Anna's party – Can do a Lot with Half a Percent of the Vote

Let us challenge ourselves to think hard. Anna’s movement will be launching a party – but this does not make it any less of a movement. It will be a movement willing to use the danda of elections to achieve limited goals, as and when appropriate. Old political hands are smug – they believe that an anti-corruption movement cannot get enough votes to bother them. They are wrong.

Just imagine that Anna’s movement/party draws up a list of top 60 undesirable “netas”; which of them can be called criminals and/or corrupt elements will have be decided by lawyers, but there is nothing illegal in labeling them undesirable! Suppose the movement tells political parties of these undesirable netas that it will work against all those from this list who are nominated as candidates. The movement may put up candidates to oppose the “undesirable” elements, create mass awareness campaigns in the constituencies, and take all legal measures to mobilize opinion against them. It may even endorse an alternative candidate from another party, if he/she is clean

For this purpose, the movement could list 60 good leaders who it would not oppose if they are nominated. I believe that the movement can influence other parties in this manner. Work can be focused on only sixty constituencies and if half percent of the nation’s vote is garnered in these places, and is used against undesirable elements, there will be an average penalty of a few percent on each undesirable. A few percent can swing an election in a constituency. The fear of this can cleanse the other parties of some of their undesirable elements. I have quoted numbers above only to illustrate the argument. Better estimates can be made as the election draws near.

The main point made here is that you don’t need a lot of votes. Just ensure that they are garnered in selected constituencies to influence key decisions. Anna’s party may not have brawn but it can use brain power to maximize its impact. Anna’s party doesn't need to win; it only has to get undesirable elements defeated by someone or other.

The movement can also benefit from a few donors – celebrities who can gather enough votes to defeat key undesirables. But we need only those celebrities we respect and who belong to the movement.  We do have a few, already! We should starting seeking more!   We need to persuade them that they have to act effectively to achieve what they believe in.

Srinivasan Ramani