The politician will now also have to fear the non-voter

Till recently, the voter was all that the politician cared about. That’s not quite right; the politician cared only for the voters who voted for him or her. Thanks to the election commission, there is so much data available that the politician knows exactly which votes matter. For example, in a particular constituency, the politician could learn that the voter turnout in the high-rises occupied by the middle-class residents was abysmally low and that the turnout from the slums adjoining the high-rises was very high. As a consequence, the politician focused on the demands and requests of the slum-dweller, ignoring the demands of the occupants of the high-rises. The ‘inconsequential’ vote is ignored, as, election after election, the politician concentrates his energy on the segment which was most responsible for voting him into power. One can’t blame the politician – he’s only utilising his resources as efficiently as he can. Why waste these finite resources on those whose votes don’t matter – or on those who don’t vote at all? As the ‘inconsequential’ voter realises that his vote doesn’t matter, apathy sets in, and, over time, he becomes a non-voter. It’s not that he did not want to vote; he did, he ‘believed’ his vote didn’t work. And he matters less and less to the politician. [caption id=“attachment_110317” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“As you see the anti-corruption movement getting stronger, you are increasingly gratified that your ‘vote’ matters. PTI”] [/caption] Till now. The non-voter has realised that the ballot is only one of many ways to ‘vote’. You can ‘vote’ by, for example, by attending an Anna Hazare rally. And as you see politicians wilting under the onslaught on the Jan Lokpal issue, you realise that your ‘vote’ counts. Even if you didn’t attend a rally, you could have ‘voted’ by registering your support on the India Against Corruption website, by making a ‘missed call’ to the IAC hotline, or by taking part in their online survey. As you see the anti-corruption movement getting stronger, you are increasingly gratified that your ‘vote’ matters. And that the politician, who never gave you, the non-voter or the inconsequential voter, a second glance, is forced to look at you. This is the new challenge for the politician: to address the concerns of the non-voter, the concerns of the man who didn’t matter. Thanks to Anna Hazare, each cause could be an ‘election’ where voters and non-voters are equally powerful influencers. In a way, it’s like Anna Hazare himself. Politicians barely saw him as a threat – he had no political party and no workers. How could he be a threat? Anna Hazare hasn’t stood for any elected office and he hasn’t been elected to power – but politicians, today, fear him, the non-elected one. They will learn to fear, as well, the non-voters who ‘voted’ for the non-candidate. They will also learn to fear the many Anna Hazares who could force many ‘elections’, from neighborhood issues to nuclear power – all of whom could ask voters and non-voters for their support.