Do Issues Matter?

How do voters vote in India? Are they driven by party manifestos or by issues affecting them? Do they vote as responsible citizens or act under pressure or simply behave as a commodity purchased by politicians? Are they really masters in this democracy of ours? These are difficult questions, but the fact remains that disinterest among the elites to exercise their franchise and their indifference to the greatest festival of democracy — elections — have compounded the problem. Forget the issue of terrorism and nuclear deal with the US. Even on issues like price hike, basic education, health care or sanitation that affect the voter directly in rural areas, does he respond in a way he should? He is mostly part of a bloc voting on dictated terms. It is then a mandate prepared well in advance, detached from the issues of the day, and one may have a glimpse of that in backward areas where illiteracy and poverty are a way of life perpetuated by politicians to sustain themselves. No wonder, such voters turn up in huge numbers and seal the fate of candidates. True, they exercise their franchise and contribute to the cause of democracy, but how far is it meaningful in the context of the same democracy? How many voters in long, serpentine queues in rural and backward areas know anything beyond mere party symbols? THE SENTINEL