The 2014 elections are getting closer and closer. Is
India ready for them? Will they be any better than earlier elections? The point
I make here is that we must act well in advance, to ensure as far as possible that
only good candidates get to compete in the elections. Political parties must be
convinced that choosing bad candidates would mean sure defeat!
There is little transparency in the way candidates are
selected for tickets by parties. If non-performers, vested interests and those
with a criminal background get tickets, it becomes difficult for the citizens
to do anything about this later. How can the new media help improve the
situation?
Reform minded parties and NGO’s such as the one running
http://myneta.info/
should provide information about undesirable candidates likely to get tickets
from some party or another in each constituency and highlight reasons as to why
they are undesirable.
Concerned citizens should use facilities provided by
organizations supporting the creation of petitions, such as http://www.change.org/en-IN
to send petitions to parties requesting that they blacklist bad cases.
An important role has to be played by the TV channels
who should focus on criminal elements and vested interests well in time. Video
clips documenting instances of hate-speech, evidence of foot-in-the mouth
disease, and sheer non-performance will give citizens valuable information.
Media have become the major conscience-keepers of the nation. They should not
let us down in 2014!
Srinivasan Ramani
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