Whither political debate?

Public debates help make prospective voters cast their ballots judiciously.

When former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called for a public debate with the incumbent Sher Bahadur Deuba, instead of taking him seriously, people laughed off Oli’s proposal. Oli had done nothing wrong in calling for a debate, a vital pillar of democracy. But why was his proposal met with derision then? Perhaps people were reminded of the vast crevasse between his words and actions, best exemplified by a Hindi proverb that translates as “After eating nine hundred mice, the cat goes on a pilgrimage”.