Voting is not only our right, but also a great and meaningful responsibility

- To the point-Ajit Parrot

Our incomparable lyricist-composer Avinash Vyas composed a Gujarati song, a part of which goes like this- 'Taiyar hai jajo, naat bhat jaat tari koi hajo, get ready, shoulder to shoulder, leaning into the war, mother watan ne kaj jang khipi. Judges...' with Avinashbhai's apology, I say with a little change, 'Vote for motherland without fail...' Exactly 48 hours later, the first phase of Gujarat assembly polls is on 1st December.

If you check the recent history, you will realize that in big cities including Mumbai, especially the educated and affluent class do not go to vote. Due to this many times unqualified person reaches the legislature. Non-voters later criticize the government indiscriminately. They have not done their duty, but they like to criticize the people in power. This time due to tragedy like Morbi, inflation, corruption etc., there is going to be a tussle between the candidates. One has to be especially wary of those who talk about giving such food and drink for free. It is the easiest way to empty the government treasury. Free is really a trick to cut the pockets of taxpayers like me and you.

Whether we like it or not, day by day the number of candidates indulging in evil activities like Daagi and Ayaram Gayaram is increasing. Those workers defected just to benefit from being in the ruling party. Due to this, the biggest damage is done to the democracy and thus to the people. Every voter has to vote keeping this in mind. Every voter has a strong sense of the anti-social elements of their locality. A headstrong man cannot be reached directly, polling for elections becomes useful in that way.

I would like to cite two or three examples here. As far as Ahmedabad is concerned, Abdul Latif won the election on four-five seats while sitting in jail. One such example is Mumbai-Maharashtra. A former police commissioner of Mumbai said while talking to the media that when people who have been booked for crimes like murder, rioting and robbery become MLAs, my life is constantly on fire while saluting them. This was said for Arun Gawli. The third example is that of Bhajanlal of Haryana. When Indira Gandhi, who was defeated in the post-emergency elections, won again in the 1980 elections, Bhajanlal defected overnight along with his entire state government and took off Indira Gandhi's sari.

After that many rivers flowed in Ganga-Yamuna. Nowadays, the number of candidates appearing continuously increases. There is no way to stop it in our democracy. Dhurandhar law expert Nani Palkhiwala once said that it is a sad phenomenon that educated people do not enter politics. The reality today is that educated people come into politics and commit rampant corruption. That our judiciary cannot bend the hair of such people is the biggest tragedy of our parliamentary democracy.

If you feel that any candidate in your area is not eligible, you can use NOTA. That is also your right. It is better to press the button of nota than to send an incompetent person to the Legislature and regret it later, but voting is to be infallible. A holiday will be declared on the polling day. If you want to sit at home and play fafda-jalebi or play teinpatti, then play it, but first go to vote. If you go early in the morning, there will not be a long line. Don't forget responsibility while talking about rights. Only once in five years do you get a chance to hit a 'chokdi' on that person's name. Keep missing the chance!