Should the marital status/affairs of a Politician be open to public debate?

India - a country where the public is more concerned about whether the "leaders" like Rahul Gandhi will get married soon or has a partner, rather than pondering upon whether our country would actually improve from the status of "developing" to "developed". Surfing online, we hit upon Google suggesting to search for marital status of our politicians like Mamata Banerjee and others, even our dignified Prime Minister is not exempted. Seeing this, we are compelled to wonder, is it at all fair on the part of us, to intrude into their personal lives.

Upon introspecting, we will often have found ourselves discussing, with family or friends, whether some leader should get married finally, and rather, we often enjoy gossip about their scandalous affairs. But, according to me, it is morally unjust. A politician's final job is to look after his country's welfare, and ensuring that the government runs smoothly. Their personal lives, including their marital status is something which we should not be concerned about.

Therefore, it is wrong in the part of us, to debate with others, whether it is time for any politician to finally settle down or comment on their choice of partners. As long as they play their role well, and their personal life does not affect their public image, then it is fruitless to have such insignificant debates. Every individual has his own right to choose their life partners, and politicians, I believe are matured enough to know what they want with their life- public or personal. Thus, we should understand that their marital status is no way open for public discussion or debates.

We often blame the media, saying that they are misusing their rights and freedoms to intrude into the personal lives of our country's leaders. But we fail to understand that, the media has no interest in the celebrity or the leader's life personally. They only cater to the interest of the common public and they make a living out of it. It is us, the citizens of India, who takes such petty issues like marital affairs of the politicians' so seriously. Thus, by exploiting this bad habit of ours, for the sole interest of providing us with "juicy" gossip, the various newspapers or the television news channels flash huge headlines, about leaders' wives, girlfriends, or their extra marital affairs. In the recent times, people love talking about others' personal lives, and even debating about it to such an extent, that the media finds an advantage in it, pries into the lives of these leaders trying to get information about their marital life.

Instead of openly discussing about their lives, we should be respecting their privacy. Everyone enjoys their personal space. We, ourselves, as common citizens, after a tiring day at the office or college, enjoy a certain amount of personal time with our significant others, away from the acquaintances we have to be amidst, everyday. So, it is important for us, to realize that the politicians too, after a whole day of being seen in public, making speeches, or holding meetings with other important people, keeping in mind that billions of eyes are upon them, needs their own personal time, to relax and unwind. Intrusion of this personal space, is thus obviously unwelcomed by the people who are facing the blare of the media, the entire day. Everyone seeks for a respite, away from the glare of the public.

Often, we find many politicians being heavily criticized solely based on their marital life, and God help them if they are caught having torrid affairs with others. We fail to understand that, in spite of being a prominent public figure, they are after all human beings, tending to do mistakes under influences of various circumstances. Nowadays, if we reflect honestly, more than half of the public , will admit of committing adultery. Therefore, we are very wrong in judging or criticizing someone, only based on their marital life.

According to me, we, the public should focus on more important issues related to our country, rather than argue on marital issues of others. No one, born on Earth is perfect or self actualized, therefore it gives us no right to debate or create controversies of any individual's marital status, be it any commoner or an eminent politician.

-Sumedha Bhattacharjee