People’s concerns not part of poll discourse
It’s poll time again in Tamil Nadu and going by the rhetoric flying around, an outsider would be forgiven for assuming political parties were fighting a national election. Over the past week, DMK president and Chief Minister M K Stalin and AIADMK joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami have traded swipes over NEET.
Since the inception of the medical entrance test, Tamil Nadu has sought to be exempted from it. This change in discourse (from targeted attacks on governance) was precipitated by the Governor’s surprising move of sending a Bill passed by the Assembly, exempting admissions to government medical seats in the state from the test, back to the House for reconsideration.
Amid the charged back-and-forth, the focus may have shifted from the elections being held in the state. After a gap of 10 years, the people of Tamil Nadu will be electing representatives to urban local bodies. The state has much to be proud of—be it on economic development or with regard to human development indicators. Yet it is no point of pride that it has taken 10 years for these elections to be conducted.
Local bodies are the basic unit of Indian democracy. It is village panchayats, town panchayats, municipalities and corporations that provide the first level of representation and governance for the people. Yet neither are manifestos put out for these elections nor are key leaders focusing much on civic issues. These have been left to the candidates to deal with on a local level on grounds that the concerns vary from ward to ward. However, coverage of the concerns of residents show that people’s desires remain largely the same across the board: better roads, functional drainage systems and potable water.
While some of the concerns might indeed be particular to one ward or another, better civic services, which will have to be provided by cash-strapped local bodies, is a common demand. These are concerns that ought to take centrestage in poll campaigns and discourse of senior leaders as well, to acknowledge how essential local bodies are to ensure better quality of life to the people.