Politicians are not bad, we are feckless

Yes, politicians are not bad, we are feckless. 

If we would have the real interest towards nation building and if we would be responsible our politicians wouldn't be bad. We wouldn't allow them to get there. If they have got there, we wouldn't allow them to be there.

How conveniently we cover up our irresponsible behavior by blaming the politicians for everything that goes wrong? It's time we understand that the MLAs and MPs (Lok Sabha) are elected by us and they in turn elect the Chief Minister of the state and Prime Minister of the country respectively. We have a choice to elect as to who will govern us. This is why it's called democracy.

We behave as if it's some people's prerogative to be ministers. No it's not. They did not land here from the Sky and take over power and control of the State or Nation, they are not kings to pass on the power to their children, and it's not military rule.  We have elected them. We had a choice and we have a choice in every election to choose the best candidate for our constituency.

But we don't do what we have to do and we expect good results from our politicians.

• Do you know how many of us actually vote? For example the voting percentage in Bangalore is only between 50 to 60%. 
• Do you know the candidates in our constituency before the elections?
• Have you made an attempt to know the candidates' background before the elections?
• Do you know what are the development programs promised by the candidates for your constituency? Do you even know the name of  your constituency?
• Do you know if the elected MLA or MP kept his/her promises to what was promised before the election?
• Have you raised any concerns directly or as group with your area MLA or MP?
• Have you kept a status check of what your MLAs and MPs are doing in your constituency?
• Do you discuss about politics or any nation building topics with your family and friends? No time, right? You have all the time to discuss about Movies and Cricket. Oh, politics is not cool, right? Don't be a fool. It doesn't matter if you don't discuss about cricket, cricketers will play, and they will earn a lot, and if they have the competence they will win. It doesn't matter if you don't discuss about movies, stars will earn a lot, if the movie is good, people will watch it. But if you don't discuss politics and nation building topics then the country will not move forward but backward.
• Do you realize that every vote has same weight? What does that mean? For example, a Software Engineer's or a Doctor's or a Lawyer's vote has same weight as an illiterate person or a drunkard or a mentally ill person or a person who is not interested in nation building. What does that mean?  If more people who are not interested in nation building vote than people who are interested in nation building then it could happen that the best candidate doesn't win. I don't mean to say all drunkards are against nation building but just highlighting this point with an example. A drunkard just needs a drink for the voting day to give away his vote, right? Even though it is punishable offence to bribe for votes, we continue to hear stories of bribe during elections. So, what should we do? See the requests below

Requests

• We should create awareness among our friends, families, neighbors, our villages etc about how important it's to vote, and how much more important it's to be knowledgeable about the candidates before we cast our vote. 
• We should also create awareness among those drunkards, those illiterates and others that their votes are very important and they should not give away votes without understanding their options. In the long run we should try to bring up these people so that they can make correct choices on their own and are not be fooled by candidates.
• Don't vote for a party, vote for a person. Hold the person accountable. Make them take responsibility. Feel free to vote for candidate A of party XYZ in assembly election and vote for candidate B of party DEF in Lok Sabha elections. Vote for the best candidate.
• Don't take into consideration any of the identities like gender, caste, region, religion, language, profession etc.  Vote for a candidate based on what he/she has achieved in the past and what is promised and take time and see through the real intention of the candidate. If you give enough time you will surely be able to understand your candidates.
• Don't go with Top-down approach, go with Bottom-up approach. If there is no water in your house, or electricity in your house, don't blame Prime Minister or Chief Minister. First raise it with your water or electricity department. If that doesn't solve, talk or raise concerns with your MLA or MP. It is their responsibility to ensure that their constituency is taken care. 
• Ask for quarterly status reports. It should cover, what was done in the last quarter, what is the plan for the next quarter? How much was spent in the last quarter on what? And what is the plan for the next quarter?

Let's become responsible and have the drive to build the nation, then we will see that the politicians are not bad.