One of the most eventful years in the history of the state will come to an end in the next few days . Although the progress made by a state or a government in all aspects will be many, the public tends to remember only the most eventful of moments. Unfortunately for the government and also for the state and its citizens the year began with disgruntlement and protests. It led to violence and arson causing death that gripped the state in fear bringing it to a standstill for some days. Consequently the chair of the chief minister was changed twice and although only in the form of two different persons, the state had a total of three chief ministers in the year. In the whole process of power politics or politics purely for power, the ruling party openly displayed its wide rifts within the party. It was not a two-way tussle between two power centres but more of a three-way tussle and more . By the end of the year it was not only three power centres but there seemed more players with their own agendas who were also waiting for their turns. By the end of the year, the ruling party and its legislators lay naked and bare for the people to judge, that too on an election year. The level of politics in the state is in its lowest ebb, something quite unexpected at the present age where the world is.
As for the people, they have seen one of the worst case scenarios of their leaders during the year. The integrity of each and every legislator is now an open book. Although the current tenure since 2013 had copious amounts of intrigues, the current year was the climax of it all. The citizens now know the strange bedfellows that their legislators had only to be keep changing as often as possible. It might have been the most promiscuous of the lot in recent history. The anti-defection law was also not a deterrent since there were enough legislators with no threat of a third party coming to power. It was instead effectively used to subdue the minority at every instance by the ruling party. However, in spite of the one mass movement by the public protesting the elections of the urban local bodies and some smaller agitations, it seems the public may not yet have learned their lessons. The truism that in a democracy the people get the leaders they deserve may still not be truly understood by the people of the state. The reception to the Church’s clean election campaign, to rid elections of excessive use of money and other unlawful methods, especially in areas where electioneering has started is not encouraging. Where do we go from here? Unless the elections system changes, the story will not be so different the next five years too.
