Why we do not have an option but to vote for BJP this time

Disclaimer: This is neither a paid news piece nor I am a sycophant of the BJP. My only credentials of writing this article is that I am an informed and an educated electorate who holds interest in Indian politics, aspires for a better India and loves to write. This article is just about the available choices to the normal voter like me and the best possible option among them.

The next elections are not far and going by the current uncertainty might be sooner than later. Despite more than 100 parties in the Indian political system, we as a voter still do not have any major choices. In such a scenario, the only way to vote is by exclusion. Lets look at the available options first. We have only 2 national parties and a plethora of regional parties.

The 2 national parties are Congress (no justification needed for this) and BJP. BJP, apart from Congress is the only political party which has a presence or had a decent presence across the country, be it Karnataka in south, Gujarat in west, Madhya Pradesh in center, UP, delhi, Punjab & Uttarakhand in North and Bihar in West. Its also the only political party apart from Congress who has the potential to reach 3 digit mark in the Indian parliament.

Before we dispute between Congress and BJP, lets look at the regional options and why I dont consider them worthy to vote for.

Firstly, we as a voter should learn to distinguish between local, regional and national issues. I dont mind voting for regional parties in assembly elections, municipal elections or panchayat elections but when it comes to Parliament, my suggestion is that we move beyond our local issues. A clear differentiation is important and needed in our federal structure.

Now the only credible regional parties which are worth mentioning here are SP, BSP, TMC, JD(U), DMK, AIADMK and may be the Senas. The problem with these parties is that almost all these parties are confined to 1 or max 2 states. So a DMK will have no interest in the development of even its neighbour Karnataka, forget the Northern states. Same can be easily said for any of the UP parties like SP or BSP. The point I am making is that they were and will be concerned only about their states or their limited vote banks be it Dalits, Tamils, Muslims, etc.

Secondly, all these parties are one-man (or woman) show. You remove the leader like Mulayam, Mayawati, Karunanidhi, Mamta, Jayalalitha and you have nothing left in there. Third, none of these leaders have any clue on any national issues. Do you forsee any of these leaders speaking about Indian foreign policy on any international platform? The only time you see these leaders in Delhi is when they need something for their state or when they have something to negotiate in return to save the existing government.

Needless to add, none of these leaders are 'clean' or 'strong' enough to warrant any exception to my arguments.

Having excluded the regional parties from my selection process, we are down to only Congress and BJP. With these two options, I suggest BJP. Why do I say that?

Congress has been given sufficient chances. In last 60 years of independence, Congress has ruled for around 50 years including the last 10 years. If we vote Congress back to power, we are effectively sending a message that we are least bothered about the enormous corruption that happened in last 5 years alone. We are immune to one of the most ineffectual PM. No PM in Indian history has faced as much flak including from international press as Manmohan Singh. He lacks leadership skill and he cant make his own decisions. He let his own partymen, his own coalition partner and his own party leader take over his decision making power. Net net, the message we send is that we are happy living in our own cocoon shelf and nothing bothers us anymore.

Having said that I dont advocate everything in BJP or all its policies. But the biggest reason for voting them is CHANGE. We need change. We need to witness a different way of functionining. We need some fresh faces in the government. We need some different policies. Whether they work or not, only the future can tell but a change is necessary to shake the current inertia and to instil confidence back in the minds of normal citizens who would like to vote. For a democracy to function normally, my belief is a churn is needed. If the current party is not performing, give the alternative a chance.

Whenever BJP's name is discussed, media automatically shifts the focus to who will lead. As per me, it doesnt matter if the party is led by Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley, Advani or the current favorite Narendra Modi. All have their own pluses and minuses. All are intelligent, qualified, good administrators and obviously great orators. Whether they are fit to be a PM, I honestly dont know and I bet neither do you. On the media's favorite debate of Narendra vs Rahul, my take is its not just about an inidividual. Whether Rahul is good or bad, he has the same party behind him. If he couldnt change the scenario till now, there is no point in discussing his aspirations of what he might do in future. Most important, he is untested. He has never led any ministry, any state or any team of national importance. At least within Modi and other BJP candidates, you have past experience to give some confidence.

With this, I rest my argument and let you decide. But I would like to state one final note before you make a decision: In an Indian political climate, I believe its important to give one party a clear mandate else we have the numerous issues that get associated with 'coalition dharma' which I am sure you have heard and witnessed enough in last 10-15 years be it bartering, buying/selling of MPs, fake usage of CBIs, begging bowls etc. So while you vote for regional parties during your assembly elections, please think of the nation first when you vote for parliamentary elections. A hung parliament only helps the 'kingmakers' and not the king.

Happy Voting and Let the 'better' party win.