Must Election Campaigns Be Banned?

Must Campaigns Be Banned Altogether

By Harish Bijoor

Have you noticed? Elections and the campaigns that accompany them are getting quieter and quieter. Even less exciting than the ones that preceded them. It’s a matter of perspective really. While the politician at large feels there is less excitement on the election campaign process itself, from the lay-voter point of view, there is that much more clarity and that much less noise that drowns out the real issues at large.

The Election Commission is to be thanked or blamed for it all. Again, depends on the perspective you come from. I would personally go all the way out and thank the guys at the EC who have made this happen over successive sets of elections. Progressively, over the years, more and more of these regulations have stepped in to halt the otherwise raucous tempo of electioneering and undue throw of money-power.

In the old days, think elections, and you thought noise and clutter. The process was truly un-regulated and therefore the election campaign at large was electoral pollution at its best. There was visual pollution and clutter all around in terms of posters, banners, streamers, buntings, Chennai-style cutouts and more. When you looked around, the election looked like a festival of democracy for sure. In this festival atmosphere however, there was little to distinguish and a lot to confuse. In many ways, the one who put up the most posters looked the biggest and the poor candidate with little or no money looked very small. Never mind the issues and philosophy he or she represented as an individual and minor party in the fray.

Add to this visual pollution,  noise pollution as well. Every place of every kind was used for electioneering. Schools, colleges, temples, churches and mosques were not left out of it as well. Music would blare right through into the wee hours of the morning disturbing schools, hospitals and the sleeping public at large. The election continued to be a festival of noise and sound. Auto-rickshaws with loudspeakers, taxis with folk singing songs and shouting into microphones and more. Remember?

Again, the one with more money to burn on the campaign was a better guy, at least in terms of his imagery in the constituency.

The campaign included more of course. And this part of it is still not as regulated as it can and must be. Biryani-dinners, cricket-clubs in villages with sponsored t-shirts and caps and prizes, mobilization of crowds, grocery-shop coupons to redeem, liquor-coupons to redeem and lots more to redeem, except respect.

The point I make is a simple one. Campaigns at large gobble up money. This money is of different colors: black, grey and white. The ‘black’ is spent in terms of hard cash that comes from God and the Devil knows where. The ‘grey’ money is all about benefactors who sponsor dinners and posters and taxis and helicopters and more, without coming to the fore of it all, and the ‘white’ is the Rs.16 lakhs a candidate is allowed to spend on a campaign.

Campaigns that consume money to 'influence' voters are an insult to the electorate. Why insult at all? Campaigns that consume money must be banned altogether. Why must so much money be spent to 'influence' voters?

Why must a voter be ‘influenced’ at all? Yes, a voter must be ‘informed’ but not ‘influenced’. The process of keeping a voter informed and aware can be well achieved by the EC itself. Why not ban campaigns altogether? Allow for only 1:1 contact programs of the candidate and the voter at large. No support campaigners even. Allow for television and radio debates with clearly allocated free slots for all candidates in the fray. Lessen the noise, and lessen the pollution further. Campaigns in many ways increase the clutter, are cost-intensive and confuse and confound.

Think again from the perspective of expenditure. None of us really believes that all a candidate in a constituency spends is as little as Rs. 16 lakhs on the campaign.  The truth lies somewhere in the number between Rs. 35.84 Crores on the Karnataka election and a number of Rs. 6000 Crores as touted by some.

Will we save a lot of time, energy, money and pollution of every kind if only campaigns are banned altogether? Touche!

Twitter @harishbijoor

Karnataka Elections 2013: 4 Parties and 4 Stories

Four Parties, Four Stories

By Harish Bijoor

As Karnataka wakes up to another summer of election discontent, the noise level in our lives is slated to go up by decibels in the weeks ahead of 5 May.  This noise is not just aural noise, but instead it is all about the clutter of the visual, the confused tonality of touch, the sense of mixed election smell and indeed the delicious taste of an election as well. Not to talk of the after-taste. Bitter or otherwise!

Elections, after all, are very sensorial processes. Sensorial processes that affect our sense of sight, the sense of smell, the sense of touch, the sense of sound, the sense of taste and indeed the sixth sense beyond that as well. The election ahead in the state of Karnataka is therefore an interesting one.

At this point of time, parties are yet to announce their candidates and their party manifestoes are still being cobbled and bound together. To that extent, the election ground of Karnataka is as pure as pure can be as of now. I am really talking about the mindsets of people and their dispositions to parties. The minds of people are yet to be influenced by the campaign that is just about to commence once the last date for withdrawal of nominations is upon us. To that extent, this is a lovely time to assess what each party has in store for itself in terms of imagery. Imagery cues that each party has accrued over the last five years, and in the case of one party, imagery cues that have accrued over the last three months.

I am going to paint a picture from the Brand Positioning perspective of the top four formations, in alphabetical order.

And before I do just that, a definition for a start. The Brand Position of a political party is really the exact pinpointed position a political party occupies in a voter’s mind at a given point of time, in relation to all other political parties that occupy that voters mind. To that extent, this brand position exploration is an as-is-as-of-now kind of an exploration. Do also remember that this position can change with time, change with campaigns, change with crises, and change with an act of God as well. The joy of political reality is change. Constant change that continues right up to the date of polling. And that’s why, none of us can call an election right. Never ever!

Let’s explore the brand positions and high ground occupied by the various parties in Karnataka as of now. Lets remember, every political party is a brand and its leaders are sub-brands that go to either embellish or rob the party of its deserving image. So here goes a quick paintbrush imagery of the four prominent formations that are assembled to face the electorate.

1.     BJP:
The Story So Far: A party in tumult. But then which party is not? The ‘nataka’ of Karnataka politics has bitten every one of them.  The BJP however has many bites to show though. A clear mandate to rule 5 years ago. A leader who rose from the grass roots in the guise of BS Yediyurappa. A good start. The politics of appeasement of groups. Rebellion. The Bellary brothers. Scams galore. Corruption issues that had the leader go to jail as well. And many Ministers as well. The challenger and the challenged all went to jail for sure. Forsaking the CM’s gaddi to a trusted name. The trusted name assumes his own in no time. A demand to change leadership. Resort politics. Brinksmanship. A new leader. But the same old issue. The leader assumes his own, this time causing for division within the Lingayat vote-bank itself. Brinksmanship again. And the leader who built the BJP in Karnataka, BSY, finally leaves the party to form his own. A quick variant of a name: The KJP. From “Bharatiya” to “Karnataka” Janata Party.

The Brand Imagery of the BJP: Corruption is a non-issue. Performance is. Voters strangely forgive corruption, but not a lack of performance. The BJP seen as a party that squandered the popular and solid mandate given to it, is an unforgiveable image the party has to tide over. This is the key explanation the communication format of the party needs to address in Karnataka.

2.     Congress:
The Story So Far: A party broken in form. While the party ruled the roost in the UPA coalition at the Centre, Karnataka remained a muddled dream of fishing in troubled waters. The efforts kept moving in a straight-line trajectory as any opposition party worth its salt would indulge in. The efforts, despite so many opportunities provided by the ruling party in the state, came close to snatch it all away from the BJP, but the party could never manage it really. A divided leadership in the State ensured that the party’s biggest competition was in-between its own leaders. This continued. Sadly, this continues to date, with the latest bickerings on ticket allocation catalyzing it all even more. Who is the real leader of the Congress party in the State then?  And “real” means real and unchallenged. Unchallenged in front of the leader, and more importantly unchallenged when the leader has turned his back to smoke a cigarette.

The Brand Imagery of the Congress: The party is fighting with itself. The party has a near sure shot chance at governance. The party has however not got its act together. The party is seen to be secular. The party leaders seem to exhibit ability, but the missing element is a common weal and a common driver who all will respect, before, during and more importantly after the elections. This is the key communication the party needs to address. Manifesto apart, leadership needs to be defined.  Announce Siddaramiah as the CM in waiting and sort it all out then? Or will it? Or will an old war-horse of the party in Karnataka need be invited back?

3.     JDS:
The Story So Far: A party that is intermittently awake and intermittently asleep. Are there two parties really, or one? Is there a party in North Karnataka and one in the Bangalore-Mysore region? Kumaranna’s work has been appreciated in the past at the ground level. But has Kumaranna lost out being center-stage for long? Public memory is proverbially short. The party’s stand on the Cauvery and Krishna waters issue has been a point of appreciation in the farmer community. That’s a plus. Is the JDS a party that is family led and family managed? And has this put off a lot of leaders who have deserted it over the last 5 years?

The Brand Imagery of the JDS: Confused as of now. The party needs to address key issues in the eye and has to move much beyond its trajectory of talking about the farmer at large. Rapid urbanization is a reality and the party needs to address these issues that relate to infrastructure, education and more, rather clearly and with cogent purpose. And just water politics may not do.

4.     The KJP:

The Story So Far: A new born led by an old war-horse. BSY is possibly the only leader in the pantheon of leaders around, who can be seen to be a real grass-roots leader capable of rousing the troops into action. The pity however is that the troops are just being assembled, and some of his key confidantes still sit across the party lines in the BJP, waiting to be rejected a ticket to defect. This delay might prove to be just too costly.

The Brand Imagery of the KJP: Nascent and just forming. The party needs to assemble its troops together fast. The key communication piece it needs to address is the fact that many a voter will think voting for the KJP is a waste of a vote. The typical hurdle the best of independent candidates face in elections, where voters want to vote for you, but don’t as they want a winner and not a loser to be the beneficiary of their valuable vote, faces the KJP as well. This is a big communication task.

Over to the election campaign then. Let’s see who says what?

Twitter @harishbijoor

Why We Must Must Vote!

Why Vote?

By Harish Bijoor

“Elections belong to the people. It's their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”

-Abraham Lincoln

This classic Abraham Lincoln quote says it all. The language is the polite and civilized  language  of the  1860’s, but you and I can well imagine what it would sound like, and how rude it would all appear if translated into the lingo of my young daughter and your young son today, circa 2013.

Lincoln packs a mean punch. And this punch is the ultimate answer to the question: Why Vote?

I am going to attempt to add seven more to that. But then, any piece written on the need to vote is seldom read and flossed over cynically. Therefore, allow me to embellish some sets of key thoughts with ‘desi-filmi’ titles that might just make you read this. And more importantly, take heed and act on it, when voting day dawns.

1.     ‘Sahib, Biwi Aur Gangster Returns’: We get the leaders we deserve. When Sravanthi Khan decides to take off to Ooty for a short two day trip on voting day with her family of 5, clubbing the Saturday to voting day (which many are likely to do), she does disservice to herself and her entire family. She gets the type of leaders she deserves. She didn’t vote, but she still gets what she deserves. A leader elected on the merit of her non-vote. A society really gets what it deserves. You and I get leaders we deserve. When we do not vote, we write a self-fulfilling prophesy of being governed by a leadership in place without the consent of our vote.

2.     ‘Dhamaal’: The vote is a source of power. Use it. It just might be the only source of power any of us have. We elect the people who make the laws. We elect the mechanism of governance we get. Have a say in it. Do not give up this source of power. It’s our only one.

3.     ‘Kaminey’: A vote is an opinion. Express it. A powerful opinion really. When you and I vote, we really express both positive and negative. We express our anguish and we equally express our hope for a better society and governance structure. In the one choice we make when we vote, we pack a lot. We pack our hope and anguish equally on issues that relate to education, health, society, safety, governance, corruption, and a myriad other things that affect us. And this chance comes once in 5 years. Normally. And what you and I have felt for these 5 years that have gone by gets bottled up in the one vote we cast. Is this not a heavy one? And is this not reason enough to vote?

4.     ‘Zindagi Na Milega Dobara’: The vote gives you a right to participate and demand. A lot of us are ready to talk the talk, but not necessarily walk the talk. When we vote, we really walk the talk. We stop being what Lincoln would have politely phrased to be bull-defecators!  I really don’t have the right to demand when I have not voted. I really don’t have the right to criticize, when I have not voted. Do you want these rights at all?

5.     ‘Son of Sardar’: We don’t vote for ourselves; we vote for our children really. To those of us with children, when you and I vote, we vote for our children even. We vote for our children who are not of voting age as yet. To an extent every vote we cast represents the positive intent we express for our children. It is therefore right that we vote, if at all not to disappoint and abrogate the aspirations of our children.

6.     ‘Bodyguard’: Education is meant to be a safe-guard of democracy. Really? Those of us who are educated and do not vote, somehow seem to make this statement seem all wrong! What’s the point of being educated, if we don’t exercise our educated franchise on that one day in 5 years? Have you realized that election outcomes are really controlled by those who step out of their homes to vote? Why would you or I abdicate this joy?

7.     ‘Qurbaan’: Your vote need not result in a winner. And lastly, there are people who really think that you always want to vote for a winner in the election. Let’s realize this is not a lottery. This is much more serious. Never mind that the candidate you and I vote for has lost. We have made a point. And every vote in the kitty of the losing candidate is a point made volubly.

Let’s not take off on that nice Sunday outing before we cast that vote on Sunday the 5^{th of} May then!

Twitter.com @harishbijoor