Why I chose not to vote in the Karnataka assembly elections 2013

As has been the trend in previous elections, Bangalore Urban recorded the worst voter turnout in this year’s Karnataka assemble elections. And I have to admit that I contributed to the low turnout. Often, the urban educated electorate has been accused of being callous and indifferent, capable of only passing judgments but stopping short of doing anything about it. While there is merit in that argument, I believe there is another factor governing the lack of will to vote, the absence of a clear motivation to vote someone in or out of power.

In the past, I have exercised my franchise on most occasions since attaining adulthood. However, I chose to stay away this time around. And that was because I really don’t know who to vote for. I’ve encountered similar predicaments in the past as well but usually I was sufficiently clear on who I don’t want to come in power. This time, in Karnataka, I didn’t even have the luxury of choosing the lesser of the evils. At the national level, the Congress has set new standards in misgovernance, and instead of addressing it, all they seem to be capable of doing is achieving new lows in obnoxious sycophancy towards the Gandhi family. The BJP seems to be treading the same path now, with its Narendra Modi obsession. At the state level, I can’t find a single good reason to vote the BJP back to power. Most would agree that Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy are not an alternative.

At the constituency level, it is all the more difficult to make a decision because you are hardly ever aware of a candidate’s credentials. A solution could probably be public debates, or something more practical would be the promotion of a candidate’s achievements. Instead, what we get in terms of canvassing is huge cut-outs of Gandhi, Modi or any other leader to whom the candidate wants to pledge their allegiance.

So where does all this leave the voter. I personally decided that instead of making a half-baked uninformed decision, I’d leave it to the majority and hope that they have a clearer perspective than I have.