Indian Corruption Company Unlimited

Hi, This article appeared in the Times of India on 27th April 2014. Please read it and leave a comment.

Who will you vote for?

The enigmatic middle aged taxi driver had been driving me for the third day in a row. On the last day of my road trip we were headed home. It was late evening and not having anyone to talk to; I addressed the back of his head. I started by asking him who he would vote for.

The highest bidder

He said quite matter-of-factly that he would vote for the party that gave him the most money. All of the men and women in his village, in the outskirts of Vizag, voted for parties that paid them the most. In the 2009 Elections when the State assembly and Lok Sabha elections were held concurrently, he said, that the INC had given Rs. 800 per voting member. The PRP had paid Rs. 600 per member and the TDP had paid only Rs. 400 per member. The party representative had all come around in the night, spreading out furtively in the narrow lanes of his village, visiting every house, distributing cash, an aluminium foil packet of Biryani and a 180 ml bottle of rum. This year the going rate per voting member was Rs. 1,000. Even the modest ZPTC and MPTC elections held recently were bountiful with all voting members getting Rs. 1,000 each. No wonder then that of the Rs. 195 crores of vote inducement money seized all over the country by the Election Commissioner, the maximum amount of Rs. 118 crore was seized in our very own Andhra Pradesh, a very sad commentary indeed on the moral values of our voting public.

“Nation Company” where voters are shareholders

Hearing my driver I became somewhat depressed. Just to think that while one part of the population was straining at the leash to make our country successful and prosperous another section of the society was selling it away cheap. The very fact that a section of voters were tempted by small inducements was because they were kept poor. As for the parties, for every Rs. 100 spent by they would reap profit of several thousands. And that money was coming out of our own pockets. It appeared that India had become a “nation company” where the politicians were the board of directors and every voter a shareholder. The board kept the bulk of ill-gotten profits and distributed some of it to keep the shareholders happy. The thought was horrifying. Almost every voting man and woman in the country was an accessory in crime, all playing a part in keeping India forever backward, for ever poor, for ever a third world country!

Mercenary to model citizen

Though I had heard of money and booze being distributed at election time, hearing it from a simple man who was corrupted by the system was depressing. Was it all hopeless? Was our country doomed for ever? I sat quietly for a while as we drove through the night.  I thought it my responsibility as a good citizen to try and change this one man who sat in front of me. After all, my state, my country and my life (considering that he was driving) was in his hands. We were just 50 kilometers from Vizag and I had a few minutes to convert him from mercenary to model citizen.

Sold for seventy paise a day

I prepared my argument carefully, took a deep breath and addressed the back of his head again. I explained that our vote would put a party in power for 5 years or 1,825 days. The selling price of his vote, both in cash and kind, was around Rs.1,280/-.  If we divide this Rs. 1,280 by 1,825 days we get Rs. 0.70 per day. In brief, for 70 paise a day we were putting a bunch of crooks in power, to lord over us, loot our country and keep it backward for ever. I suggested that instead of taking the measly money and gifts from the party, each member of the village could give Rs. 30 a month or Rs. 1 a day, to the politician of their choice to be at their beck and call. They could get them to build roads and drains, provide top quality garbage removal services, ensure uninterrupted electricity and water, deliver better health services, give a decent education, provide cheap and efficient public transport and top class policing. Instead of the politician owning the voter, the voter could own the politician. Wouldn’t it be fantastic?

An irony and a tragedy

After I had made the impassioned plea to his conscience and reason I waited to hear his reaction. It took some time coming. He cleared his throat and explained rather apologetically that in 2009 he had meant to vote for the Congress but could not. What happened was that as soon as he had his first nip of rum, it made a “new man” out of him. So, he had to have another drink for that “new man”. Having consumed more nips appropriated from his non-drinking family members, he got quite sloshed and went into deep sleep. He awoke only late next morning with a terrible hangover, took a tablet for his headache and promptly went back to sleep. In fact, despite being shaken vigorously by friends and relatives, he slept through the entire voting day and did not cast his vote at all. Herein my friends lies a tale of irony wrapped in a tragedy. Happy voting.