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Decision of voting
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- CAMIL PARKHE
Friday, 11 April 2014 - 08:12 PM IST
Sakal times
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“To whom should we vote now?”, that was the question debated among senior members of my family who had huddled together just before venturing out for voting. I was a minor then and not eligible to vote. But the question perplexed me. I had assumed that my parents and elders brothers would surely vote for the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Comrade P B Kadu, who was a well known labour leader. During the heated arguments that used to take place among the gathered people in our shop during the poll campaign, most would agree that the Communist leader was most suited to represent Kopargaon constituency in the Lok Sabha.
This incident relates to the 1971 Lok Sabha polls when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was seeking votes for her Congress (I) party soon after the historic victory in 1971 war and creation of Bangladesh. A young Congressman, Balasaheb Vikhe, was for the first time contesting as the Congress candidate in the parliamentary constituency. Ahmednagar district which had then a large number of private and cooperative sugar factories was a bastion of the Left parties. I was a school student then and after listening to the poll debates, I too thought Comrade Kadu was the best candidate to vote for.
The plans of the elders in the family to switch poll loyalty and vote for the Congress candidate dismayed me. I was curious to know what had changed their mind. Their arguments explained that to me.
“What can a single Communist leader do in Parliament when the ruling party in the country is the Congress? It's better to vote for a candidate who will belong to the ruling party and help to bring some development to our area...” this was the chorus at the small meeting which concluded soon as the voting was to close within a couple of hours.
After this election, I have covered several state assembly and general elections for newspapers in Goa and Maharashtra. But this incident taught me how poll prospects change or are decided at the last moment of the voting. And this is most crucial in the poll outcome. So keep the fingers crossed...!
