Anupam- The Dreamer

What is the most essential feature of democracy that connects a citizen to his/her government directly? It is the “power to vote for the government”! This power to vote is the most basic thing that determines the formation of government in a democracy. It is the outcome of the essential fundamental right to express one’s own views about his/her own government. It is this power to vote that makes a person a “citizen” of a particular nation. It makes him/her feel empowered in mind and in soul. It is the thing that makes a person “feel” that his/her voice matters and that he/she has the power to form/topple government and this sense of empowerment cannot be undermined at any cost.

When a poor man/woman stands in the queue patiently waiting for the turn to vote on the election day, there is a feeling in his/her mind that they are the makers of their own destiny and at the same time, there is a “hope” for a better tomorrow! You may think that when the margins of win/lose are so high, then what is the value of a single vote? You may go ask this question from a person who has lost the elections by a single vote, or whose government has fallen by a just one less MP/MLA in the legislature.

Such is the power of one vote. It can decide the destiny of the public representatives, and in turn it has the power to determine their own destiny through their representatives. Every citizen’s vote is invaluable in that sense. It is not a commodity to be traded in a market, nor it is an item of exchange between the two persons. It is an expression of “sovereign will” of a citizen who is expected to make the decision on the basis of inner conscience. But, the problem starts when this invaluable vote is treated like a commodity in the market and it is put up for sale!

The poor people are more gullible to sell their votes to some or the other political party/candidate in lieu of certain tangible benefits like cash, liquor, saree, bicycles, scooty, mobiles etc. or for intangible benefits like caste-clout, majority dominance etc. It is often seen that many people do not vote according to their conscience, but rather treat their invaluable vote as a mere “commodity”, the market price of which skyrockets during the elections, and whosoever offers the highest price, vote tends to shift towards that candidate/party.

In all this process of commodification of votes, what is the ultimate tragedy? It is the democracy which suffers because the process of election will not be free and fair, and when the foundation of the democracy, which is the sanctity of electoral process, crumbles, then what can we say about the superstructure! Everything falls down like a pack of cards!

The vote, which is a sacred expression of a citizen’s own will, becomes a tradable commodity in the hands of those who have the money and muscle power. But, the citizens who sell their votes are as much guilty as are the people who buy their votes or entice them to vote in a particular way in lieu of some benefits. And till the time, the citizens of a nation are willing to trade their voice of conscience with any sort of material benefit, there can be no real redemption for the democracy. Those who sell their votes, or those who don’t even bother to vote, cannot hold their government accountable on even the moral grounds.

A democracy is ultimately based on the trust of its citizens on its government. And if the citizens are willing to trade their invaluable vote with anything, then it simply means that they don’t have any iota of trust left in their government! They are simply trading their collective interests for their petty selfish interests, and they will definitely have to pay the price for that in future. I hope that we realize that the value of our vote in a democracy is far far greater than any material thing. It is certainly not a market commodity, but an instrument of trust and an expression of a sovereign will of a citizen. True independence in an independent country is when the mind of a citizen is free to think, speak and act as per his/her own will. And no tangible value could ever be attributed to that. Period!