Whom to Vote??

India is going to poll

We the people of India are going to elect who will govern us for next 5 years. It is fight against the prevailing corruption which is always in terms of Lakhs of Crores - 1, 00, 000, 00,00, 000 X n [ 1 Billion X n ] like our population is 1 Billiuon + , our corruption size is also in billions. I am simply in awe of the size of corruption. 

Mr. Narendra Modi 

He is projected as the prime ministerial candidate of BJP and Yes, he wants to be the PM. 

Mr. Rahul Gandhi 

He is spear-heading the congress campaign . No, he does not want to be the PM but if his party wants then he will obey Party high command.

So one understands that it is a fight between 2 main parties BJP and Congress - Right?? No No that is totally wrong - All sorts of regional parties, independent candidates, Third Front which is a conglomeration of parties not including BJP and Congress All TV Channels are full of debates, interviews, accusations etc.. the whole day. 

So I am in a dilemma
Whom should I choose to be my leader?? I feel Mr. Modi should be given a fair chance to prove his promises of a clean and efficient administration , a promise of total Transformation- just for a change. 

Rahul Gandhi who was thoroughly dissected by Arnab Goswami in Times Now Channel with a marathon interview left me wondering . Is a true leader hiding in him? I anyway like his dimpled smile and handsome young looks.  

Google to my rescue
As always I turned to my best friend who always stands by my side - my Google Search. 

First I searched about Modi - Read all about him in Wikipedia, visited his official web site - was amazed to read his literary work . He has a master's degree in political science. He has ruled Gujarat for last 14 years , has brought magical transformations in many ways. I spent hours reading his ebooks - his book on education is so beautifully illustrated with pictures. thorougly impressed ,  my choice of my PM is almost made, I now ventured to find out how will I be making my choice by voting in my constituency. 
   
I am in Maval Constituency
Now I live in a area called PCMC and my son said this area comes under Maval Constituency. So I tried to find out who the candidates were and who would my chosen leader to represent me in parliament - BJP or Congress. My personal choice was to any man of high integrity, a true selfless leader ( What a day-dream!!) who would really care about our area.

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From official Indian election web site :

One of the 48 parliamentary constituencies of Maharashtra, the Lok Sabha constituency of Maval came into existence after the Presidential notification of delimitation of constituencies in 2008 and comprises of six Vidhan Sabha segments of which one is reserved for the SC category. According to Election Commission of India 2009 data the total electorates in the Maval Parliamentary constituency (constituency number 33) were 1,604,886 of which 753,914 are females and 850,972 are males. Maval is a tehsil and taluka of the Pune District and belongs to the Pune Division. Pune District has 15 talulaks and 13 Panchayat Samitis with a total area of 15,642 sq km.

According to the 2011 census, the district has a population of 9,429,408 making it the 4th most populated district in India. About 12% of the population is below six years of age and the city has a 52% male majority as well as a sex ratio of 915 females for every 1000 males. The average literacy rate here is about 86.25% with 90.84% male literacy and 81.05% female literacy. Marathi is the official language here while languages like Hindi and Gujarati are spoken by the locals. The population density here is 603 inhabitants per sq km. Pune District houses the Pune University which is one of the premier universities of the country. NH-4, NH-9, NH-50, Mumbai Pune Expressway along with five State Highways connect the district to several major towns and cities.

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Totally clueless , I spent about 2+ hours gaining as much information as possible about the candidates representing me in Parliament. First of all, the Election website of India was not updated with the candidates list.

Anyway my choice zeroes in upon 3 candidates:

1) Laxman Jagtap 

He was a NCP member, but he has quit that party recently and now will be contesting as an independent candidate with the support of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and the Peasants and Workers Party (PWP). Does have a brief web site giving all his achievements for his constituency- lots of work in PCMC area and office - declared asset of 6 Crores ( an increase of 2+ Crores since 2009) , owns no vehicles etc.. My choice tilted toward him - even Art of living Guruji has endorsed him . 

Then I read conflicting reports about his huge wealth - he is known as Master of TDR , he came with a cavalcade of 500 (!!!!) jeeps with supporters to register for his nomination. He is educated upto high School. 

Now I was confused - First of all he was neither Congress nor BJP which means which ever party got or likely to get majority, his one seat if he won would be a valuable addition. 

2) Rahul Narwekar

He is fighting as a NCP candidate, but was actually a  staunch Shiv Sena party worker and Spokesperson, had quit the party recently and joined NCP. He was a leading NCP member Ramraje Naik Nimbalkar's son-in-law  - I could not locate much information about him, where he lives, has he done anything for my constituency in the past etc.. He does not have a web site so far . He has a nice intelligent smile though. He of the 3 candidates is most educated ( BA LLB ) .  I know our local corporator R.S.Kumar of my area is from NCP and a great social worker and very helpful for local problems. I also know a lady corporator MangalaThai Kadam  who is held in very high esteem by locals. But Rahul Narvekar - not much is known about him. I had thought Supriya Sule who is the daughter of Mr Sharad Pawar of NCP would represent my constituency and was willing to cast my vote for her. She has done lots of good work for her constituency. But Rahul Narwekar ?? Declared assets of 10+Crores which includes a speed boat as a movable property!! 

3) Maruthi Bopkar : 

He has joined Aam Admi Party recently ( ??? ) and I had never heard of him. But it turns out that he has been working in my area as a elected political representative ( Ah - my political knowledge is pathetic) and more for farmer welfare and with Anna Hazare in Anti-corruption movement . He had a web site with few pages listing all his achievements and services. He travelled by a public transport bus with 3 supporters to file his nomination papers ( Compare with Jagtap!!) He has also studied upto high School. Very little cash and property declaration. 

Political Gyan

So now I am more enlightened about regional parties in Elections and how powerful they were in tilting the final count for who will govern my country. Tamil Nadu has Jaya Lalitha AIDMK trying for 38 Parliament Seats, Mamta of TMC from Bengal , Nitesh from Bihar - all aiming to be PM candidates too and with so many seats. 

Some Gyan has dawned on me today. Politics in India is a complex game only for the strong hearted. Just like land shifting in Bible, so many politicians were moving from one party to another during election times and the scenario is chaotic like our Lok Sabha proceedings. 

I wish Nilekani had contested from my constituency - then I would have been left with no choice but to vote for him.  A man of such integrity!! Or Mr Modi for that matter. I want to give him a chance to prove his dreams for India. 

I am wondering  - whom to vote??