Electoral Politics, Lies, and People!

If a choice was to be left between choosing hell and contemporary electoral politics, many of us would go down the path to endure the pain of flames and not the latter. Such awful it has become. And if disrepute had a face, it would certainly look like our most regional politicians, who, in order to win elections, stoop to spread nauseating lies among one another. It has turned into a dirty tug of war. But what can be done: you raise your voice; you become a tiny insect, paying attention to whom becomes downright impossible. It just sucks!

Of late, I came across an X-post by one of the ardent supporters of a certain popular party. Claiming the other political parties as belonging to the one currently ruling this country and thus needing to be rejected altogether by the people, she garnered the support of the folks and the to-be-cast votes: likes by people, social media sharing, and emotional-cum-illogical appeals. Targeted at the naïve, such tactics were supposed to drag them into one-sided “meri-hi-haqeeqat-hai” bogus. It’s astonishing to see how in a world so civilized do such things (backed not by evidence but by “yaqeenkaro-ology”) gain relevance. Votes won!

Pointing to stinking blunders (lies, seemingly) committed in the name of serving people post-electoral win doesn’t amount to restraining their freedom to run campaigns; the only thing it emphasises is that we shouldn’t forget rudimentary human values (speaking truth and remaining morally tight) just for the sake of winning a few seats. It just is not the right thing to do. Philosophers and prophets have always put strong emphasis on thinking before speaking, and we the intellectuals and covetous stick to the later and slaughter the former. Whatever the means, we must win—such a disgrace!

Issues regarding our contemporary politics have stacked up to look like a mountain, and we, the innocent public, have always failed to recognise even the margins of it. We always acted dumb and deaf, walking the imaginary paths and castles built by most regional parties. But times have passed now. People have seemingly embraced change. Politicians may have the liberty of mixing salt and sugar and calling it the best dish of the world; it’s on us to recognise such trivial yet huge pre-planned tactics and dissect them, engaging in discussions and focusing on facts, take a time to recall if the promises made prior were fulfilled or not, consider diversifying choices regarding politicians here and there, and choose accordingly.

Trust none; seek an objective proof instead. Always. The world of hollow talks we have always dwelt on—now is the time to move away from it and establish some principles favouring something concrete: logical, tangible, and last but not least, unhypocritical.