DIGICRACY: PANACEA FOR POLITICAL PROPRIETY

The recent churning among the youth across India can be viewed as an inevitable consolidation of a Digicracy in the making. A Digicracy of the Digizens, by the Digizens, and, for the Digizens. Digital revolution is facilitating a metamorphosis from corrupt, anachronistic and atavistic agenda-driven Indian political ethos to a more responsible, responsive, and accountable governance. Digicracy has enabled Digizens to Scrutinise the credentials and claims of all the politicians in the electoral fray and ruling political establishments. 

The nonchalant and politically-indifferent youth of the country have woken up from their slumber, and it was a wakeup call for all deeply entrenched political parties which have outlived its existence with its archaic ideologies and policies. The manifestation of embedded frustration and skepticism was triggered by demoralizing and derogatory references against unemployed youth of the country. The ill-conceived remarks were misconceived as an imputation portraying unemployed youth through a humiliating context. From the perspective of those targeted and at the receiving end of derisive observations, the reactions were justified, since the language, the context, the content, and the phrasing, had the markings of being misconstrued as irreverent. 

 The devil must be given its due, despite the negativity of the observations, because it provoked the collective conscience of the youth. The diatribe would probably ignite politically proactive and participative mindset among the youth of this country. Their response was not symbolic, but symptomatic of unsatiated inherent aspirations. Significantly, the comments comparing the "unemployed' with 'cockroaches' were not met with agitations and sloganeering, but through a novel and cerebral strategy. The youth had a potent weapon to implement this strategy- the digital media. It was bereft of noise, violence, anger and drama -except for a semblance of satire. The communication and the body language were abstract, but the message was clear. It was not an outburst, but an indication reflective of the inherent discontent. And expectedly, the entire gamut of communication being played out went went viral and sent the netizens into a tizzy. Precisely, because the message had a universal appeal and was relevant to the entire youth of the country, irrespective of caste and religion. The message was loud and clear for all political parties across ideologies. There were mixed reactions from the politicos. For some of the established parties, Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) was hard to digest. Some discerned a "foreign hand" behind the launch of CJP. Yet others were of the opinion that the CJP was created by malcontents. A certain nervousness was palpable in all these impromptu reactions, assumptions and presumptions. Even assuming that CJP's existence could prove to be ephemeral, the very momentum of the movement on social media reflected cathartic release of inhibited frustrations. Perhaps it was the need of the hour, since the youth always tuned in to social media for their interactions and information. 

 The tendency among the youth to be apolitical was born more out of its sheer irrelevance to their needs and aspirations. Livelihood options, career and job opportunities, prospects for stability and financially secure life. All these were on offer on paper in the form of manifestos, but very little of the promises materialized. Politicians' and youths' priorities are different, both perhaps incompatible with each other. Moreover, there is a generational communication gap between the politicians and the youth of the country. 

 According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), only about 38% of eligible first-time voters – 18 million out of 49 million – have registered to vote in the 2024 national elections. Less than 40% of first time voters aged 18-19 registered to vote. The total young voters' (18-29 years) percentage comprised a little over 20% - at 21.1 croute out of a total electorate of 99.1 crore. Digital Medium has evolved as the most powerful communication in shaping and influencing public opinion. It has proved to be a democratic weapon, facilitating untrammeled freedom of expression, dissent, and debate. Till the late nineties India's digital divide - the This meant that the digitally enabled were more informed and those who had no access to the internet were less informed. There was also a likelihood that accessibility meant politically, socially, and economically more informed than those without net accessibility. The advancement of mobile technologies has dissolved the digital divide, enabling access to the entire country. Digicracy has entrenched itself deeply into the mindset of the people, especially the youth, creating the potential for socio-political and economic consciousness among the digizens. The recent events and happenings revolving around the CJP have created the foundation and opened the digital floodgate for youth participation in the political process and discourse.