Indian elections are a riddle

My last election coverage from the ground was in 2009 in Kerala.

Since childhood, elections have been one of the most fascinating events for me. As I grew up and picked up journalism as my profession, I learned to get involved in polls without showing off my political affiliation. It's experience so close to taking a dip in the pool without getting wet.
My last election coverage from the ground was in 2009 in Kerala, when I travelled across the state in four days, covering 18 of the 20 constituencies. Voters in Kerala those days were tactical, except hardcore partymen. They were not willing to reveal what was on their minds.
This time around, I was the first of the four KT journalists to jump into action, covering the first and second phases of the elections across the four states in south India.
There were all sorts of men I had met in my 3,200km-long drive. Staunch supporters of certain political parties, blind worshippers who trust their leaders like deities, cynics who think nothing is going to work and, of course, people who analyse every political happening before choosing their candidate.
After a short haul in Kerala, my first drive was from Kochi to Andhra Pradesh. It was a close to 12-hour drive. I started from Kochi at 5pm and reached Andhra in the morning, at 4.45am. After a nap, I sprung into the field - a schedule that I continued for 10 more days.
If you ask me who is the most interesting person I met on the trip, I would say it is a shepherd who I bumped into in a village near Chikkaballapur town in Karnataka.
Along with his wife, he was herding his sheep in a dry field. He stopped for my camera as I requested. "Whom would you vote?" I asked him.
"The winning candidate" was his answer.
"And who would that be?"
"Let the results decide. I have more important things to do," he said, and walked away with his herd.
Another one was Raju, a street-side coconut vendor whom I found near Mysuru in Karnataka. He was busy serving tender coconuts to his customers. The scorching summer heat forced me to depend on people like Raju at least four times a day, besides the bottles of water I purchased from roadside shops, to keep me hydrated and thus, moving forward.
I ordered a tender coconut and captured him cutting it. He was happy to be photographed and served me with a dash of smile.
"What do you think of the election?" I asked him.
"Election is all about money, brother. And for me, money is my business. So I do participate in the process by selling my tender coconuts," Raju said before moving on to another customer.
It was not the same everywhere. In metro cities like Bengaluru or Chennai, there was no fervour of the election to be felt or seen. Everybody was busy minding their own business. But in villages, people were seen celebrating the festival of democracy. At places like Tuticorn in Tamil Nadu, many of the voters didn't see the election as a festival. Thankaraj, a villager near the Sterlite plant where more than a dozen people were killed in police firing on protesters, to vote is to avenge. "We need to give a fitting response to the state government for the blood of our brothers. So, this is our responsibility. A commitment towards those who sacrificed their lives for us," he said.
I was chasing former Indian minister A. Raja, who was accused in the multi-million 2G scam, in Ooty, Tamil Nadu, where he was a UPA candidate. He was campaigning in a forest village 20km from the hill station. I saw a large group of villagers, including women and children, shouting slogans in support of the candidate. "Raja will be the king this time," said an octogenarian woman in rags, raising her hands to pray for the man who caused the second UPA government to fall.
It's a riddle... the Indian polls. A tough one to answer, even for the experts. You ask a seasoned politician or a naive local leader, they have hundreds of reasons to predict the victory of their favourite candidates. And those reasons will make you believe that their candidate is the best person to do the job.
anuwarrier@khaleejtimes.com