Gadchiroli – Democracy is an Airplane and voter is the pilot of that plane. We don’t want our pilot to be drunk when he is flying this Airplane on the day of voting. But unfortunately, it is widely observed and reported that alcohol is freely distributed on the eve of voting.
Men get drunk and vote when they are drunk. In fact, democracy is on sale on the eve of voting- in exchange of a bottle of alcohol for a vote. Voting with full consciousness is a duty as well as the right of the voters and it is necessary for a healthy democracy. And so, in the Gadchiroli district, women in 600 villages have taken further actions to completely ban alcohol in their villages.
We have given a slogan in Gadchiroli that ‘this election will be an alcohol-free election.’ We are appealing to the candidates to not use alcohol to lure the men and make them intoxicated. We are also warning the political parties and their candidates that those who will sell or distribute alcohol on the eve of voting will be boycotted. The voters will make sure that they lose the election.
This campaign has been started by SEARCH and Muktipath – a campaign to make Gadchiroli district alcohol and tobacco-free. Yesterday, in a conference organised at Armori in Gadchiroli district, 270 women and men representatives from 70 villages pass the above resolution. But since the use of alcohol in elections is a national issue, the same would apply to the whole of India. If we want a healthy democracy the election must be alcohol-free.
