Electrifying Elections

Right now, nobody knows what will be the outcome of the 2009 General Elections. But one thing is clear for sure that these Elections would be remembered for the various disgraceful comments made by the top leaders of the country.
The irony lies in the word itself -- leader. Where are our country's leaders leading us? Towards communalism when the whole world is making attempts to exchange cultures, regionalism when our main concern should be to resolve the unresolved border issues with Pakistan and China, and "encouraging" us to take up arms against each other when we actually need to fight against poverty , unemployment and above all combat international terrrorism. Our leaders have forgotton the story that a bundle of sticks toghether could not be broken where as a single alone broke easily. They seem to return to the British philosophy of "Divide And Rule".
Okie....we live in a Hindu country nad we love our religion but are the Singers of "We-Love-Hinduism-More-Than-Anything" song so weak in their faith in the roots of their religion which forces them to make threatening other religions of the country.
Not just this-- so many "tickets" have been given to candidates who have legal cases pending against them. Doesn't really makes a difference to us if only two candidates were denied tickets and that too because of a number 9 Reebok shoe! Its like taking a cup out of the sea.
Again we have our leaders who have Politically Royal last names and people are so illiterate as to decipher a simple fact that their candidates are not really helping them grow. And actually nobody cares! Recently, a freind of mine suggested me that just being 18 yrs of age should not be taken as a criteria for voting rather school Pass Certificates and that too till +2 level should be made the criteria for Universal Adult Franchise of Voting. If you have the Certificate, you get your Voter ID Card too. Implement this and see how "passionately" our politicians work to get the whole country educated.
Amendments of this kind should be made to bring a change. Their should be educational qualification and an age of retirement set for the politicians too. But unfortunately who will hlp us make these changes because they would go against the very people who are in-charge of makng such laws. And above all Election Commission should be made an autonomous institution capable of making its own laws and implementing them. How can the Commission, regulated by laws made by politicians, work effectively to regulate the politicians themselves!! And most importantly, the number of political parties should be limited. Ever heard of Too many cooks, spoil the broth??