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Q: A few days back, I received an image (a graph actually) titled ‘Probability of Getting Fooled’. Against April Fool’s Day, the level was very low (say at 5), and for Election Day, it was at 65-odd. Is this what the perception of politics and politicians is today?
A: I have seen too the same graph. In fact in today’s day and age everyone is a distributor through a thumb.
The message is CLEAR: the alleged growing voter apathy towards ruling class, whichever party they belong to.
But the above assertion could be vacuous if read as a headline. Let’s dissect my own comment, as given above. As a business strategist, I need to first decide which addressable market I am referring to. There may be the following classifications of economic strata in India: Super Rich, Rich, Upper Middle Class, Lower Middle Class, Poor, Destitute. This is my classification on the basis of empirical observations. There may be other classifications by experts but broadly my classifications would tally.
Now, the first three categories are not affected much by governments, though they have pay tax as part of their success fees. The rest of the classes have developed cynicism about change of rulers and change of their fortune. Ironically, these groups are swayed by demagogues and prevaricators of reality.
The former categories are in a minority when it comes to influencing outcomes of any votes. They are consequential for the Economy but inconsequential, perhaps for elections. The latter forms the majority but they are gullible, fatalist and aren’t exposed to calibrated usage of their voting power once in five years.
At the end, I may mention that the graph doesn’t represent emotions of India in totality in the context of elections in this case.