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People of TN are the best @ arithmetic!!!
The arithmetic seems to work well especially in TN. It looks like that
one need not conduct elections to know the next government and it can
be predicted the moment the alliance is forged. No programme or policies
seems to matter. If it is otherwise, the very same party and "Amma"
with the very same policies (?)should have got the mandate of people
in Pondicherry. There the alliance is not the same and hence Ms Jaya
could not make an impact. The arithmetic in Pondicherry went against
her. It is something to be worried about by the visionaries.
Any way out?
I suggest that we bring in a system of "Proportional Representation"
(PR) rather than the "First-Past-The Post). (The meaning is that in
the existing system one party or combine can secure less than 50% votes
and still manage to get more than two thirds majority. It is not the
majority of votes won in a constituency that decides the win but it
is who crossed the post first - meaning who got the highest of votes.
There can be a situation where a candidate can get only 20% votes, as
there may be five other equally good candidates each winning more than
15% or more each, but still win the seat.) This would make sure that
people's mandate is properly represented.
 In the
existing system, it gives a feeling that people of TN overwhelmingly
wanted Jaya to come back. However, the point to be noted is that more
than 40% people still voted against her combine (here it is assumed
that out of the 40% people who did not cast their votes, the pattern
of voting is assumed the same; in reality this need not be the case).
If we follow Proportional Representation, DMK and its combine would
have got anywhere between 90-110 seats out of 234 rather than little
more than 30seats that they had got under the existing system.
If we
follow the PR system, one need not worry about "alliances of convenience"
forged only for the sake of arithmetic advantage. Also, TN people must
look beyond the election day and we must elect a party based on programmes.
If a combine asks for a mandate we must insist on CMP (Common Minimum
Programme) from that combine. We, the people, must see through the "alliances
of convenience"! more amount of food material under PDS. ......more
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