“Go to the ends of the line if you really want to know what people are thinking,” my friend in the broadcast media tells me.
“You mean go to the poorest of the poor?” I ask.
“I mean go to the ends of the metro lines,” she clarifies.
This is good advice indeed; for the ends of the Delhi Metro lines are located on the outskirts of the city and are good places to get a sense of what people in the bordering states might also be thinking about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
I decide to begin phase three of my “Date with Democracy” survey tour at HUDA City Metro Station in Gurgaon. Here I will take the Yellow Line, which goes all the way across the city to Samaypur Badli in the north. I also plan to get off at the Vishwavidyalaya stop in between and talk to as many Delhi University students as I can. The basic question I am going to ask everyone are – who will you vote for in the coming Lok Sabha elections, and why?
Ram Kumar, the autorickshaw driver who is taking me to the station, tells me he preferred the Congress government. He is quick to clarify that they were far from perfect, but he says, at least in their tenure he only got hassled by cops once a month. Nowadays, he says he has to fork over Rs 100 to traffic cops every single day. I ask him if this is hyperbole or if he is serious, because Rs 100 a day means he is paying bribes to the tune of Rs 3,000 every month! He is quite serious.
I say, “But you have a license and your papers are in order, and you seem to be following all the traffic rules!”
“That’s what I thought too,” he responds, “but when I tried arguing this point with the cops, they told me, ‘We have 75 dharaas (rules) we can slap on you. It’s simpler if you just cough up the money.’”
As I get off at the HUDA City metro station, he tells me, “That’s why I want my children to get jobs and not drive an auto like me.” I ask him how old his children are. His elder daughter, who is 23, has finished her MA and is looking for a job.
An hour and 20 minutes later, I get off at Vishwavidyala metro station, take an e–rickshaw to Hindu College and start talking to the students there. A large number of them tell me they are still undecided and will make their decision once they know who their candidate is or what the various party manifestos are. Of the students I spoke to, 39% say they will vote for the BJP, 18.8% say they will vote for Congress and 8.7% say they will vote for AAP. Another 7.2% of the students said they won’t be voting and a whopping 26% (over a quarter) say they are still undecided.
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I realise, of course, that mine is a very informal survey but I can’t help but feel that if this is in any way representative of what is going in the minds of educated youth, then these elections are still open.
When I ask those who are voting for AAP or Congress why they want to do so, their almost standard response is that they are worried about the extreme polarisation taking place in Indian society and do not want to encourage the politics of communalisation. A few are also very concerned about what ‘development’ has brought in its wake. An MA Economics student from the Delhi School of Economics tells me, “Of course I want development, everybody does! But if even one person is displaced in the process then that development is not worth it.” I stop and think about that for a few bit before proceeding on to interview the next person.
A group of students is playing Holi just outside St Stephen’s college. I approach them gingerly, for I do not wish to be coloured just yet. They tell me they are BA students studying in St Stephen’s and they will all vote for Modi. Their reasons have to do with his personality.
A tall, bearded student has been watching me for a while now and he approaches me to ask what I’m doing. I explain. He asks if he can tag along because he too is interested in finding out which way the winds are blowing. He tells me he will most likely vote for the BJP. Jitendra is studying for his civil services exams and we strike up an easy rapport as we walk down the street asking people questions. I change my introductory pitch to “Hi! I’m Rohit and this is my newest friend, Jitendra. Can we ask you some questions?”
We speak to students from Assam, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP, Manipur and also Arunachal Pradesh. Some are doing their BA, some MA and some are PhD scholars in subjects like Sanskrit, economics and political science. I find the older the students are, the less sure they are about who they will vote for. The MA and PhD students take their time to explain why they will vote or won’t vote a certain way. I am enjoying these little conversations immensely. It is good to be in the presence of people who are nuanced, thoughtful and well-read. It feels like a breath of fresh air.
We walk on a bit. A group of protesting librarians are sitting on durries by the side of the road. Right next to them, a group of six teachers is sitting on benches. They are all AAP supporters. One of them, a Hindi teacher, launches into an impromptu but impassioned plea to elect only those who are serious about providing high quality education to the masses. His language is colourful and entertaining, and by the time he has finished, the serious content of his speech notwithstanding, we are all doubled over with laughter. The gentleman has a way with words.
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Jitendra and I exchange email IDs, promise to keep in touch, and go on our separate ways. The results are very similar to what I have seen elsewhere in Delhi – the vote is split. No one seems to be getting a clear majority. The only difference in Delhi University is that a very large number of respondents are still waiting and watching.
I get back on the metro and get off at the final stop on the Yellow Line, Samaypur Badli. I have never been here before and frankly, am rather amazed at how large the city of Delhi is. There is a pungent, petroleum-product like smell in the air. This metro station is on an elevated corridor. I look down and see a small railway station with a stationary goods train standing below.
I start asking people on the metro platform who they will vote for and eventually take my survey down to the street below. Nearly 48% say they will vote for BJP, 10.4% say they will vote for AAP, 6.25% say they will vote for the Congress, 2% for the Samajwadi Party, 6.25% will go for the NOTA option and amazingly, once again, 25% or one quarter of the people I have talked say they have yet to decide. I am, of course, acutely aware that this is very much a straw poll, but the conversations I have had during the day have been extremely informative and instructive.
What I find very interesting here is that even the most diehard BJP supporters are full of praise for AAP and Arvind Kejriwal. Their logic is that Modi should be prime minister and Kejriwal should be chief minister. I ask them, “But will Modi let Kejriwal work?” My question is met either with silence, a mumbled “Let’s see”, or a vociferous, “Why not!!”
The sun has set by now. I get back on the metro, and as I find a place to sit, I picture in my mind’s eye a TV reporter waving a mike in my face and asking me what message I have for Rahul Gandhi. I imagine myself answering, “Stitch up that alliance!”
Rohit Kumar is an educator with a background in positive psychology and psychometrics. He works with high school students on emotional intelligence and adolescent issues to help make schools bullying-free zones.
