kartik kannan's space on the web

The 49 ' er

Elections are here , thats what people say...but as a independent citizen of this country, do I actually have a mandate that can change the way I want Leaders to lead or evn chose , who I entrust in leading the nation.All I see around is horrible ads that talk about how each Political party leader makes a fool of himself commiting to promises that they cant keep.Now that people are actually talking about these promises,makes me think, that the majority of people who vote,dont really have an eye on how India can transform into a nation that can visions like "2020" envisage.These rural Majority are easily swayed by obnoxious schemes that are aimed at helping them acquire personal things,which arent of any use to the country.Now tell me , If Jayalalitha says .."Thaalikku thangam" (every managal sutra gets proprtionate Gold) and Karunanidhi says 'veetukku veedu Colour tv (Colour Tv in each house),Arent these idiotic Politicians making people more selfish for a personal cause,eliminating things in the larger interest of the nation or the state.

Screwed Policies like Reservation appeals to the lower strata of society which is uneducated and the so called Backward classes as they find a cushion to rest back upon, wheres thousands of aspiring meritorious students who slog are given the axe,by not getting seats in colleges despite their academic scores,as the caste reservations end up as a road block and these meritorious people get dejected and it doesnt take a big effort to make them anti-national elements as money is promised temporarily by pursuing crooked nefarious activities,and given the competition in the current dog eat dog world..."get it " by hook or crook seems to be the catchphrase in these modern times.

I may not have the luxury, neither to understand the economics of a government nor to estimate the cost benefit analysis of these flurry of “free” offers from the 2006 election "Champion". Believe me, after seeing several elections; I know that they are not going to keep up their words.I remember the case of a Rajasekara reddy who took over from Chandrababu Naidu, with the USP as "he will work for the farmers giving free elctricity and not so much for the development of the already cash filled cyberabad.Same with SM Krishna in Karanataka,as Karnataka seems to have floundered after Dharam Singh came on Board.

When these Politicians cannot keep up their words, Then why do we have this drama? Do they have a choice? Do i have a choice? Well Only Time will tell.Movies like Mudhalvan,Yuva,Rang de Basanti would only be distant memories.Even though Lok Paritran , has also jumped into the dirty gutter of politics...it should be a few years before whic we know whether they have jumped to clean it or beome part of the gutter(which I hope..they will not).

But Coming to,why the political parties behave like this, I don’t think they have a choice because they are competing in a race. Everybody wants to perform better than their honourable competitors, they can’t win a lay man's confidence by talking about their vision, mission, strategies, accomplishments, strengths, plans, policies etc., simply because the common man working on the field's don’t care a damn about it. .When a person's basic needs are at stake, do you expect the people (who are fooled by election gimmicks like free this and free that ) to think about you, the society or the government. Come on, Give me a break! All they care about is their basics - food, clothing, TV etc(Ok Roti , Kapda and MAKAN got replaced by TV..as this is the age of educating women with Free Dose of SUN Tv serials..as proclaimed by teh DMK).

Just as some one on the web put it,I am echoing these lines as he says it ...and also the fact that I may go for the 49 option or choose the Lok Paritran.

My political heroes like some of my cinema leaders understand this clearly. They quickly grab my attention, make me happy for the moment and keep themselves busy with their business. I will wait for the next release, sorry election. I got used to this.

As always Cinema is politics, Politics is Cinema. I don’t know to separate them. We create leaders in cinema and heroes in politics.
Wait a minute, i have another choice - '49 o'.

For the un initiated ....the "Forty Nine O " is as follows

"In a particular constituency, if a voter dislikes all of the candidates competing there, then he can show his dislike to all of them by registering for 49’O. This option is available since 1960.

Steps for doing this:
1. While registering the name at the time of voting, convey to the booth officials that “I want to go for 49’O”.

2. Register your signature in the 49’O form available there.

Now, if the number of 49’O count is larger than that of the winning candidates total vote count, then a re-election is called there."