Make your votes count
In democracy, the citizens are kings and our elected representatives are there to serve us and the society we live in. Even when we know this is an illusion, there is some happiness in believing it. The citizens, no doubt, are kings and hence are important. But that’s only on the day of voting. All the other days we live being servile to the politicians is the hard truth we are all used to. But then we cannot blame our rulers alone for this. They have been capitalizing on the weakness of voters since long. Our constitution has entrusted us with the right to choose an able candidate as our representative. But we have ‘sold’ that power for small prices. As a result, we are happy being single day kings.
We sell our votes for caste, community, faith, alcohol, sarees, small gifts or even money and spend rest of the days cursing the elected representatives. That cursing is like spitting at the sky. It lands right back on our face. Once we lose the opportunity to vote, we need five years to get it again. More than anything else, we need to take a vow that our votes won’t go a waste. Because once we give it away like a gift to someone, we lose all rights over it. And gifting our votes to someone is the biggest act of treachery we can commit. Likewise we shouldn’t sell our votes either. Once we give it away for sarees, money, alcohol and other small items that can never compensate for the power of vote, we cannot expect the elected candidate to work for us because we would have then handed over the power to him. It becomes corruption. And corruption never begets integrity or power. It makes us weak. Just the way as money, alcohol distribution is wrong; seeking votes in the name of religion is equally terrible. These politicians who do not do much, are now back to seek votes in the name of everything else apart from the works they did. Violence and development can never go hand in hand.
Constitution has given us the rights to choose our representatives. The ones who are speaking against the constitution need the old system to exist where some people had default access to society’s privileges, and one could never choose their representatives. When we go to vote today, we need to remember this. There are elements that want to push us to the medieval way of living such as the feudal system. These people want to push us into the system where we are rendered voiceless. We need to give our votes as a loan, not as a payment of gratitude to the candidate. When he/she knows they have this vote as a loan on them, they will be forced to repay it. And even those who give it as a loan, will have the rights seek repayment of the same. In case of no candidate being the appropriate one, we always have choice of NOTA where we can reject all candidates. But then, sometimes even this does not seem like a feasible solution since NOTA would still mean the candidate with highest votes is declared the winner either way. Why should we waste the vote? Let’s then make a choice of better ones among the lot.
Voting is the foundation of democracy. This would contribute to how strong the structure would be. Every stone to the foundation counts. Even one bad stone can contribute to the weakness of the structure at some point in time. Hence, let’s support those candidates who work to strengthen the identity of Kannada, Karnataka and its people. We need to provide strength to those ones who work for the empowerment of the poor, and hold up the integrity of the state. We owe this to our state and its people.
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Axar shifts focus to next IPL after KKR all but end DC's campaign
New Delhi (PTI): A beleaguered Axar Patel admitted that both his team's batters and bowlers let the side down after Delhi Capitals suffered a humiliating eight-wicket defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, virtually ending their IPL 2026 playoff hopes, while indicating the team had already begun looking ahead to the next season.
DC endured a miserable outing at home, managing only 142/8, which Kolkata Knight Riders chased down in just 14.2 overs, powered by a blistering unbeaten 100 from Finn Allen and his destructive stand with Cameron Green (33 not out) as the visitors tore apart the bowling attack.
With just eight points from 11 matches, DC are eighth on the table, while KKR revived their playoff hopes with a resurgent run, moving to seventh with nine points from 10 outings, though their road to the knockouts still remains difficult.
"For now, we'll go back and think about the mistakes we made. After that, obviously there's still a long journey ahead and next year will come too. So we'll think about what plans we can make for next year and what approach we should take," said Axar after the match.
"Based on that, we can also look at the players sitting on the bench and decide who can be given opportunities and what changes we can make," he added, hinting at a possible major overhaul next season.
With 200-plus totals becoming the norm this season, 142 was always going to be inadequate, and Axar admitted the score was well below par while also pointing out at poor judgement shown by the spinners while defending the modest total.
"I think the runs were definitely below par and at the same time the spinners made quite a few mistakes. Looking at the way the pitch behaved, I feel the spinners did make errors.
"At the same time, we lost five wickets in two-three overs, and I think that's where the momentum slipped away from us. That's probably something we need to think about because the same thing happened against CSK...we started well, and then suddenly wickets kept falling," he added.
He admitted the solutions to the issues could be found but players need to show the right mindset and character.
"See, you can't solve it in a complicated way. So, I think it's more about applying the right mindset. Even if you lose one or two wickets, you can still spend time at the crease and play through it. I think that's what needs to be applied, when wickets are falling in clusters, you need to absorb the pressure for an over or two," opined Axar.
KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane was pleased to see a struggling Finn Allen finally rediscover his touch with the bat.
"I'm really happy for Finn Allen. He was struggling first four or five games, working really hard, but the way he batted tonight was fantastic. But I want to praise our bowlers again.
"We did well because of them. And they've been doing it so well consistently, especially those middle overs and the death overs. Our spinners, Sunil Narine, Varun (Chakravarthy) and Anukul Roy, have been fantastic," he said.
"Fielding-wise, yes, we are working really hard. Our fielding coach has been really strict with us. And that's what has been helping us. The result which you've been seeing about the catches and the ground fielding, credit goes to our fielding coach as well," he added.
