When "Choosing Not to Choose" is not a Choice

It's election time. Unfortunately, in many circles, "Politics" is considered a bad word. Anyone with interest in Electoral issues is considered "Political" and are cast in a khadi-wearing, slogan-shouting stereotype. There is even a notion that no-one who is "political" can remain clean for too long. So what is the safest bet? Remain clean; stay off politics. And strangely we chose to  remain paralyzed by a perceived helplessness, imposed by what I can only put down to conditioning.
But here it is: By not taking a stance, I implicitly bless the victory of some candidate. So my inaction can result in the victory of a bad candidate. And then it came crashing on me: If I abstained from voting, I don't stay clean; Instead I might be supporting the dirtiest of candidates. When the law fails us, someone CAN point fingers at me and say "You did not vote. So this guy won and now look at where we are". This is the good and bad of democracy. Eventually, when the law fails me, someone CAN point fingers at me and say "Your fault".

I stayed away from voting all these years because of a few reasons:

1. I felt that by voting I was just picking the best among the worst and that it did not make a difference
2. I felt that the elected MLA would open no channels for me to communicate with him/her, thus making my needs a non-issue. So I never felt personally invested in the action
3. I did not know how to find out about any particular candidate. So what would I be basing my votes on? 
4. This one is the most embarrassing of all. But I'll admit it. I was lazy to get through the process

This year, a few things have changed. They have given me no excuse to hide behind

1.  As with all years, I got a year older and a bit wiser. At least one good thing came of that increased wrinkle near my eye
2. The process for registering to vote and to find out about the candidates and their stance has gotten so simple, that I cannot sit back and not give my sloth a kick in the derriere. I will provide the necessary links below
3. The place in live in has a wonderfully active RWA that creates the necessary channels for me to communicate with my MLA. So now it's like the phone lines are open and hence who is talking & listening on the other end matters
4. All candidates are getting technology savvy. More and more of them are speaking up online. So knowing the stance of these candidates on issues is getting easier. I will list these information sources below.
5. And last but not the least...I have a personal favorite this time. I don't feel like I am picking the best of the worst. Now I am motivated to see these specific candidates win because I have faith in their ability to lead well. I pride myself enough to say "I don't want some idiot to represent me. I want this person, because he is worthy enough of representing me". In short I have selected. But it's a secret ballot and you don't need to know who that is ;-)

So, let me share some of the information that made it easier for me to get on the bandwagon. It is in my vested interest that I request people living in Koramangala to vote and vote wisely, because your decisions, your action or in-action will affect me profusely.

Register to vote

I woke-up a bit too late, on this issue. Though, thanks to my parents, I am registered to vote, it is in the constituency I grew up in. Changing it would have enabled me to have a say in who should win in my constituency - B.T.M. Layout. But I was too late. So, these elections, I will be returning to my earlier constituency. 

If you have not registered to vote, or like me, are registered in a different constituency, it's a bit late now. But for future elections, please remember it's very simple and can be done online, via this website: http://www.voterreg.kar.nic.in/

Which constituency do you belong to?

If you are not sure of your constituency, but have a voter ID, then finding out your constituency is easy-peasy.

Who are your Candidates

Now, if you know your constituency, then finding out the candidates, then the candidate list has been generously compiled for you by several people. I got mine from the horses mouth. Download your pdf today: http://ceokarnataka.kar.nic.in/ContestingCandidates.aspx

List of Candidates from B.T.M. Constituency  

For my dear residents of Koramangala, who I am almost begging to go vote, I have gone a head and done the research to make it one step easier. These are the candidates and I have found as much information as I can about each of them. Happy reading. 

You have less than a week to make up your mind. If you don't then your neighbours will make up their mind and it just might be the most stupid decision they take, on your behalf. So please, please do put your mind to use and make an active good choice, not a passive bad one. Sadly, not choosing, is not an option...

Symbol	Candidate	Info Links
Lok Satta	Ravi Krishna Reddy	Website Party Website  Facebook Profile Interview with candidate
Janata Dal (Secular)	J. Rameshreddy	http://www.rameshreddy.org/ Party Website
Indian National Congress	Ramalinga Reddy	http://ramalingareddy.com/ Party Website
B.J.P.	N. Sudhakar	BJP Candidates list
B.S.P.	Hariram A.	Party Website
Sewing Machine Bharatiya Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Janatha Party	Thayagaraj
KJP	Srinivasa	KJP Candidates List
Kite Independent	Mohammed Sadiq
Auto Rickshaw Independent	R. Ravindrakumar	Facebook Profile http://bangalorecitizensforum.org/

Know what your MLA has been up to 

And finally, you might want to get familiar with what your current MLA has done for you. Oh yeah! Done for you. We can demand they do stuff for us. That, my dear friends is democracy...woohooo!
http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/MLA-bangalore-2008-2013