Elections are barely any new concept to India, be it the Buddhist jatakas which tell about Ganarajyas and their elections, or the Rigvedic Sabha and samiti's, where election occurs and a leader is chosen, or of the numerous tribal societies where its leaders were chosen, coming in advance of the time, the Uthiramerur epigraph of Parantaka I of the Chola house proclaims of a self-governance and its voting models in elaborate, voting is never a new thing to India.
But the real deal began somewhere in the 1860s when the legislative councils through indirect elections got "nominated" to the governor's legislative councils, corporations, municipalities and district boards. this reached its zenith with the Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1918 and the Government of India Act of 1919, which effectively introduced dyarchy, where Indians were elected to provincial legislative councils and imperial legislative council, where Indian members took care of not-so-important and deciding portfolios like public health, education, local self-governments etc and as usual the British members hold important portfolios such as home, finance, revenue etc. However governors and governor general had a prerogative to pass any ordinance and run the house at their pleasure. But the 1920 elections marked the giving of voting rights to a larger Indian population than earlier, only landowners and large ryots, and taxpayers were exclusively given the voting right, along with university graduates, district boards, chamber of commerce along with the nominated executives.
These legislative councils started to function in the 1920s. The conundrum here is of the country, but the voice is of a Telugu man, living in 1926 in Rayalaseema, to be precise a voter of Anantapuramu non-Mohammedan rural constituency, explaining his conundrum in the form of a song. This song is in Telugu, published in Sri Sadhana Patrika in 1926, published by congressman, and freedom fighter Pappuri Ramacharyulu. It was published and titled as A Voter’s Dispassion.
The translation is as follows of the Telugu song.
A voter's dispassion
To whom should I give? To whom should I give my vote?
"relatives say to one, neighbours say to the others,
the Karanam say to one, the kapu to another,
my wife says another, Peshkar says another,
ask to give my vote and pressurise me."
"one say they'll reduce taxes,
the other say they'll bring freedom to the nation,
while the other assures of employment opportunities,
all these people unnecessarily incites desires in me."
"If I vote for Pillai the Reddies are hurt,
if I vote for Reddies, Pillai gets hurt,
if I give each one the Brahmins are hurt,
if I vote for the Brahmins everyone is hurt"
"wells, tanks have turned barren and become grounds,
, failed monsoons, drought, crop failures occur,
and we are dying in famines,
you feel this isn't enough and eat us in the name of vote."
"tax rates increase and yet there's no increase in portfolios,
difficulties grow than yesterday like there's no next day,
if I think and decide not to vote and abstain,
not leaving me many are just harassing me"
Speaking of the 1926, legislative council elections, the Justice party lost its power to the Swaraj party and no one yielded an absolute majority forming a nonpartisan government in 132 member council. This election occurred when there was severe hardship in the presidency, world war aftermath, and failure of both southwest and northeast monsoons ensured drought, tax collectors and money lenders were uncompromised, forcing mass migrations of landless labourers, even which the author mentions of, yet the mania of election never dies and he's suggested whom to vote for by his relatives, neighbours, his village revenue assistant, his ryots, his wife and the clerk in his office all suggests and pressurise him.
Then, he gets interested and views the assurances of candidates, one assures in reduction of tax rates [Justice party], and the other assures of bringing independence to the country [ swaraj party], and non-partisans assure of increase in employment opportunities. he says everyone is poking and inciting of a desire which makes him happy through their assurances. As he thinks to vote, he thinks of Pattu Kesava Pillai aka Gooty Kesava Pillai, a reporter for the Hindu, a veteran politician, who reported about the bravery of Hampanna in Gooty. If he thinks of voting for them, the Reddies faction of that era Obi Reddi, Narayana Reddi, Timma Reddi, the rest get hurt, and vice versa. As there were two seats he thought to give each Pillai and Reddi one, if he does that the Brahmans are hurt and if he thinks to give them to Brahmans everyone's hurt, he asks dispassionately whom should he vote for. well, the caste and vote in this country is never distant revolves as long as being a social being.
he gets irritated that there's famine all across the province and these people are more bothered about the vote, there's no water. Wells, tanks and irrigation channels all have gone bone dry and turned barren, looking like big grounds, and there's no adequate food or water, our sufferings have turned eternal, but you eternally want to eat me in the name of vote. in this governance, only tax rates rise but not the portfolios of governing Indians in the portfolios, difficulties just prosper than of the past, and if I decide not to vote, people do not leave me and just dance around me in the name of vote. and asks whom should he vote for.
after 98 years or almost of a century, the elections are happening again, like everyone is dancing and blowing trumpets in the name of votes, a quick reminiscence answers many questions. Almost in a century, how many problems have we overcome? tax rates are still a problem, lack of adequate employment is also a problem, monsoons still fail to this day, crop failures occur, farmers migrate, tanks and wells are bone dry again but our desires haven't dried yet, only the desire of state has been achieved of the problems in a century, how many centuries it may take to solve the other too?
A Sanskrit rhymester says that food, sleep, shelter, clothes, money and peace of mind remain to be eternal problems of human beings because they may have these at one point and may not have at another point. These six may remain to be eternal problems. Likewise, tax rates, unemployment, droughts, freebies, development and other assurances are also the eternal problems of the democratic republic, yes, we should become the bards of our own future and be voting for the better is also an eternal problem. the bard of this blog also feels that the Sanskrit rhymester's six eternal problems and democratic republic eternal problems do exist hand in hand coterminously. As some stories never end likewise the conundrum also never ends. undeniably, there are problems in the system, after all the system is a mere reflection of the society, as said in a Sanskrit shloka,
Rājñye dharmiṇi dharmiṣṭā
pāpē pāpaḥ same samaḥ
lōkāsta manuvartantē
yathā rāja tatha prajā
People follow their ruler: they are virtuous if the Ruler is virtuous; sinners if the king be a sinner and normal if their king be normal. As the king so the subjects.
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