In all our discussions and debates when we try to understand as to what went wrong and why India has been subjected to this ‘Hindu Rate” of growth , the one thing which stands out and for which we always thank the founding fathers of this nation is for the precious gift of Democracy which they bestowed upon us . It’s not only we Indians who are proud but the world at large admires this largest democracy where 815 million are in the process of exercising their franchise to elect the government of their choice . But has democracy delivered to our expectations ? In almost all the social indicators we still lag behind and in some cases are even on par with sub Saharan Africa . So what is it to be proud of about a system which has abysmally failed us ? It is said that Democracy is the glue which has held this diverse country together – a country with multiple faiths , languages and cultures . Democracy has been the pressure release valve which allows different interest groups to vent their feelings through the ballot box . Everybody has his or her say …but does she ? Ironically this very feature of democracy is exploited by the different interest groups who create their vote banks to extract favours from the powers to be . So can we then say that Democracy does breeds vote banks . The interest groups may band together of their own accord or could get banded together by the wily politician who lurks for such opportunities ..in one case it could be a genuine effort to get what they have been denied or as in the later a simple exploitation of a bogey created by the opportunist politician . The forms of the later type being many ..it could be a religious minority in whom the fear of being subjugated by the majority is implanted or the parochial zealot who talks about local jobs being taken over by the ‘outsiders’ .

Ultimately it will only be the maturing of the voter who shall be able to eliminate this scourge of democracy when the only criteria for casting her vote would be based on the candidates or the parties ability to deliver on development be it social or economic ..