In places like Camrabhat in Taleigao, Indira Nagar, Moti Dongor, Sancoale, Mapusa, and many other candidates distribute Rs 3000 to 7000 per vote. Shocking, isn’t it?
Another shocking part is that out of 11 lakh-odd voters in Goa, almost 15 to 20 per cent of voters today are migrants living in slums, who are more vulnerable to cash distribution.
Despite being just 15-20 p.c of population, the migrants are fast becoming the dominant force in Goa’s electoral politics, mainly because they are the ones whose voting percentage is 100 p.c while the original Goan considers holiday for voting as a day of picnics.
In fact, we Goans have made ourselves redundant in electoral politics today. For five years, we will continue ranting on social media, but when the day comes to elect our leaders, we are happy to stay away and prefer to go for a picnic saying, “I just don’t like these elections; it is a waste of time and public money.”
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Assembly elections in Goa are just three months away, and many aspiring candidates and veteran politicians have started luring their voters with freebies, donations for festivals, sports tournaments etc.
However, one must agree that campaigning and manifestos have remained just symbolic, and the actual elections are how many votes one candidate can buy.
Interestingly, many candidates do not believe in buying votes with the last distribution of cash, but they fail to make an impact in the elections. They may have good intentions, social work in mind, and development, but voters no longer care about such sentiments.
In Goa, mainly in the migrant-dominated localities, cash distribution plays a significant role in the victory of a candidate.
In places like Camrabhat in Taleigao, Indira Nagar, Moti Dongor, Sancoale, Mapusa, and many other candidates distribute Rs 3000 to 7000 per vote. Shocking, isn’t it?
Another shocking part is that out of 11 lakh-odd voters in Goa, almost 15 to 20 per cent of voters today are migrants living in slums, who are more vulnerable to cash distribution.
Despite being just 15-20 p.c of population, the migrants are fast becoming the dominant force in Goa’s electoral politics, mainly because they are the ones whose voting percentage is 100 p.c while the original Goan considers holiday for voting as a day of picnics.
In fact, we Goans have made ourselves redundant in electoral politics today. For five years, we will continue ranting on social media, but when the day comes to elect our leaders, we are happy to stay away and prefer to go for a picnic saying, “I just don’t like these elections; it is a waste of time and public money.”
This works well for the candidates as well. They know to whom they have distributed money and make sure those people vote.
Elections are designed to make political leaders accountable for their performance and responsive to citizen demands.
Coming back to vote-buying, the practise of bribing voters before elections may constrain economic development through the under-provision of public goods such as education, public health, and infrastructure.
Further, since migrants or slum dwellers in Goa are the primary targets of vote-buying, it may also undercut their political voice.
The Election Commission has been doing its best to negate the menace of voter buying, but distributing money is so secretive that despite the paramilitary forces and flying squads at work in many slums, money is distributed without much hassle.
Educating voters about their right to vote and elect an honest candidate may cause them to vote in line with their interests, regardless of whether they receive a payoff, thereby making vote-buying less effective.
Vote-buying may also undermine the accountability of elected leaders, especially to the needs of low-income individuals.
The ECI and the candidates themselves have to educate the voters, especially migrants, why they have lived in the State they are in for decades? It is simply because the elected leader has no accountability towards them.
The leaders feel they have paid for the votes and ignore the issues of the people. For example, the people of Camrabhat have been living in a filthy state for decades, with no garbage clearance, floods inundate houses every year, no proper water, power supply, no sanitation, but they continue to vote for the same leader.
Similar is the situation in Indira Nagar, the people are fighting for the regularisation of houses, but for ages, the candidates have just given assurances.
Not just the migrants, the educated Goans, who prefer to stay away from voting, also need to think twice – Should they vote by spending precious time in queue for voting or should they spend the holiday for a picnic and continue their rhetoric on social media in frustration for next five years?
