My election voting dilemma

As the time is nearing to cast my sacred vote to elect our new members of both provincial and national assembly I am not only more perplexed, confused but even ashamed to some extent to be honest and almost everyone of us must be facing the same fix if not annoying but hardly anyone will be admit it so bluntly and nakedly as I am doing it right now.

Each one of us whether male or female, governor or governed, educated or uneducated, healthy or sick, rich or poor, employed or unemployed and or living in city or village will be casting his or her vote on 11^th May, 2013 to elect our new MPAs and MNAs which is not that simple and easy as one may think of rather it is one the biggest crossword one is facing in the given situation but I can even say on my honor that hardly most of the voters can be honest rather dead honest at least from morality point of view but it is too late to mend and correct your status. There are so many reasons and compelling circumstance that it is not that easy for anyone to vote for someone and that too on purely on merit and merit only which I will explain in the subsequent lines and it can be said with full conviction and confidence that each of the voter is in a great fix whom to vote and whom to ignore. I am with the poor voter and not against him or her for facing such an unexplainable situation but nevertheless he or she should have thought of it before attending the 1^st political meeting rather than feeling shame at this point of time when nothing can be done to correct his or her status whatsoever even if one sincerely wants to be very strictly straight and upright.

Election activities started many months ago which is quite but natural and almost each political party has conducted so many meetings and rallies since then where thousands of people have attended the same which to some extent gave an impression to the political party that bulk majority if not all who attended the event will be voting for the political party and from that point of view I am siding with the political party to gather such an impression but regretfully it is no so as one sees on face of it. Had a few people attended the 1^st political rally then the party had thought hundred times what to do next or what not to do next but ever since the political rally witnessed very huge attendance the party had gone ahead with more vigor, vitality and new impetus to go ahead and this is what in fact fooled the party to some extent so from that point of view I will blame more the voters than the contestants. However, the contestant must have been sharp enough to truly gauge the situation and had realized that all those who attended his 1^st political gathering are not necessarily his voters rather the situation is very much liquefied and slippery but the contestant did not think alike and the result is that he thought himself to be the most popular contestant in the run.

Needless to mention holding a political rally is not a joke simply because it not only needs some intricate logistics but also huge amount is to be spent on erecting shamianas and security detective devices, putting up stage, laying carpets and chairs, installing lights and loud speakers etc. Some time even free transport is arranged for some people from some designated points which are quite an expensive activity in any case. At times even drinks and food is served at least to selected people if not all which as such entails huge expense. Without naming any political party I will say that about 2 years ago all those who attended the very 1^st political rally they gave some impression howsoever vague it may be that some hundreds will be voting for this political party and likewise almost same voters who attended the 1^st political meeting kept on attending different rallies and meetings of other political parties as well since then and each time the same participants gave the same impression to other political parties as well which means that each political party which conducted an political rally felt satisfied to have gained popularity amongst voters. Each political party which found thousands of people attending 1^st meeting got momentum to hold still more meetings throughout the country and as the time passed on meetings were multiplied resulting in that thousands or may be millions were spent on such rallies and each party relying upon the number of attendees felt very comfortable to be winning the election without realizing that most of those who attended ever 1^st political rally have attended political rallies of other parties as well meaning by that each voter can cast only 1 vote for MPA and 1 for MNA and hence one can vote either for the 1^st political rally he attended or the second one but not for all whose rallies one has attended.

Then there are some other factors also which both directly and indirectly influence the voter and therefore it will not be that easy for the voter whom to vote for or for that matter whom to ignore. The worst hit is that voter whose very close relative is contesting election and now the voter is in a fix what to do now because on one hand he has just one vote to cast while on the other hand his relative is pressing him hard to vote for none but him and him only even if he is not the most suitable contestant. Then the same voter is facing another awkward situation because one of the contestant had been a school classmate of the voter and therefore the voter has some soft corner for the contestant and feels like voting for his voter irrespective of the fact whether the contestant is competent or not. Yet another very difficult situation has cropped up for the voter because luckily or unluckily one of the contestants is living in the same complex where he lives and hence how can he ignore the candidate whom he may meet too very often be it morning, noon, evening or night. One must feel pity for the voter because his employer has asked him to vote for some particular candidate and he is much worried and cannot figure out if he can refuse his boss not to vote for his nominated candidate but the question is can he afford to offend his employer. Last but not the least, is the candidate who some time back had invited the voter to his house on lunch and now the poor voter is completely clueless how to ignore the dishes he has eaten at the house of the contestant unless he wants to prove himself as ‘namak haram’ by not voting for the contestant.

Who can solve the riddle and enlighten the voter as to whom he should vote for?

Iqbal Hadi Zaidi / Kuwait