Essay on “I Witness an Election” Complete Essay for Class 10, Class 12 and Graduation and other classes.

I Witness an Election

Outline: India is a democracy — the propaganda before the election — the day of the election and-impressions and observations.

It is a matter of pride that India is a democracy, while in many neighboring countries dictatorship has reared its ugly head. In a democracy the people elect their rulers who remain in power only so long as they retain the confidence of the electorate. Democracy is not free from defects, but it is preferable to any other form of government.

Elections are the vital machinery through which democracy works.

I witnessed the elections to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly held in March 1999. As a minor I was not entitled to vote, but I took a keen interest in the election and accompanied my parents to the polling booth. The various political parties contesting the election had carried on vigorous propaganda for several days prior to it. They issued manifestos, making tall promises in a rhetorical language. Several meetings were addressed, processions taken out, and slogans shouted through megaphones. All the boisterous canvassing had come to an end, and there was subdued excitement on the day of the election.

My parents had to stand in a long queue before the polling booth. As a spectator who was not bound to a rigid schedule, I could see more of the game than the participants. Quite a few people standing in the queue were factory-workers and hutment- dwellers who were illiterate. They did not understand the aims and programmes of different political parties. They had been coaxed by a candidate into taking the trouble of voting. Many of them evidently did not know how to vote. I now understood why a large number of votes in every election turned out to be invalid. What was more depressing being the indifference and cynicism of many educated people? Listening to the conversation of some educated persons standing in the queue, I gathered that they were not interested in any political party. They had come there only because they were expected to exercise their franchise. How can democracy be successful if people do not elect rulers intelligently?

At last my parents’ turn to vote came. They received their ballot papers, marked them in booths specially provided for the purpose, and dropped them into the ballot-box. Hundreds of people went through the same process. It was so simple; yet on it depended the destiny of the nation.

It was gratifying to note that the election was conducted in a fair, impartial, and peaceful manner. At thousands of polling booths all over India people would elect members to the Legislative Assemblies in their States. I returned home with the impression that, despite several defects, democracy had a bright future in India.