ELECTIONS IN INDIA: MONEY MATTERS MORE THAN VOTES!

 Financial researcher Paul A. Spindt rightly said, “Money is what Money does.” It is a medium of exchange, yes it is! It is a basic necessity, yes it is! It is an index of living, yes it is! It is a store of value, yes it is! I am a firm believer in the fact that money plays a crucial role in life, but, it is not everything. But, to some extent, I am wrong!

Money is a lot more than we think of it! It can make a king-a beggar and a beggar-a king. Want to do a degree, have money to spend, purchase the degree, why waste time doing it. Want to marry your daughter in a rich family, have ‘Money in the Bank’, promise a heavy dowry and you get your wish fulfilled. Want a Govt. job, you don’t need talent, but, you need money. And if you want to become an 'Uncommon Man', you don’t need spectators, you don’t need followers, you don’t need supporters, but, you need money. Voter, the Common Man of India, is nothing, but, a mindless, voiceless, faceless person, who is a part of the society, but, only in the Census lists. He matters a lot, but unfortunately, he doesn’t know it. He has the power which not many have, the power to Vote. He can elect the Uncommon Man from his own Common Men, but, he don’t care! Why he don’t care? This is, actually, the point to ponder for us. He don’t care because nothing is going to happen, no ‘change of state’ is going to take place for him. He was Common, he is Common and, most probably, he will remain a Common Man.

How is India different from other countries? India is the second largest populated country of the world with 1.21 bn population, true! It is home to the largest number of Poor in the world, true! But, one positive thing about our country is that we have a democratic system and the people have the right to vote, right to elect the Government. But, do they use their right well? Are there options for them to elect the right person for the job? The answer is: Can’t say!

In elections, when the people use their ‘Right to Vote’ as their ‘Right to Earn’ is unfortunate. For some hundreds of Rupees when the Common Man sells his vote, he is, actually, selling his future! And, when a person who is elected not by soliciting votes, but by purchasing them, prepares his balance sheet for the next 5 years to get his Earnings surpass his Spending! Election Commission is there to control the election process, to keep an eye on these illegal deeds, but, is their eye going to catch the ‘Exchange (Note for Vote)’? I am in doubt!

Is it, really, the duty of the Election Commission to make people aware of the fact that money is no match for an exchange with Vote? Not at all! In actuality, Election Commission can’t! All the talks on the Electoral Reforms are nothing but the Chit-Chats which are done just to kill the time, talk about the hypothetical situations and perpetuate them, hypothetically! Really, it’s not the Votes that matter, but, it is the money which matters in Elections in India. May God bless the power to believe the Common Man of the Country that money is not everything! Money, actually, is not what ‘money does.’

“Money is what we think Money is!”   - Gopal Sharma