Supporters listen to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), or common man party, chief Arvind Kejriwal during an election campaign rally in New Delhi on April 2. (AP Photo)
NEW DELHI, April 2 (AP): In a country where men have long told their wives whom to vote for, Sheila Kumar says she has no intention of letting her husband dictate her vote in next month’s national election.
“Never again,” Kumar said as she waited to collect a bucket of drinking water from the communal tap in a south Delhi slum. She sounds every bit the modern Indian woman, a reflection of a country with many of the outward signs of modernity: the glitzy shopping malls, the tech-savvy billionaires and the burgeoning focus on women’s rights.
But it’s not so simple. Because even if she won’t allow her husband to choose her candidate, there is someone else who gets that power. “The caste elders will decide who we should vote for,” said Kumar, 43, a member of the small, midlevel Kurmi caste. “We will vote for someone from our own caste. Why should we support anyone else?”
India’s often baffling contradictions are on full display, with age-old traditions of caste loyalty, patriarchy and nepotism often clashing with the values of a modern world. But even though democracy is far from perfect here, it still lurches forward. Elections in India are generally considered free and fair, and even the powerful often fall to defeat at the hands of voters.
The politically independent Election Commission, empowered by the constitution, has the last word on political wrangles. “Politicians know that they are accountable to their electorate. If people have voted them into office, they can just as easily toss them out in the next election,” said Ajoy Bose, a political commentator in New Delhi.
Still, the challenges are rife. Voting patterns are heavily influenced by caste, the complex social ladder that mobilizes entire communities. The former “untouchables,” or Dalits, are a powerful vote bank and political parties make a ll manner of promises to woo them.
Women’s votes are often dictated by the men in the household, although that appears to be changing somewhat with growing literacy. But family and community elders still hold enormous sway. Corruption, a longtime scourge in India, is impossible to ignore. And many Indians say the lack of election primaries prevents voters from ushering out the old guard.
Lack of development in much of India also poses challenges. Armed guerrillas always threaten to disrupt national elections; this year is no different. The rebels are active in 20 of India’s 28 states. The rebels demand a greater share of wealth from the area’s natural resources and more jobs for farmers and the poor. Security, already tight in rebel areas, will be reinforced with even more troops.
Similar boycotts are also expected in the violence-wracked northern state of Kashmir, where separatist groups have called on people to shun the elections. In the last parliamentary election in 2009, 40 percent of Kashmir’s eligible voters turned out despite rebels’ calls for boycotts and strikes.
Separately, in India’s remote but restive northeastern states, a host of separatist groups warring against the Indian state for decades pose yet another obstacle.
The Election Commission has counted 815 eligible voters. The increase in the number of eligible voters since 2009 elections is more than 100 million, or close to the population of the Philippines.
In all, around 3 million paramilitary troops and police will be deployed to maintain law and order during the polls, officials said. “The unique thing about Indian elections is that huge numbers of people are voting,” said Bose. “And it’s the poorest who will make it a point to go out and vote. For this one time, people feel a sense of power. They feel they are relevant.”
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India’s election by the numbers
With more than 800 million eligible voters and close to a million polling stations across the country, everything about India’s general elections promises to be huge. For six weeks beginning Monday, Indians will head to the polls in nine phases for parliamentary elections in the world’s biggest democracy.
Here’s a look at some of the mind-boggling numbers:
• 1.2 billion: India’s population.
• 814.5 million: Eligible voters.
• 543: The number of constituencies where elections are being held.
• 11 million: Election officials, paramilitary officers and police who will preside over the voting process.
• 1.4 million: Electronic voting machines set up for the election.
• $600 million: The amount the government will spend to conduct the election.
• $72,800 to $113,250: The amount each political candidate is allowed to spend on his or her election campaign.
• 935,000: The number of polling stations across the country.
• 28,000: The number of transgender voters who registered. For the first time, India offered a third gender choice — “other” — on voter registration forms.
The Associated Press
With more than 800 million eligible voters and close to a million polling stations across the country, everything about India’s general elections promises to be huge. For six weeks beginning Monday, Indians will head to the polls in nine phases for parliamentary elections in the world’s biggest democracy.
Here’s a look at some of the mind-boggling numbers:
• 1.2 billion: India’s population.
• 814.5 million: Eligible voters.
• 543: The number of constituencies where elections are being held.
• 11 million: Election officials, paramilitary officers and police who will preside over the voting process.
• 1.4 million: Electronic voting machines set up for the election.
• $600 million: The amount the government will spend to conduct the election.
• $72,800 to $113,250: The amount each political candidate is allowed to spend on his or her election campaign.
• 935,000: The number of polling stations across the country.
• 28,000: The number of transgender voters who registered. For the first time, India offered a third gender choice — “other” — on voter registration forms.
The Associated Press
