The Cash-For-Vote Question: What If Your Vote Had A Rs 50,000 Price Tag?

I am gonna make him an offer he cannot refuse,” the iconic line from the movie The Godfather has been adapted and assimilated well into our electoral politics. In the movie it was loaded with threat rather than possibility of negotiation from the mob boss, in case of our political parties it is persuasion to wean the voter with offers they find difficult to refuse. In unsubtle language, it’s bribery. Come elections, it is out in its naked glory.

What makes votes in the world’s largest democracy land on the right party symbols? Well, booze and cash to begin with. Add red or white meat or fish, and you get a good picture of how a large section of voters are sought to be swayed during elections. Let’s not be in denial, all these, and non-consumables of various kinds, play a big part in elections at all levels. All political parties splurge money to bribe voters; the biggest spender has better winning chances.

The usual allegations of cash distribution did the rounds during the recently concluded assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. Some leaders were caught on camera distributing money. The Election Commission has filed an FIR against BJP’s Vinod Tawde after recovering more than Rs 9 lakh from his hotel room. According to unconfirmed media reports, Rs 10,000 was paid to ensure a single vote in certain areas by candidates. It should not shock us anymore. Contestants in even ward member elections spend upwards of Rs 2000 per vote besides making other offers. The Election Commission cannot do much with the resources at its command. Crafty political parties have learnt ways to dodge the agencies.

Should we be worried? We should be. But it is not a black or white scenario. It depends how you look at it. If one is receiving Rs 50,000 or more to ensure all votes of the family for a candidate, one might have a different perspective than someone not receiving any money at all. If the same or a bigger offer was made to the latter, they might change their opinion. Think of it, Rs 50,000 is not a small amount. It never comes this easy. Why not set a price for one’s vote? What if it’s an offer that is difficult to refuse? Moral principles can wait.

When the candidates foisted upon them are not expected to be honest, why would the voters be? Moreover, are would they be of any relevance once the voting day has passed? Electoral politics is at its crudest point at this point. Ideology, leadership and ideas may be of some vague value at the top, but on the ground none of these matters. Because people are largely alienated from the idea of democracy. One cannot blame them though. They have lost control over its processes and outcomes. They are just bystanders watching a big procession passing by. They have accepted it as fait accompli.

Politics, it is evident now, is a game multi-millionaires play. The entry gates are firmly shut for the poor and even the reasonably well-off. Once inside the gate, the price of staying in the game is heavy. Unless, of course, you look at it dispassionately and turn it into an opportunity with great return on investment. As politics becomes a playfield of big money, it becomes a potential source of big ticket corruption too. People investing crores to win an election need more money for the next, and they have to get innovative.

One form of innovation is bribing voters. At this point, the targets are people in the lower strata of the society and groups that can swing votes in one particular way. Eventually it would be other sections as well. It won’t be long when there’s a price tag for every vote and offers too good to be refused.

Don Veto Corleone would be chuckling. Politics is veering towards his model, albeit with a small twist. The moral question over corruption in elections is losing gravitas. Sad, but we cannot do much about it, can we?

(By arrangements with Perspective Bytes)