The results of the Delhi assembly polls have evoked a tsunami of emotions on both sides of the political spectrum. While AAP sympathizers and supporters are gloating, the BJP camp is rather disheartened to see the saffron party not cross a single digit figure. But that’s how it is! In any vibrant democracy, no election can be the same. Sometimes we win and sometimes our opponents do.
In any healthy democracy, a change of guard after regular intervals is considered a sign of an aware, intelligent and decisive citizenry. If anything, the Delhi results, and state election results prior to Delhi’s, reaffirms the strength of Indian democracy which, left-liberals have been alleging for the longest time now, is under subjugation by a tyrannical Modi regime. All such claims are debunked with the sweep which the Aam Aadmi Party has been able to put to show in Delhi, despite the BJP’s top leadership leaving no stone unturned on their part to dethrone Kejriwal.
While in the run-up to any election, it is normal for citizens to debate vociferously over a multiplicity of issues, to immediately deride the winners of a democratic process is a sign of being butthurt and not being mature enough to even participate in such a process. What is even more distasteful, however, is to mock the voters who have given a clear mandate in favour of a particular political party/leader.
Sudhir Chaudhary, who I will take the liberty to club as a ‘right-winger’, displayed exactly the same tendencies as described above. After the exit polls predicted a decisive mandate back for the AAP, Sudhir broke into a rather unwanted rant against the voters of Delhi. This, despite the fact that the same Delhi had given the BJP 7/7 Lok Sabha seats over national issues when it had to, less than an year ago, and which it will again give if national elections are held today.
Sudhir went on with his monologue for quite some time (42 minutes), on his primetime show DNA. He claimed that the people of Delhi were only concerned about ‘freebies’ which the AAP government has provided them with. “Delhi’s people still want to choose parties that give them free stuff…You must have heard that Delhi people always want to buy things during a sale, they don’t want to pay full amount. But when it comes to elections, they don’t want to pay at all. Meaning, in Delhi, the issues of free electricity, free water and free rides matter more because people don’t want to pay.”
Now while this is extremely distasteful, it is also a sign of one not respecting the people’s mandate. Wisdom would require that all people respect the mandate of the people, something which Sudhir simply refused to do.
He also went on to say that Delhiites were simply too lazy to go out and vote, particularly the middle and the upper-middle class, which usually are the same people who have the most intense political discussions in their living rooms. He also pulled up certain reports according to which the per capita income of people in Delhi is the second highest in India, and rubbed the same as salt against the voters for casting their ballot in support of freebies nevertheless. He covered a lot of ground, however, this article would become a mere script of his monologue if all of it is described.
Cut to result day, Sudhir Chaudhary is back to critical electoral analysis, in which he claims that the people of Delhi had been blinded by freebies to the extent that even if Imran Khan’s PTI fought elections in the national capital of India while offering a kind of freebie, it would emerge victorious. This is an unacceptable assessment coming from a journalist whose show potentially lakhs of people watch everyday.
It is no secret that Sudhir Chaudhary leans to the Right. As such, he may unknowingly, in a gush of emotions, be doing more harm to our cause than good. Blaming the voters and questioning their mandate is the Left’s forte. Liberals specialize in throwing mud at the voters which have made BJP win any election. The most intolerant of individuals are found on the Left. As such, the Right cannot afford to become a mirror image of the Left’s post-election lunacy. Deriding the voters, and having a traumatic-stress over a BJP victory is what liberals are specialists in. They, as a result, display their absolute disregard for the democratic process called an election.
From blaming the EVM’s, to claiming that a ‘militarization’ of Hindus is underway, they doll it all out. This is the reason why many in the Right love watching election results on NDTV when the BJP is winning. The disgust is clearly visible on the faces of the anchors. Other journalists, who were overjoyed witnessing an AAP sweep in Delhi were the same ones heartbroken in May 2019, after the BJP stormed back to power with 303 seats to its own credit.
We cannot become the people we despise. There are many factors which differentiate us from them. A fundamental one being respect for democracy. Journalists like Sudhir Chaudhary too must learn how to not let their emotions get the better of them, and instead learn to accept defeats. If not for defeats in elections, we’d be living in a truly stale and defunct democracy.
