11 th April 2019 : I
was amongst the 39 percent of eligible voters living in Hyderabad who voted in
India's parliamentary elections.
My polling station was a school in a residential area , not
far from where I live. It was the same place where I had voted a few months ago,
in the state assembly elections. It's been the same polling station for many
years now. For parliamentary elections. For state assembly elections. For
municipal elections.
It's the place where every candidate for whom I have voted
has two things in common- First, the candidate was not affiliated to any major
party. Second, the candidate lost, mostly by a huge margin.
When I decided to cast my vote for these candidates , Did I
know they would lose ? I knew this 100 percent. The probability of any of them
winning was not even infinitesimally low; it was zero. And it was clear to me
much before I got the indelible ink mark on my left index finger.
Friends and family would ask- who would you vote for ?
When I mentioned these names, I would get responses like :
you are wasting your vote; What can these people do - they have no
administrative experience; These people have no organisational backing or
supporting infrastructure.
Why then would I vote for these candidates ?
Here are my reasons:
1) They had something relevant for me in their manifesto. Something that directly impacted my day to day life and of the people around me.
For example, the person I voted for in the municipal
elections spoke of addressing the issue of mosquitoes in the Jubilee Hills and
Banjara Hills area. He had a clear plan - a combination of scientific
approaches and public awareness programs to address this.
2) They had the right priorities -
For example, the candidate I voted for in the state assembly
elections promised to put disproportional investment in education and enhancing
the quality of government schools in the constituency.
In another instance, the candidate I voted for had promised
to start feeder buses to link metro stations so that the entire area could be
covered by the metro.
3) They displayed courage -
Each of these candidates knew they were up against the
organisational, political and financial might of the big parties, viz. TRS,
TDP, BJP and the Congress. Yet, they chose to believe in themselves, and in the
cause they were espousing. It is for this courage and belief that they stood
out for me.
On another occasion, the candidate I voted for was a Muslim
woman in her 30s. She came from a conservative background. Coming from a
background like that, the conviction it takes to contest elections, and to be
out there in the sun campaigning for a cause she believed in - it was
remarkable. Her courage in just being there was the clincher for me in deciding
my vote.
4) They were all local and had experience of working in the area -
For example , the candidate I voted for had worked on
shelters for caregivers of poor patients in two major hospitals in the area.
My vote for these remarkable individuals , each of whom had
no chance of winning , is my way of acknowledging their contribution, their
ideas and their courage.
I am proud to have voted for these 'losers' - their being out there is in itself a victory for the courage of their convictions .
It's also a message of hope to the well meaning millions out there, who have wanted to make a difference to the life of others.
These individuals might be losers on the election result sheet, they are inspirational winners for me.
I voted for them in 2019, I will vote for them again.
