Posted by
Sgt Relic on Sunday, April 12, 2009 9:37:08 AM
Bollywood gets out the vote!
Proving that politics is not just for wealthy American celebrities, Bollywood stars are in the thick of the Indian elections, as one of their own, Vinod Khanna, actor and sometimes producer, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party, or more simply the BJ Party, reminiscent of an American President who was closely aligned with Hollywood celebrities, seeks a return to office in the general elections this year.
Indian elections take place in five phases which at first glance seems very complicated but is in fact very similar to the American election process. The first phase begins with the announcing of the candidates for office followed by campaigning and the traditional offering of the bribes, a senior BJ Party member was caught on tape distributing money at a rally for his son who is a candidate for office.
In American elections the third phase, or as it is called in India, the scrutiny of the candidates phase, usually takes place during the campaign and is referred to in America as the “gotcha phase”. India apparently rolls out all their dirty tricks in a single time frame; the media must really hate this part!
It is in phase four that we begin to see the differences emerge between American politics and the Indian system. Phase four in India is Election Day which would suggest that they completely skip the traditional American “stuffing of the ballot box” phase, sometimes known of as the ACORN phase, and go directly to a counting of the ballots. It also appears, at least to western eyes, that there is no provision for the “finding of the mystery ballots” phase vital to any close election in the U.S. and also absent is a “divining of intent” phase which is actually part of phase five in America.
Phase five seems anti-climatic by our standards with a simple naming of the winners rather the much more enjoyable contesting of the ballots phase, followed by the endless lawsuits phase, which have become traditional in U.S. elections but this divergence likely can be attributed to India having so many more political parties, or it may just be impractical in a country of one billion souls actually conducting a free election as opposed to the much simpler Chinese model.
I like Mr. Khanna’s chances in this election. No, not because of his clout with Bollywood stars; it turns out that he appears to be the only one running whose name isn’t Ghandi.