| Published on 27-06-2008 In General | | Viewed 1279 times | | Arunachal--- Its only Money power here! |
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| Written by
Girish Nikam | 
During the recent elections to the Karnataka legislative Assembly, one aspect which was discussed quiet openly was the display of enormous money power. Never before had so much money flown so openly in bribing voters, especially in regions where the Mining lords and the real estate lobby had a sway over the election campaign. Even those who were once considered "money bags" in the more innocent days of electioneering, were left gasping for breath, trying to keep pace with the recent entrants to the game. "I have decided that I will die but not contest another direct election", a well known former MP from Karnataka had remarked as hordes of people waited outside his house, during the campaign.
But what happened in Karnataka, and many other States in the country, where the role of hard cash is becoming increasingly evident in elections, may all pale into insignificance. The State which has overtaken most other Indian States quietly in the obnoxious use of money to buy votes is somewhere tucked in the edge of India in the north east. Arunachal Pradesh, which hardly registers in the minds of people in the mainland India, witnessed Panchayat elections late last month, and some re-elections are still on.
In this tiny picturesque State, where hardly one sees a tourist, forget foreigners, even Indians, elections have become a nightmare for potential candidates. And at all level, from Gram Panchayat to Parliament.
"I wanted to contest the Assembly elections last time, but then I realised that I could not even cross the first hurdle--- of getting a major national party ticket. I had to pay, a ridiculous amount, and I decided to forget it, as I didn't have that kind of money". This is a prominent woman in Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh.
In fact even in the recently held Panchayat elections, it is only those who could generate huge amount of cash who could contest. Talking to a cross section of people in some parts of the State, one could gather how cash-minded the politics of the State has become.
Even at the lowest level, which is a gram Panchayat, where ordinarily there are no more 300 to 400 voters, no candidate can hope to get elected, without spending anything less than Rs.4 to 5 lakhs. For a Zilla Parishad seat, for anyone who cannot raise Rs.35 to 40 lakhs, there is no hope. But that also does not assure a seat.
"The candidate I supported for the Zilla Parishad seat, an independent, also spent atleast Rs.30 to 35 lakhs, but she could not win, as the candidate who won from Congress spent much more", confided a school teacher in Ziro, a district headquarters, six hours by road from Itanagar. One can get an idea of the enormity of the cost involved, as in an average Zilla Parishad constituency there are only 2,800 voters in this sparsely populated State.
And what is interesting is that almost every voter has to be paid cash.
"Most people expect it and even demand it, if we don't pay them, they won't vote. And even if they go to the polling booth, they will make their vote invalid", Higio Talo, a BJP supporter one met in Potin, a lovely hill top village.
Talo has many more details to offer about the trials and tribulations of the candidates and their supporters. "It is not that we can rest after paying Rs.1,000 or Rs.2,000 to a voter. We have to keep watch that the same voter is not paid off by the opponent. And usually it happens. If we have paid Rs.2,000, the other candidate will offer Rs.3,000. And I also know of cases, where a prominent voter of a village has even been offered Rs.20,000 to 30,000.And the voter tends to vote for the candidate who has paid the highest."
This would mean that for the 161 Zilla Parishad seats in the 16 districts in the State, the cost incurred by the winning candidates alone would roughly work out to Rs.60 crore.
The flow of money in elections, which is hard cash paid to the voter, is an open secret, and no one denies it. A prominent leader of the State who has made a mark at the national level also, confides that for a Parliament election, one has to spend anywhere between an astonishing Rs.35 to 45 crore. "Most of this is in the form of hard cash paid to the voter", he admits. An Assembly seat, according to him would mean spending anywhere between Rs.3 to 5 crore, though some have known to have spent about Rs.10 crore also.
And with so much hard cash flowing into the pockets of the voters, no wonder the purchasing power of the people is quite impressive. But then where does the money come from for the candidates to spend so much?
A University teacher explains, "Its all courtesy the Government of India. Huge funds which flows into the State, flows directly into the pockets of the politicians, and they have no qualms spending a part of it, to get elected". However a senior politician, who admits that they spend huge amounts on elections, unheard of in other States, clarifies that bureaucrats take away a major chunk of the funds. "I can say only 10 to 15 percent reaches politicians, more than 60 percent is swallowed by bureaucrats, and contractors", he pleads. Whatever may be the way the booty is shared, it is obvious that some chunk of it flows directly into the pockets of the voters. Result--- the development work has taken a back seat.
The politics of Arunachal Pradesh therefore has become so murky that Moji Riba, a lecturer in the Rajiv Gandhi University says, "we tend to have a Government here depending on which party is ruling at the Centre". It was reflected when NDA came to power, the entire Congress Government defected to the BJP and all but one of the nine BJP MLAs defected to Congress promptly in 2007, as Congress-led UPA is in power at the Centre. "It is money power and nothing else. It is not just the politicians, even the people are tuned to it and they find nothing wrong", says another academic in the University. Karnataka voters can still pat themselves in the back that they have not yet reached the stage of the Arunachalis! |
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