A thought: Why did the High Priests of the Great Moralist in the Sky limit the number of deadly sins to seven? Why not eight or twelve? Did they underestimate the malfeasance of human nature after Adam and Eve had their little conversation with Satan about the tree of knowledge? Was that knowledge about desire, and in particular the desire to know about one’s future?
In every election the past is on trial, and the future is at stake. No surprise then that epic combination of fear of the future and the desire for power weakens the rules and heightens the passions. It might surprise you to discover that murder is not on the list of the seven classical deadly sins. They are deadly because they are suicidal rather than homicidal: pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, sloth. The casualties of democracy perish from self-inflicted wounds. If you want to blame anyone for defeat in an election the best place to look is in the mirror.
Amateurish candidates
The biggest danger is from sloth, or complacency. Democracy punishes those who take it for granted. It is equally harsh on pride, deflating hubris or pompous aspiration with remarkable consistency. Every General Election throws up evidence of amateurish MPs and candidates who believe that they are winning because of some wondrous trait in their character or intellect. The wise understand that there is a tide in the affairs of men which when taken at the flood might lead on to fortune, as Shakespeare would certainly have remarked if assigned to cover the Indian General Election.
When this tide flows with a particular political party, the punters sail home. Upstarts who believe that they have navigated the way to triumph are soon stranded.
Citizens set the course. They are not stupid or unreal. They understand ego; after all who would venture into the swamp of elections without the adrenalin of ego? But when candidates, of any party, begin to believe that their glory is more important than the voter’s needs, people know how to respond.
Intelligent Indian voter
The 2024 General Election is only three phases old, with another four to traverse, but examples are in. One candidate (who shall remain nameless since this is a story about a syndrome) sent out a rather pathetic message on polling day. He claimed 80 per cent support, except that his voters were sitting at home while the hostile 20 per cent were flooding the booths. It never occurred to him that his attitude might have caused voter alienation. Or that party colleagues in adjoining constituencies had no such problems. There will always be those who snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
They are quickly reminded of what should never be forgotten. Indian voters constitute the most intelligent, diligent and silent electorate in the dramatic history of democracy. No other voter in the world has exercised as much effective power, or wrought as much startling change as the Indian.
Activists need stamina. All elections in democracies are now suffering from overstretch. In America the long election is institutionalised in the process. The British these days merely love prolonging the agony. In France, they are in permanent election mode. European nations, many with molecular rules, float in uncertainty. In fact, uncertainty is the pulse of democracy. Opinion polls are interesting because their inflection changes each time they read the mood. Every candidate in India knows that the mist begins to disappear only when the sun rises on the electoral trail.
