergent country, we always need leaders who would ensure our development and respect our people, cultures, customs, and beliefs. The sound and capable leader lead their people and country to peace and prosperity but building a strong nation doesn’t revolve around the leaders. As a citizen; we should always do our duty towards our country by obeying the rules, pay timely taxes, casting our valuable vote to choose the right leader for our state or country etc. That brings me to the subject “Election 2021.”
The election in 2021 comprised the by-election to the Lok Sabha, elections to the Rajya Sabha, elections to legislative assemblies of 4 states, and one union territory, namely Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Pondicherry. On 2nd May, the votes were counted, and results were declared. As the citizens of India and residents of those respective states, we cast our precious votes. Some of us are delighted to know the results, and some of us are disheartened. But the election is not simple and is not just about losing or winning. It is more than that. It is a political affair and the political tricks played by the parties like luring the voters to their sides with cloying talks, money, significant promises, degrading the reputation of other parties, fights, and many more. The election process starts way before the day of vote when parties get a chance of putting across their thoughts to persuade the voters to vouch for their victory.
The most talked about subject these days is West Bengal Election. In this pandemic situation where the number of cases surging exponentially every day across all states where West Bengal is not spared either, voters took the risk of going out and casting a vote. The election committee ensured the safety measures taken to prevent the spread of the virus while the voting process carries on. Is that the only worry West Bengal citizens had, especially the ones from rural and suburbs? The news of Election violence 2021 in West Bengal (WB) was on every newspaper and online news portal where four people were allegedly killed in the name of self-defense. One other person died after clashes between supporters of rival parties. Both the parties (TMC and BJP) are blaming each other for the incidents. This isn’t new in that state. West Bengal, which lies in eastern India, has seen thousands of people killed during decades of political unrest. Many news portals had given their analysis of why and how Coochbehar, WB, took place. Many didn’t digest the happenings well and doubted the election process and the parties. Many feared to step out and cast a vote. However, the election process didn’t stop, and TMC pulled off a spectacular victory in a high-stakes electoral battle for a third consecutive term in West Bengal.
How was the election for the other states? In Tamil Nadu, for that matter, the election is the first in the state without two of Tamil Nadu’s towering political figures, M Karunanidhi and J Jayalalithaa. The gap they left in the political arena has given rise to other fronts over the last few years. After ten years in opposition, the DMK eventually won the election, especially when the AIADMK lacked a charismatic leader to match the stature of the late J Jayalalithaa.
LDF rewrote history in Kerala on 2nd May by winning a second term in a state that had not returned an incumbent government is found decades. The 76-year-old CPI(M) leader Pinarayi Vijayan became only the third chief minister in Kerala’s history to be re-elected and the first to continue in office after completing a full term. The LDF’s win is just the second instance of a ruling front receiving consecutive terms.
While BJP managed to beat the incumbency factor and massive anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) sentiments with the ruling NDA, it was ahead of the Congress-led Grand Alliance with leads. It won 73 seats in the 126-member House in Assam. Meanwhile, in Pondicherry, the NDA looked set to form the government, with NR Congress winning eight seats and its ally BJP securing four seats in the 30-member House.At the moment, I remember the words of Groucho Marx, American comedian, “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, misdiagnosing it and applying the wrong remedies.” I fall in that category of people who strongly believe people join politics to set things, processes, and laws right. And then, they come across the restrictions imposed by parties within and outside, the wall of election and re-election, the pettiness of political tricks which gets in the way of the life and the business of the people. Eventually, they forget about their true intention of setting things right and remember only Politics. The opinion might sound harsh yet true!
Work is Worship 