'In Kerala, people do not vote for the same party again'

'Once I went to meet an MLA with a complaint, but he refused to even listen to me.'
'I was insulted. That is when I decided not to vote for anyone.'
Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com taps into the mood of the electorate in north Kerala.

Whoever I met -- I mean the aam aadmi -- when I travelled across northern Kerala, I asked: "Who do you think will come to power in the assembly elections?"

Ninety-nine per cent people I spoke to gave me almost similar answers.

Our conversation went somewhat like this.

How was Oommen Chandy's governance in the last five years?

He has done a lot of vikasanam (development) for the state. His janasamparkam (people contact) programme also was good.

So, you are happy with what he has done...

You cannot say we are happy. For the first time, a government has done some vikasanam, but definitely more can be done. We are happy that at least he did something.

What kind of vikasanam has he done?

Roads... roads. Look at our roads now. Did we ever have such roads?

Is Saritha Nair, the prime accused in the solar scam that shook the Oommen Chandy government not an issue for the people?

The truth is people do not care about that woman; only newspapers and TV channels do; people only care about vikasanam.

Does that mean Oommen Chandy will come back to power?

No, he will not.

Why? You said he has done some vikasanam for the state.

In Kerala, people do not vote for the same party again. That is how people are.

So if Oommen Chandy wants to do more vikasanam for the state, he has to wait for another five years.

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In a politically savvy and literate state like Kerala, I met Mustafa who has voted only once in his life and has vowed never to vote for any party.

"I know you will not find a person like me in Kerala. My friends and family are angry with me for not voting. They say it is my duty to vote and I should not waste it, but I have lost faith in politicians and political parties," he says.

"I grew up in a family that was pro-Left. I was a Communist when in school but as I started observing how people behave once they get power, I lost faith in them," adds Mustafa.

"Because I vote for a person," he says, "he gets elected and once he gets elected, he doesn't even care to listen to me. His life gets priority over mine."

"Once I went to meet an MLA with a complaint," he says," but he refused to even listen to me. I was insulted. That is when I decided not to vote for anyone."

"Why should I make him such an important person that he doesn't even care for us?," asks Mustafa.

**********

The function was the launch of the e-poster of Pradeep Kumar, an LDF candidate in the South Kozhikode constituency. Communist Party of India-Marxist politburo member M A Baby was to do the honours.

It was an interesting half an hour speech he gave before launching the e-poster.

"The criticism against us was that we are against computers. Yes, we are against computers even now, but only if computers replaced human beingsm" baby said.

"As you know, we work for the working class and we never want computers to take up the jobs of the poor people. That was why when computers came to India first, we were against computerisation. Now that we have seen that nobody lost his/her job because of computers," the CPI-M leader said.

"I know today's youngsters use mobile phones a lot. I am told to connect with the huge young population; we have to use Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter. My young party colleagues tell me we have to be on social media to connect with the young," Baby, a member of the CPI-M's highest decision making body, the Politburo, said.

"What Pradeep Kumar is doing is commendable, as he is moving along with the new generation. I want to show what he has done to all those who say we are against computers. See, we are also as tech-savvy as other political parties..."