Bangalore's Shame.

There are things worth getting upset about. Like the state of the nation. If you're not getting worked up about where this nation is headed, it's time for some introspection. In any case, I'm no one to judge. There are other things worth getting upset about. Like how utterly unconcerned your fellow citizens are about the future of the nation.

Bengaluru. Familiar to most as Bangalore, the IT hub of India. Our very own silicon valley. The garden city (or what used to be the garden city). Home to the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In many ways, Bangalore is India in a nutshell. The diversity in it's population in terms of language and religion is a true manifestation of the diversity of India. One can not speak of Bangalore without speaking of two things. Bangalore's weather (Oh the beauty of it!) and Bangalore's traffic(Oh the terror!) . Bangalore is beautiful city with beautiful people.
But today, Bangalore deserves none of those accolades. Bangalore deserves a rap on it's knuckles. Maybe three or four actually.

When all of India is taking part in the largest democratic exercise in the world, Bangalore disappeared. With an alarmingly low voter turnout percentage in the late 40s, Bangaloreans have shamed Bangalore. What is the use of having a population that is so educated that they think they don't need to vote? What's the use of population that doesn't seem to care for democracy? I genuinely hope that all of you smart Bangaloreans enjoy your long weekend ( it's a 4 day weekend if you include election day) because you've sacrificed your constitutional right to vote your representative. For shame guys. For shame.

Bangalore's total population is about 9.5 million. Roughly 6-7 million of those can vote. Hardly 3-3.5 million of those actually voted. And the winning candidate will get, say around a million and half votes. That means that 1.5 million people will decide the representative of 9.5 million people. It's a text book case of the ones who didn't vote deciding who gets elected, effectively.

There's such a lot of nonsense talk about people being so upset with the government that they decided not to vote. You've got to be crazy. If you're upset with the government, VOTE THEM OUT. If you're not happy with any of the candidates, use NOTA. You could've chosen none of the above. If your next argument is that NOTA has no impact so it's as good as not voting- I know your real reason. You're too lazy to go out and vote. It's not the candidates, not the corruption. It's laziness. Yes. I'm being harsh. I'm being harsh because no one is ever going to tell you all this. Our constitution is too nice to us. No one is going to force you to vote. If you cared, you'd do it voluntarily. Most polling stations were deserted by the afternoon.

There is only one thing to say to Bangaloreans today. At least to one half of them. You don't have an excuse to hide behind. It was a holiday. All you had to do was vote. You failed miserably. The country was watching. And in the eyes of the rest of India, respect for Bangalore went down a notch. But what do you care? You got the holiday you wanted.

Militant infested regions in Jharkhand saw more voting. For shame. And we're the educated society? Shame.

Be ashamed Bangaloreans. You've brought shame to Bangalore.

Stay Safe! Stay informed!

Anirudh Dinesh
Editor-At-Large, Dudurudh.

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