Political parties are working on strategies to face the Lok Sabha elections due to be held next year. All parties are only focused on winning elections, and none of them are bothered about the kind of candidates they would be staging for the polls. Their sole need is to get a winning candidate into the fray. Congress party has already held a meeting under the leadership of state incharge K C Venugopal to strategise the approach to elections because the party has to win maximum number of seats in Lok Sabha elections. Hence, media reports suggest, the winnability of the candidate will be the most decisive factor. Yeddyurappa of BJP has also said something similar to this. Who are such candidates who will ‘win for sure’? What are their qualities? No party has bothered to elaborate on these aspects.

Earlier, political parties would specifically mention candidates with criminal background would not be given tickets to contest at all. Or, the focus would be on those with clean character and fresh ideas. But today, no party makes such declarations even for the sake of it. Because criminals are inevitable today for every political party. If a party decides against inducting them into the cabinet, the leader of the said party will have to lose his position.

BJP has no survival beyond the Reddy brothers. Congress cannot keep out the likes of D K Shivakumar. Which is the reason for political parties going silent on their background. Today BJP has the highest number of criminals and anti-social elements in its party ranks. Leaders like Yogi Adityanath who comes with criminal background, and the likes of Anant Kumar Hegde with his lack of character, are regarded as best bets in the party. How would the better ones even dream of getting tickets amidst such elements?

With their declaration of ‘tickets to only winnable candidates’ the parties are conveying victory as the only parameter to get tickets. This is the lone criterion, with money-power aiding this victory. If a leader like Siddaramaiah could come close to a defeat against Sriramulu, money was the reason and not political statesmanship that could have caused this shift. Srimramulu is hardly a statesman or a seasoned politician when it comes to politics. The Reddy brothers bought votes with money. BJP was hesitant to identity itself with Reddy brothers after Janardhan Reddy was jailed on corruption charges. But ever since demonetization, the flow of money was affected and to depend on Janardhan Reddy became an inevitable thing. The money amassed by Reddys has contributed big time to the position of party with highest number of elected seats in the state. The winnable candidates in BJP are those who keep making instigating speeches in public and remain in the eyes of the media.

The contribution of MPs Ananta Kumar Hegde and Pratap Simha is hardly a matter of cognizance. But their instigating speeches always keep them in news. They always ensure people fight in the name of religion, dharma and caste. This is how they remain relevant to people of today’s generation. Their speeches reveal a lot of their mindset without any hesitation, that they are fond of violence. This apart, they have no other deserving quality in them. And this may be the lone quality for them to even get a ticket from their party to fight elections again. Being communal and disrupting the peace of the society is another big deserving quality too. Yogi Adityanath became the CM of UP on the same basis.

This apart, having high followers among chelas and goondas is another winnable characteristic of the candidates. No party now needs good and deserving candidates anymore. Because everyone is after defeating their opponent and holding an office by hook or crook. Hence parties have come to understand giving tickets to new candidates does not yield good results. If the good persons are staged for polls, the party will have to give them funds along with facing the revolt of old candidates as well. As a result of all this, the country is now on the threshold of being ruled by criminals and corrupt politicians.

If this has to change, the voters need to wake up from their slumber and elect better candidates among the lot. So long as a voter does not realize the most important role he/she has in safeguarding democracy, there would be hardly any change in the political reality in this country. The same criminals will continue to rule us. If their choice gets better, even politicians may be forced to change their ways and become the leaders of people’s choice.



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Raichur: The priest of the Ambabhavani Temple in Athkur village has been accused of stopping Dalit youngsters from entering the temple for a ritual related the Navaratri festival, although related parties, including the priest and Dalit leaders of the village, have denied knowledge about the incident.

A video of the youngsters, belonging to the Madiga community, who wanted to wear the ritual garlands for the festive period, being denied entry into the temple and the priest handing them the garlands keeping them outside the threshold has gone viral on social media platforms.

Yapaladinni Police officers, however, have said no police complaint about the matter has been filed so far. In addition, Dalit leaders in Athkur have said no such incident has occurred in the village, but the police officers are conducting an inquiry since youngsters have alleged that they were denied entry into the temple.

The temple priest has also refuted the charges against him, clarifying that action will be taken if a complaint is filed.