Smiling, Over-polite faces greet you at every nook and corner. Before you reciprocate, One of them introduces the candidate, “He is ‘Your’ Candidate… We want a change… Don’t you think?” he asks and assures, “When we promise something you can take it for granted.” Someone is knocking on your front door. As soon as you open the door, you see a few men and women who look like devotees waiting for a ‘Darshan’ of the deity. “Just a formality madam/Sir”, says one of them… “By the way, our top priority is to repair that road to Bus stand”, he adds. They leave after handing over a couple of printed papers which carry the picture and the name of the candidate and the party he represents and of course, the symbol of the party he or she represents.

As the days roll by, the Candidates and their supporters have hectic schedules, the toughest of which is to make arrangements, with meticulous care, for the arrival of their state-level leaders. The voters too have their own problems because the number of candidates in each ward is ten or more. There is a spurt of independent candidates and also a host of women candidates and as a result of several reserved seats for them.

Gone are the days when the candidates used to be landlords or lawyers especially for Municipality and Panchayat elections. Now, it has become free-for-all.

After all, India is one of the largest democracies and the participation of people of all walks of life in the elections right from the grass root level to the national level has be come quite common. The only problem is the existence of hundreds of Political parties and the resultant coalition culture and uncertainties.