Munugode should teach them a lesson!

To understand the vibrancy of our democracy, one should measure the strength of the four pillars, namely Judiciary, Legislature, Executive and Media, it rests on. Hence, there is a question ("Which pillar has best upheld democratic norms?") in the Mood of The Nation Survey that was conducted from February to August 2022. As many as 28.7 percent voted for Judiciary while 17.79 percent chose Legislature. Surprisingly, Media (13.1%) could beat Executive (10.8%). However, 15.89% of participants ticked the option "None." I call this dangerous group the pessimists of the country. They ignore the positive points in the system and always prefer to talk ill about it. These prophets of doom judge the system based on the unsound decisions taken by some individuals and create an opinion that the system has already collapsed.

Whenever courts take sides in delivering judgements, whenever assemblies or the Parliament bring in anti-people Bills without discussions, whenever executive surrenders to the political bosses while being partner of their crime and corruption, and whenever media cooks up a story to set the agenda for the nation to help the PM or CMs, the graph of "None" automatically goes up. Our pessimists and prophets of doom would waste no time to step up a campaign to establish that 'it's gone, nobody can save our country.'They initiate a debate and create a powerful literature to propose various ideologies to cleanse the system or overhaul it from scratch. There is no dearth of people who spread the word 'It's all over.' Instead of participating in the present set up and raising red flags as a responsible citizen, the gullible would spend considerable time to discuss the negative points time and again. In this process, pessimism spreads like a wildfire on all fronts.This trend is not good for a country that wishes to become a superpower and a USD 5 trillion economy as early as possible.For a healthy democracy, the percentage of 'None' in the Mood of the Nation Survey should be well below one.

For political parties, Munugode by-poll result may portend how politics in Telangana plays out in the forthcoming Assembly elections but it has amplified the disenchantment with electoral politics among people, especially youngsters. The glib talk against democracy, the best form of governance, gained momentum with the ongoing abuse of power, blatant misuse of official machinery, brazen violation of rules and regulations, vulgar display of money power, and shameless gimmicks to lure voters. It was said that the money splashed for one single by-poll at Huzurabad, necessitated by the ouster of the Health Minister E Rajendra from the KCR cabinet an year ago, was three times more than the money spent by two political parties, Conservative and Labour, put together for the entire Parliamentary elections in Britain. Munugode has already broken the record going by the political festivities continuing for the last two to three months. The entire Telangana administration has come to a standstill only to focus on the by-poll, necessitated by the resignation of a sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy. The government, which didn't bother to solve the basic public issues,pumped huge funds to develop the constituency on war footing with an eye on by-elections. Quick fix solutions are found for every problem and the TRS executive president KTR already adopted the constituency to ensure more development. Anyway, by-pool type development has become a new norm in Telangana. It indeed hampers development of other constituencies but who cares? Attracted by a plethora of developmental activities, freebees and gifts doled out during by-elections, voters of other constituencies are forcing their sitting MLAs to resign and go for elections afresh. The MLAs and Ministers camped atMunugodeare in for a rude shock to see the growing public demand for money and gold for their votes.The ruling party has successfully institutionalized the unsavoury culture and the BJP, waiting with wings to come to power, is proving itself as a perfect match. Politics is beyond the reach of common persons now in Telangana. This is a dark phase in the electoral politics of the newest State in India.

Either BSP or Praja Shanti

The focus of the entire nation seems to on the outcome of the Munugode by-election for many reasons. The BJP high command is keen on winning the seat to create a powerful narrative that people are vexed with the KCR regime while TRS pins hopes on turning the victory as a steppingstone for its national version, BRS. TRS changed its campaign strategy following its electoral debacle at Huzurabad by-election. As the practice of entrusting the task to one single leader failed to deliver the goods, KCR pressed all MLAs, Ministers and other chota-mota leaders into service. It's strange but true. They crisscrossed the assigned areas with their supporters and did whatever is needed to impress the local voters. KCR-KTR developed a sound monitoring mechanism to assess the work of the leaders to decide their fate in future. It looked like an overdose for me but the big boss doesn't want to leave no stone unturned this time. Contrary to the TRS leaders' propaganda that BJP is out of contention, KCR in his final public meeting the other day made it ample clear that the fight is between TRS and BJP. He didn't even mention about the Congress candidate, Palvai Shravanthi, daughter of a five-time MLA late Govardhan Reddy, who fought for Telangana within the Congress, along with a tall leader late VuppunutalaPurushottam Reddy.

The saddest part of the election is the open appeal of leaders, including the top brass of the mainstream parties, to the voters to accept whatever is offered in exchange of their votes. Instead of warning people against this electoral malpractice, the irresponsible leaders encouraged people to take gold, cash, food and liquor without any inhibition but cast their vote for them. The positive side of it is the visit of some concerned citizens and groups to Munugodeto study the ground realities. It's a different story that their sagacious suggestions died amid the din and dust of high-profile campaigners.

The presence of a good number of YouTube channels, both paid and independent, and the innovative campaigns of social media teams of political parties also added flavour to Munugode by-poll. The video and audio leaks of the alleged horse-trading of four TRS MLAs by suspected BJP middlemen pepped up the campaign trail. KCR brought the foursome to the venue in his copter and made people to clap for their magnanimity. But, still a lot of mystery shrouds around the issue. TRS party's attempts to turn the murky episode into a plus point at Munugode turns out to be damp squib. The State BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar could avert the attempt successfully with his quick rebuttals and vows.

All the major surveys hinted at a triangular fight at Munugode and TRS seems to have slight edge over the BJP candidate till the last reports came in, but voters would make up their mind in the next 48 hours. It will be nice if voters teach a lesson for those who tried to snatch away their votes by luring them with money, liquor and other baits. To send a strong message to the world that they are not pliable or buyable, the Munugode voters should elect either the BSP candidate or the Praja Shanti nominee. While the BSP's supremo and former IPS Dr RS Praveen Kumar has been educating public not to give in to temptations much before the poll notification, the Praja Shanti founder Dr KA Paul, who turned the high voltage campaign into fun & frolic, has also been talking against the disastrous impact of distribution of money and liquor. The BSP fielded a candidate from the majority community of the region, even as Dr Paul, a BC, himself is testing his luck with a gusto. The victory of either of them would be a slap in the face of those who made election a pure business venture.

(The author, a Ph.D. in Communication and Journalism, is a senior journalist,

journalism educator, and

communication consultant)