Lights, Camera, Election!!!

National election is one of those most awaited festivals which occurs once in five years (obviously in normal course) and the excitement it holds is simply unmatchable. We might not be able to connect the dots with remarkable/terrible decisions made by the government during its tenure but, somewhere within, we are thrilled to get the mystery uncovered. The mystery is not confined to getting an answer as to who will be our next PM but it extends to countless things which runs into our minds. Amongst all this anxiety, media doesn’t leave any stone unturned to milk this opportunity of feeding spicy content which either adds to the adrenaline rush we already have or gives us a sense of direction which is even more exciting. Should media be held responsible for the quality of information presented during this sensitive period? Can we consider significant changes, events or decisions made during the election month to be a coincidence? Well, politically, it’s almost impossible to validate this or else we will not be able to call it as politics.

Against all other festivals, this festival entails preparation at a monumental level which goes on for almost a year. All of us know that the money spent on election campaigns and related activities is simply insane. According to the sources, an estimated amount of INR 50k crores to be spent for 2019 elections. Phewwww! by any stretch of my imagination I can’t think of an alibi to spend this much amount to echo your fabricated achievements and outplay other’s mistakes. The biggest question is from where this money comes from? Is there any provision for this spend in our budget? Is this not questionable or all of us are supposed to keep mum and just ignore as we are ignored for 5 years? Have the media considered it as an issue or they are not supposed to think in this direction and highlight issues which are already known to everyone? To be frank, this is worse than being blind as things can be clearly seen but everyone pretends it to be unseen.

Media plays a very pivotal role during this season. What is more important is not the content which they showcase but the way the content is portrayed. This projection can be highly persuasive and can influence the voters to think/act in a manner which is ethically not correct. If I take a very simple example of exit polls (which defies its name to the extent of 100% as the election is yet to kick start), I would personally never be able to comprehend what could be the intended message around it. If I am rest assured that one party is leading already then would it make sense for me to waste my vote by choosing someone at the losing end. Wouldn’t I rather prefer to strengthen someone at the borderline and bypass someone who is way behind the borderline? I noticed beeline of news articles leapfrogging to headlines and getting lot of media coverage but suddenly these headlines have taken a back seat. So now, all at a sudden the mudslinging and the accusations made by one to another is more important than anything else in this world? It’s hard to believe if this projection is ethical and again everyone prefers to cover their naked eyes with their eyelids.

The best part of this festival is yet to come i.e. floodgate of sops, promises, positivity, compassion, waivers, cash distribution/freebies, horse trading, movement of members from one party to another, pre-alliance/ breakups, glamour and so on. Quite often there is a sense of euphoria during this season like stock market skyrocketing, a very robust growth projection in upcoming years, stereotyped reforms suddenly benefiting millions of us without we even realizing it, reservation proposed for a new community, loan waiver, minimum income for the poor and what not. Can we call all of it a co-incidence which would have occurred otherwise also? One month of stock market run outmatched the growth being witnessed in years, so was it organic? How come an airline company which was on the verge of collapse got further aid when it was already indebted for INR 10k crores? How come the biopic on PM is coming exactly in the same week of election? How come the money withdrawn from banks in this season amplified 100 times and high value notes didn’t come back into the system? Shhhhhhh, we can’t talk about these things. How can we stoop so low that we think it’s not a co-incidence?

Ideally this festival is more colorful than Holi as it has numerous shades which can never be known. During holi, even when someone is completely embroiled with multiple colors, we can identify the person but unfortunately during election season it’s impossible to imagine the true colors of our Gods. Pumping up glamour by hiring few jobless film stars is further intended to deviate the real issues and focus on something which is temporary and artificial. What is really required for us is to factor in everything which occurred/missed over the period and not the chain of events close to election time. It shouldn’t be difficult for anyone to fake for a temporary period, but the mask will surely be rotten in 5 years and we can easily see the true picture if we analyze things for a longer period. Lights, Camera, Action sounds good only in reel life and by no means we should draw parallel lines from there to be influenced by the political drama which essentially aggravates during the so called ‘DESH KA MAHA TYOHAAR- LIGHTS, CAMERA, ELECTION!!!