Election Battle Lost over Love

Manju and Manoj the husband and wife couple were active political activists . They had met over political turf and had a whirlwind romance and decided to marry despite their different political ideologies. As time passed the political sphere had become more murky. Violence was a regular feature of the day. Manju and Manoj both were facing the heat. They had now been married almost four years and their life had been one big typhoon. In fact they wanted to settle down and start a family but they were compelled to think otherwise. Too much political rivalry was taking it's toll on friendship and relationships. Manoj and Manju were no exception. Sometimes they thought of taking political exile but their party would not let them go. The husband wife relationship otherwise between Manoj and Manju was perfect and extremely sweet. At home they rarely discussed politics and had great love and respect for each other. But they hardly had much of 'we' time together. Their parties kept them separated and on tenterhooks always. Life continued on tight rope ever . But then things moved detrimental to their desire. The election commission had declared election dates in multiple phases. The party workers were told to get ready for battle royale . The opposition party had enough money in their coffers to influence voter behaviour. The party in power was feeling the anti incumbency heat. So the battle swords were drawn and the political rivalry spilled over on to the streets.

The incumbent party feeling their chances being shaky were resorting to tactics of coercion and voter influence by muscle power. The opposition party would not accept defeat lying down. So regular skirmishes followed. Daily many assaults and injuries were being reported. The Election Commission gave dire warnings of cancelling the election procedure if the parties did not behave in a mature fashion.

In one such political clash both Manoj and Manju saw themselves facing each other with sharp weapons. They were reluctant to fight each other. Then one of their party colleagues took the gauntlet on himself and attacked Manoj and wounded him fatally. On the way to the hospital Manoj breathed his last. The tragic news reached Manju who on hearing it lost her consciousness. Later when she came to herself she couldn't bear the loss and committed suicide.

The double death of two political activists in the political field of Bandipur had thrown the town and everyone off gear. A tragic pall of gloom engulfed the otherwise lively atmosphere of Bandipur. The tragedy shook the town so much that a permanent change came across it which was irreversible.

The whole townspeople became united and took an oath to not support any one particular political party. They pledged their support to the one and only party that would work for the welfare of the people at the Central level and simultaneously at the state level without making any discrimination against caste, creed and religion.

The government and the election commission tried to reason out with the citizens that for the proper functioning of the multi party democratic country there must be the presence of multiple political parties.

Strange enough the townspeople of Bandipur and it's surroundings were uniquely united and didn't bend or bow down before the dictats. They all promised to boycott all future elections if multi Party functionaries were permitted to participate.

They the people of Bandipur allowed the representative of only one party ideally named The Nationalists. The shadow candidate for the Parliament and the Assembly was selected on the basis of hard fought debate. Even if the incumbent did good work the candidature was rotated with a fresh face in the subsequent government. The candidate had to be totally devoted to the development of the area he represented without leaving trail of any monetary kickbacks.

By this way political rivalry was sacrificed once for all and the only gainer was the nation due to the total devotion now being showered by the leader of Bandipur. With the successful implementation of a single candidate representing one geographical area Bandipur had shown the country that political rivalry could be eliminated once and for all. The name of Bandipur was changed to Bandhunagar due to the birth of camaraderie and bonhomie and the burial of political rivalry. Soon other areas of the country began to emulate Bandhunagar. Very soon crime rate came down drastically. In this audacious moment the United Nations had conducted a test and found that the happiness index of the whole region had improved for the better immensely.

So one tragic loss of love had transformed into the loss of an Election battle where political identities were sacrificed.