Polls apart from the name game

When economist J K Galbraith coined his famous phrase ‘‘secession of the successful’’, he was describing the disdain tha...

When economist J K Galbraith coined his famous phrase ‘‘secession of the successful’’, he was describing the disdain that successful people feel about politics. Gaze on Marine Drive or Banjara Hills and you’ll see that middle-class disillusionment with our netajis echoes loudly in high-spending malls and in smoky bars where the voting preference is mostly whisky.

Nonetheless, when metro denizens all across the country, in an unexpected fever of democratic spirit, turn up to exercise their franchise and find that their names are missing from the electoral rolls, then we must conclude that the middle-class is being forced to remain polls apart from Indian democracy. How can one be enfranchised when the voter is treated as a gatecrasher in the political party? And any bash without a proper guest list is doomed to be a party without universal acceptance.

If democracy implies not just freedom for some, but freedom for all, then swinging blue gins must be drunk at the same time as lassi and chaach. After all, class war was never the intention of a Constitution written for every Indian citizen, whether they be celebrity fast bowlers or fashionable authors or industrialists whose names are synonymous with India’s favourite steel cupboards. Presenting some of the Famous but the Missing, from Election 2004’s electoral rolls:

Story continues below this ad

Irfan Pathan
The celebrity fast bowler may be the icon Number One for the youth, he may have played a stellar role in the cricketing triumph against Pakistan and he may have won the admiration of none other than Imran Khan, but when he turned up in Vadodara to cast his vote, he found his name missing.

Anupam Kher
When you happen to be the chief of the Central Board of Film Certification or Censor Board and you find your own name censored out of the voters’ list then you might be forgiven for thinking that this is the Saraansh of your political participation in India. Never mind that the sheer bald talent of your acting should have been enough to guarantee inclusion.

Adi Godrej
When you happen to be the brand name of India’s most famous steel cupboard, when the signature Godrej on a locker inspires an instant conviction that the said compartment is thief-proof, when grandmothers simply say ‘‘godrej’’ when they mean wardrobe, then the least you can expect is to find your name on the voters’ list. But, nope, Adi’s out too.

Shobha De
‘‘My vote has been neutered,’’ complained the famous celebrity author, genre-bending magazine editor and consultant on all things ‘‘in’’, upon finding her name missing from the voters’ list.