Black: Colour Of Polls
By Poonam I Kaushish
Circa 2014: Mayawati accuses ex-Rajya Sabha MP Akhilesh Das of offering her Rs 100 crore for a nomination. Das counters: BSP’s “culture” is to extort money from candidates.
Circa 2018: Former BSP leader Mukul Upadhyaya accuses Mayawati of asking for Rs 5 crore for Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha tickets.
Circa 2025: In high drama at RJD Chief and ex-Bihar Chief Minister Lalu Yadav residence a Party leader tore his clothes and broke down saying Lalu had promised him a ticket from Madhuban, but the same has been “sold” for Rs 2.7 crores!
In Congress too Bihar PCC’s spokesperson along-with a disgruntled MLA and ex-legislator who were denied tickets accuse State Congress in-charge, BPCC President and CLP leader of selling tickets. “The influence of corporate interests like Adani and Ambani take precedence over performance wherein “Mera Admi, Tera Admi” dominate Party decisions.”
If this is bad, worse follows: RJD Sasaram candidate is arrested moments after filing his nomination papers by Jharkhand police for a 21-year-old criminal case relating to dacoity and armed robbery Monday. Hours later, AIMIM’s Jehanabad nominee is taken into custody for attempted murder Tuesday. Alongside two CPI-ML Bhore and Darauli candidates.
Wring your hands all you want, but these incidents highlight deep malaise, corruption and crime that affects our political system and absence of probity at all levels of public life alongside dishonesty and immorality. In fact, the under-belly of power politics is shameless, rotten, ugly and raw down to gutter level. Poll tickets at any cost no matter what it takes.
Paisa phenko tamasha dekho! Where gold speaks, tongues are silent. Politics is a highly lucrative business which needs no personal capital: only ability to con the public that you’re their ultimate messiah. A one-man company whose cash counters keep ringing. And, which pays rich dividends to its owner depending on the fluctuating value of his stock!
Thereby, trashing last year’s landmark unanimous judgment by a seven-Judge Constitution Bench which brutally torn asunder the political facade. Exposing our netas in all their ugliness by overruling its 1998 five Bench ruling that gave legislators immunity from prosecution, “Corruption and bribery is destructive of the aspirations and deliberative ideals of the Constitution and creates a polity which deprives citizens of a responsible, responsive, and representative democracy.”
It’s all very well for our ‘righteous’ Parties to rave and rant, appear horrified, adopt a holier-than-thou-attitude and profess to uphold the best tenets of democracy. Sic. Bluntly, politics continues to be all about money, honey. Whereby, buying-selling of tickets is on auto-mode all the time. Wads of notes are exchanged at a drop of a hat. And going to jail is fast becoming a badge of honour!
What is it about crime that has our netas scurrying for cover? Especially when they go blue in the face about being Surf ki chamkaan wale neta. Go to any extent to prove (sic) their sincerity? Yet when it comes to acting on their words, they feign ignorance and play dumb, blind and deaf.
One ‘clean’ Chief Minister trumped me by arguing, “Kaunsi naitikta aur apradh ki baat kar rahe hain. What has morality to do with politics?” Just because a candidate has criminal antecedents doesn’t mean he is not doing social work. I have 22 Ministers with criminal backgrounds I don’t bother about a Ministers’ past. After joining my Government, they are not indulging in crimes and are ready to help suppress criminal activities. Ask the people why they have elected them.” How does one rebut his logic?
Alas, today we live in a chor-chor-mauser-bhai political milieu, where public morality and practical politics has acquired a particularly grotesque dimension whereby 9 out of 10 cases go unreported. Confessed a politician: Hum sab ek hi thaali ke chate-bate hain aur is apradhikaran ke hamam mein nagain hai! Na BJP mein hain danav, na Congresss mein devta.”
Undeniably, it’s too politically delicious to ignore that 4,896 MLAs are facing criminal trial in 3,045 cases and are perceived to be self-serving and unscrupulous lawmakers. Primarily, as bahubalis are more likely to win than those clean. Underscoring, there is no morals in politics only expedience. A scoundrel is useful just because he is a scoundrel.
In a-you-scratch-my-back-I-yours market model of democracy it is a misnomer to believe that netas are governed by ideology. Instead, there is a tendency to capture people’s imagination by creating a spectacle of crime along-with money which makes the clogged, polluted and corrupt political mare go around.
Today, politics has everything to do with acceptability, little with credibility and public life is all compromises, not principles dripping morality sermons but not practicing it. Morality, honesty and integrity are words non-existent in the political vocabulary.
With money-muscle power continuing to bedevil democracy Courts too are helpless. Recently, a rueful Court accentuated crime continues regardless of it ordering Parties to not field candidates with criminal antecedents in Assembly polls. “We have been telling the legislature to take action against candidates against whom charges have been framed but nothing has been done. Nothing is done and nothing will ever be done by any Party to prevent criminals from entering politics and standing for elections. Unfortunately, we can’t legislate.”
Arguably, in a milieu wherein large suitcases are proving too small to stuff political skeletons and in the business of democracy where everything comes for a price including politicians, it raises a moot point: How can candidates who aspire to be jan sewaks ‘sell’ their dignity and honour for money? Worse, there is no remorse on an issue which impinges on the essence, dignity and credibility of our legislatures. When will our netagan stop their immoral dhanda? Who is the culprit in whose eyes?
Instead of rooting for criminals our polity must compete to enhance sensibility. How many murder charges are required before one is considered unfit to represent people? Are there no honest and capable netas? When will we stop hanging petty thieves and electing criminals to public office? Who will bell the immoral criminal cat? Can a nation continue to be bereft of all sense of shame and morality — and for how long?
In this immoral political desert voters have to make tough calls. No longer can we merely shrug our shoulders and dismiss it as political kalyug. The coming days are crucial. Time our politicians realize they are expected to be a notch above ordinary mortals. Our netas need to desist from Greed for Power and Power of Greed. Given that when an undataa becomes a saudagar , the aam aadmi is bound to become garib!
It is in the interest of healthy democracy that unhealthy precedents are not set. Democracy can succeed only when rules of the game are followed honestly. Our politicians need to remember a home-truth: Public accountability is indispensable in a democratic set-up. With power comes responsibility.
On hopes our leaders will now chart a new dimension in upholding the best tenets of morality and probity as elections draw near. Time for our leaders to wake up from their deep slumber of self conceit and deception of money hai to power hai! —— INFA