The Art of Bribing Voters........
When it comes to bribing the voters, the first prize goes to ..
1) Political Party A,
2) Political Party B,
3) Political Party C
4) All Political Parties
Election Commission may know the answer………….
Astonishing fact is Election bribe is an age old phenomenon and started in our country as early as 1950s.
Let’s look at the development of this art from that period:
1) Mid-1950s
Food (Meal) was offered to voters with a request to vote in favour of the party concerned
2) Year 1957/1962
Rs 5/- was offered to Voters plus Start of pick up and drop services to cast vote.
3) Year 1967
Rs 10/ was given to Voters
4) Year 1990 onwards
Bribing voters with Money/freebies became more visible
5) Year 2009 onwards
A formula was defined to lure voters and bribe became a deciding factor in the election
6) Year 2011, 2016
Bribe became a commonly accepted fact of an election process and all political parties embraced it.
Bribes in the form of cash, services, or gifts are now a regular feature of elections in our State.
Money has become a key element of Power and political parties with tons and tons of currency notes can only stand in the election battle. Those who cannot spend money in the elections find it hard to contest.
Where does money come from???
Corruption and Corporates are the chief contributors of funds to Political Parties.
But why Parties have to bribe voters??????
The reason could be:
• To enjoy Power
• To cover up inefficient governance
• To continue looting, etc
It’s amazing to note that a candidate contesting for an MLA Position is willing to spend crores of money when the Salary (incl allowances) is just Rs 1, 13,000/- per month and for a full 5 year term it would be less than a Crore, which is no match for his election expenditure…….
It’s hard to believe that Public Service is the only driving force to spend money over and above Election Commission’s stipulated limit. Is the candidate a fool to spend so much money??
So what else????????????
Well, the opportunities to recover and recover more than what was spent might be plenty for an elected representative. Like:
• MLA Local Area Development Fund-Rs 15 crores (Rs 3 crores per year for 5 years)
• Government Contracts/Transfer
• Illegal Business
• Party Fund
• School/College Admission, etc
As long as EC remains a toothless agency, Politicians don’t have to worry about fear of getting punished for bribing voters.
Will EC educate poor people on the menace of this art? more
1) Political Party A,
2) Political Party B,
3) Political Party C
4) All Political Parties
Election Commission may know the answer………….
Astonishing fact is Election bribe is an age old phenomenon and started in our country as early as 1950s.
Let’s look at the development of this art from that period:
1) Mid-1950s
Food (Meal) was offered to voters with a request to vote in favour of the party concerned
2) Year 1957/1962
Rs 5/- was offered to Voters plus Start of pick up and drop services to cast vote.
3) Year 1967
Rs 10/ was given to Voters
4) Year 1990 onwards
Bribing voters with Money/freebies became more visible
5) Year 2009 onwards
A formula was defined to lure voters and bribe became a deciding factor in the election
6) Year 2011, 2016
Bribe became a commonly accepted fact of an election process and all political parties embraced it.
Bribes in the form of cash, services, or gifts are now a regular feature of elections in our State.
Money has become a key element of Power and political parties with tons and tons of currency notes can only stand in the election battle. Those who cannot spend money in the elections find it hard to contest.
Where does money come from???
Corruption and Corporates are the chief contributors of funds to Political Parties.
But why Parties have to bribe voters??????
The reason could be:
• To enjoy Power
• To cover up inefficient governance
• To continue looting, etc
It’s amazing to note that a candidate contesting for an MLA Position is willing to spend crores of money when the Salary (incl allowances) is just Rs 1, 13,000/- per month and for a full 5 year term it would be less than a Crore, which is no match for his election expenditure…….
It’s hard to believe that Public Service is the only driving force to spend money over and above Election Commission’s stipulated limit. Is the candidate a fool to spend so much money??
So what else????????????
Well, the opportunities to recover and recover more than what was spent might be plenty for an elected representative. Like:
• MLA Local Area Development Fund-Rs 15 crores (Rs 3 crores per year for 5 years)
• Government Contracts/Transfer
• Illegal Business
• Party Fund
• School/College Admission, etc
As long as EC remains a toothless agency, Politicians don’t have to worry about fear of getting punished for bribing voters.
Will EC educate poor people on the menace of this art? more
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The election rules to be Re- written. Any person with criminal complaint, corruption cases and more than one wife's to be debarred from contesting. The elected representatives to have definite code of conduct in public and in Assembly/ parliament. Freedom of speech should have basic rules, respecting the chair, post/ ministerial positions and dignified presentation more
Dec 17
POLITICS the best BUSINESS in India! 70yrs of rule, never made any efforts to contain it...PUBLIC are fools, still supporting the indian political parties. Its in front of us, thousands of corrupted politicians are engaged in miserable cases, other than Lalu from Bihar, anyone got punished! Means, a politician helps other politicians! Corruption rampgant in every corner of our life, Modiji came with a good intention and pledged to remove corruption. Even to put a street light, we have to bribe 2k, else the needful is not done. Pls evaluate each and every walk of your life.....everywhere corruption, ryt? In Kerala, a communist government is in power, and do anything and everything to accumulate wealth for them including narcotics. Narcotics means, a danger signal even for the next generation! Appears, kerala people not bothered on all these, but voted the communist into power in the local body elections - say around 70%. what does this mean, the people wanted CORRUPTION! Where is the hope to rebuild this nation! more
Dec 17
Yes, its turning out to be a permanent curse on our country!!!! more
Dec 17
The only deterrent for an Indian not to commit a crime is severe punishment. All parties for the last 73 years have ensured that the legal system and punishment norms remain lethargic and inconsistent. Speeding up trials in courts and making offenders dread the punishment is the only way forward. more
Dec 17
People accept bribes for votes because: They are deliberately kept poor. Education institutions do not provide proper education, in spite of huge fees and " donations" (extortion?) Trying to avoid NEET is a classic example. Entrepreneurs are roped in by the promise of land, cheap manpower, electricity, but the manpower, though cheap, is largely unemployable. And they spend huge amounts to bribe the party in power. If we could only raise the living standards of the poor and educate / skill them properly, they would not so anxiously await the handouts during elections and would vote responsibly. It is ironic, a political party without ethics expects the common man to faithfully vote for them after accepting money stolen from these very same people. more
Dec 17
