Indian Politics plunges to new lows this election season

I have never been a fan of politics and I never cared to know what the manifesto of the parties were going to be like, what promises they make and how many of them they actually keep. Politics for me has always been a pond full of mud where the person who has got the perfect balance of having the least corrupted image survives. I would never care for the front page of a newspaper unless it had news related to cricket or football and I hated news channels.

However, all this changed five years ago, when I cast a vote for the first time in my life and luckily, it was about a month after attaining the voting age. All four members of our family went together for the voting and surprisingly, it was the first time my parents and my elder brother were casting votes, making me the youngest voter of my family :)

It's not a film script so I would not say that I started following politics very closely after that but I felt there was a need to keep an eye on what the leaders of the country were upto. These days, when I don't have much work to do, television is the best medium to kill time and since I do not follow the music channels or the daily soaps religiously, it leaves me with little choice other than the news to watch.

So much of a prelude for what?? Read on...

I am sure all of us have, by chance or choice, followed the methods adopted by the political parties to lure the voters by all means, fair or unfair. I expected this campaigning season to be no different but sadly, it was. What was expected to be another two months laden with allegations, counter allegations, mud slinging and making and breaking of friendships has turned into something much filthier. The candidates have started using foul language on national television, in an effort to pull down others.

It all started with Varun Gandhi's famous hate speech in which he made no secret of his way of dealing with people of a particular community.

After that it was Lalu Yadav's turn to speak his mind about his preferred way of punishing him and no surprises, both were hauled up by the Election Commission.

Mr. Narendra Modihas been trying desperately to project himself as a National Leader ever since the Vajpayee Government was formed and then the Godhra issue just added to his cause. Thus, he, along with Mr. Advani, jumped into the campaigning by criticizing the Congress Party for being old!! I mean, what prevents these people from thinking sensibly before they make such speeches?

Priynaka Gandhi gave him a very apt answer, asking openly to the journalists that,

"Kya main apko boodhi lagti hoon? Mujhe nahi pata Modi ji aur Advani ji ke dekhne ka kya nazariya hai"

This reply has kept him mum for the past few days and I really appreciate the lady for the way she carries herself and distances herself from active politics, restricting her participation only for the campaigning purpose.

The BJP - Congress rivalry has gone on and on but the good part is that they do not use any vulgar language against each other.


This was the time when a totally unheard of Candidate from BSP, Mr. Akhilesh Das, came into the fray. The person joined BSP after parting from Congress about an year ago and here are some of the lines that he used (which reflect his family background and his mindset) to criticise Mr. Amar Singh's inclusion of film stars to his party:

" Amar Singh ji Nafisa Ali ko le aaye hain. Unki film line mein itni hi chalti hai to Aishwarya Rai ko hi le aate. Hum bhi itne boodhe nahi hain, hamara bhi mann laga rehta.
By virtue of her marriage Nafisa’s full name should be Nafisa Sodhi and not Ali since her husband is a Sodhi; but of course that depends on what relationship she has with her husband. Pata nahi pati hain bhi ki nahi, woh to hum hi keh rahe hain.”

I mean, what depths can these leaders scale in their bid to attain power? I would like to leave you with this and I hope there are no more of these quotes in the months to come. It has really brought shame to the entire country.