When someone asks for votes people say, What’s in it for me? Each vote costs a thousand rupees. Not just the poor even the educated, the wealthy and government teachers. Yes, teachers themselves take money and vote in the MLC elections. A politician sees this as an investment. After winning, he collects ten times more than what he spent. Once in power, he extorts from officials every month from police, transport, public health, revenue, finance, taxation and welfare departments. If an officer must pay for his posting and then pay monthly bribes, how can he govern honestly? Bribes ‘Yours is a hotel? Then whether it’s dog meat or donkey meat, use it. There’s no such thing as sesame oil use tallow made from burnt animal skin. But you must pay me every month’. ‘Your lorry or bus is overloaded? Who cares? Just pay’. Then there’s sand, gravel, mud, burial grounds, gambling every way imaginable to make money. Is any of this public service?
Shouldn’t a man who spends crores to win recover his money? If someone does good work, do people even vote for him? To contest again next time, he’ll need more investment more money..Those who take money for their votes do they have the right to question a politician later? Is there any political party that wants to commit suicide in a democracy? Will there ever be one? There’s no ‘this party’ or ‘that party’. Winning is all that matters. In the name of welfare, they take loans, sell public assets and launch new schemes. As time passes, new schemes come, old debts remain. Old debts must be paid, new schemes must be implemented but how? Like potholes on a road no money. Student fee reimbursement? No money.
Fire department equipment? No money. Funds for the transport department to function properly? No money. Recruiting for vacant posts? No money. Welfare hostels? They give students three rupees a day for meals and that too, after three years. They’re supposed to survive on that, eating rotten food, dying from rat bites but if you ask for money to fix it, ‘No funds’. Old contractor bills? ‘No money’. Pathetic government systems. Four out of five posts are vacant. One person must do the work of five. SPs say they don’t even have time to change clothes because of work pressure. To fix things, you need money. If you reform the system, will people vote for you? From the day they win, politicians start working toward the next election. Governance requires tough decisions. But tough decisions lose votes. Is there a leader brave enough to risk his political career to fix the system and scold the people when needed? Will such a leader ever be born? In sixty years, the population has tripled. Crowds have grown crazier. Be it a movie release or a religious festival, people flock in huge numbers. Everyone wants to go now, not tomorrow. No patience, no discipline. Stampedes, chaos, loss of lives. Who’s the villain? The people? The officials? The politicians? Every head bears a handful of blame. Take Necklace Road where a lakh people gather. If even 7,000 attend our event, it’s considered a success. They plan for a week 500 staff members, who stands where, where cars are parked, where T-shirts are distributed, where to provide drinking water, how to ensure safety from passing vehicles. If such detailed planning is needed for one small event, imagine what it’s like for a District Collector or an SP how many tasks, how much pressure. A sleeper bus accident, a temple mishap, a gravel lorry crash one incident after another. After destroying the system ourselves, what’s the point of crying about it on social media? Even those driving luxury cars get government benefits in the name of welfare. Welfare is necessary yes. But taking loans, bankrupting departments that’s not the way. Will there ever be a leader who truly wants to save the system? Even if one is born, will people let him succeed? Democracy itself has become our curse.
Elections are our noose. I had accurately predicted the results of the last election and posted them on Facebook on polling day you all saw it. Now people message me asking, ‘Who will win in Jubilee Hills?’ Whoever wins, the people lose. In every election, the people lose. And with time, they lose even worse. Addicted to the steroid of ‘freebies’, people lie in the ICU while politicians win. Even this stone can break your teeth if you bite it. People must change, Instead of waiting for someone to come and save us, we must transform ourselves. We must rise above caste and religion and see politics clearly. We must catch and expose those who sell or buy votes. Almost every media house is sold to a party. YouTube channels are even worse. Meaningful discussions must happen on social media. The good must win, The bad must die. Otherwise, we won’t survive whether in a plane, sleeper bus or car, we’ll just vanish someday. We’ll be like a lamp flame flickering out in the wind.