As the General Elections draw closer, the frantic attempts of all the political parties and their candidates to woo us into voting them to power will grow every day. This last month before the big elections is crucial for the candidates, but it is more so for us as the citizens of the largest democracy in the world. Because of our unique first-past-the-post system of elections, who we choose to represent us becomes an extremely important decision and therefore this demands a close study of all the choices we have.
Why?
Electing the right candidate to lead your constituency and represent your needs effectively in the central legislative body of India is crucial. The impact of your choices will spread over the next 5 years and affect positively or adversely, the social and infrastructural environment of the area you live in.
Some of the most common problems we have faced over the past elections is the lack of availability and accountability of our elected leaders, MPs with criminal records (a lot of which are serious criminal offences), biased agendas of the leaders and most commonly, corruption.
Although the Election Commission has some excellent provisions to prevent bad elements from taking up public posts, many still manage to seep through the loopholes. And therefore, the responsibility of identifying and electing the right candidate is upon us.
Resources
Thanks to the ever evolving internet and passionate enterprises by concerned minds, we now have access to the public profiles, developmental work, criminal records and other details of almost every political leader in India.
Many dedicated websites such as MyNeta.info, Nationsroot, Empowering India, KnowYourCandidate and ADR India are working tirelessly in providing up to date information and development charts of various candidates from all over the country. Some of these websites have interactive forums designed to help you rate your MP or MLA based on his/her work and post details of your area representative.
Earlier it would’ve been tough to get hold of any political candidate’s profile and his works, we would depend on the candidate’s political party affiliations to decide our choices. But today, we have a distinct advantage in the internet age. We can track our candidates and leaders quite easily and it would be extremely careless on our part to not read up on our constituency’s candidates before the Voting Day.
So go ahead and find the people who want to run your constituency and remember to make an informed choice because later you can’t complain of a leader you voted to power!
For more information on Political Parties, Candidates and Election Dates, please visit the Election Commission’s Website
For more information on how to find your constituency’s candidates and their profiles, you can email us at wuvi2014@gmail.com
About the Author
Riddhima Sharma
A patriot and hopeful change maker, Riddhima is a believer in the power of women to change the world. She has studied Political Science with special reference to the feminist movement, feminist theory and the position of women in Indian politics. She is currently pursuing Law and hopes to specialize in women related laws and work with an organization in a related field. She enjoys public speaking and is not afraid to speak her mind. Sharma is a quick learner and is keen to gain new experiences especially in the areas of public policy, politics and strategy
