Why the Middle Class gets ignored in the battle for Baldia

Ever since the announcement of the elections to the 150 member Greater Hyderabad Municipal Council, the political scenario in the state capital has been on the boil. The Congress High Command which otherwise ignores local elections, has sent in big wigs like Veerappa Moily to make sure that the Balida keys remain with the Congress. At stake is not just the keys to the GHMC council hall, but a bigger stake in the financial moolah of what is touted to be India’s largest municipal corporation, at least by size. So that is what this song and dance is all about.

Now almost every leader worth his salt is on the numerous telugu television news channels making tall claims that people of the twin cities and its environs are ready to vote for them. More worrying is the fact that every leader who speaks up, claims that they are going to spend crores in developing slums that dot the twin cities. Why spend money on people who are illegally squatting on government land, backed by politicians who treat them as vote bank? The reason is simple. Politicians know that people like you and me don’t matter in the bigger scheme of things. The Indian middle class is the reason for this country’s decline in electoral standards.

Election after election, we hear of politicians of dubious hue who get elected. This is greeted by typical drawing room discussions where we lament about the fact that despite good people being around, these crooks get elected. Well, who is responsible? You and me. We, the ones who talk but don’t go out and vote are the ones responsible for the mess that our legislative system is in. In every election held in the urban conglomerates in our country, it is the slum dwellers who get out and vote in large numbers. They have a reason to do. Apart from monetary inducements, liquor and ration cards, the urban poor know that their vote is valuable. Unlike the better off middle class, the poor who reside in the slums know the importance of roti, kapada and makan.

The middle class on the other hand lives in an utopian world of their own. They think that their one vote is not going to make a difference. So why bother? The problem is that when hundreds of voters think the same way, then we have a problem. Even in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, well off areas in Mumbai like Pedder Road and Bandra saw voting under just 35%. The problem as the media described it was that well off Mumbaikars thought that a holiday for election meant that one could sleep through the entire day.

In the aftermath of 26/11 one saw thousands of Mumbaikars protest in front of Taj, with candles and placards. This scene was ridiculed by BJP’s spokesperson Mukthar Abbas Naqvi. He remarked, though in bad taste, that these women who wear pants and lipstick are no better than the terrorists in Kashmir. The common cause both espoused was the Politicians were responsible for the mess that this country is in. In hindsight, Naqvi was right. These page 3 women and gentlemen were there in front of Taj so that they could be seen with the right crowd, alluding to the page 3 parlance.

Are things going to change? It can, but you have to make the move. Check if you have a vote in the first place. Then get your butt out and vote. If the crooks still win, then you can blame our electoral system.