Gurdaspur Diary: Aruna Choudhury, a Dinanagar MLA, pulls the first blood during voting
As far as election-related allegations go, Dinanagar MLA Aruna Choudhury has been leading the charge. She filed a complaint with the Chief Election Officer after seeing that Shamsher Singh, her opponent and the AAP halqa in charge of Dinanagar, often traveled about with a posse of police. Three police officers, including the Munshi of the Police Lines, were suspended two days later.
Although just on paper, the two police officers were stationed in the Police Lines when the guillotine fell on the Munshi. Senior commanders have consistently found an easy way to escape the line of fire, and this is not the first time. There are rumors circulating that there will be additional complaints and counter-complaints soon. Greetings from 2024 elections.
Use your right to vote and choose the best candidate
Thousands of credulous voters were misled by Bollywood’s brilliant lights in 2019. Senior BJP officials are being honest in their belated acknowledgment. Clearly, the allusion is to how Sunny Deol was propelled to the Parliament by thousands of people who were enthralled with him and riding high on the wave of hero-worship. Let’s go forward to 2024! It seems that the Deol fiasco has taught the electorate some very valuable lessons.
The electorate should choose a new member of parliament at this time. With no superstar in the running this time, everyone is prepared to send a responsible and well-groomed guy to the Lok Sabha. Except for a few, the leaders we have chosen so far are incapable of seeing beyond the here and now. Let’s wish for success. As has been the case in prior polls, it is practically a certain that candidates and their respective parties will engage in defamation with the polls soon. Their favorite thing to do is strip their opponents in public.
These folks need to understand this: blowing out someone else’s candle will not let your own light more brightly. These days, politicians merely want to minimize their opponents. Politicians now make sure that the public is aware of the previous transgressions—rather than the wrongdoings—of their opponents during elections. The implication: Why bother attempting to research your family history? If you enter politics, your rivals will track you down! The ECI needs to set a boundary for verbal defamation. Voters should show up in force and cast their ballots.
A voter who is happy to stay home is the last thing that a thriving democracy needs. You you realize that someone fought for your right to vote? Use it, then. Ensuring that every person has an equal opportunity to choose the best candidate and enact policies that benefit their communities is the fundamental goal of democracy. Not to mention, individuals need to vote for themselves rather than their caste. A thriving democracy can only be ushered in after that.
