Come elections and tongues begin to waggle. Responses ranging from tongue-in-cheek to mouth-in-foot and from slip-of-the-tongue to overdrive, begin flying to rake in the poll moolah. The ongoing war of words between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Lal Krishna Advani, has assumed acerbic proportions. Advani did not know that he has whipped up a novel cause, as far as television debate on Indian elections is concerned, while inviting Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh for a television debate.

Though debates on television could be a new phenomenon in Indian elections as we are used to some on-the-field fireworks. However, in the US such debates form inseparable part of elections there. In US, candidates try to score over opponents sifting through the charter of allegations and propositions put by their opponents as well as the hawk-eyed media. Common electorates too keep a keen eye on these debates which have the capacity to influence public psyche in general. However, the ground realities in India are far different than that of the US. In our country where mosaic of society is vivid and multitudinous, would television debates cut across the masses.

The pros and cons of a probable debate on television have to be well understood before proposing them. Television debates could be an intricate issue with many issues like regulation and alike intertwined into it. Whatever, healthy and informed debates that offer common voter a glimpse into the affairs of political parties and their bosses, are always welcome.