Its election time again. The banners are out, all roads are decked up with placards of different parties vying for space on the sides of roads. The netas are busy trying to woo their voters and at the same time their high command to secure a ticket for themselves. The people of lower strata are all busy going from one meeting to another earning the dearest thing FOOD and alcohol. There is no better time for the poor in India than in election time. It opens up a plethora of opportunities to make money. Every party woos them by way of money or morsel. It is truly festival for the poor. I am sure they must be hoping for elections to be held every day .
Thanks to our lethargic middle class and biased upper class who stick to their own parties irrespective of the prevailing situation, the only segment left out to exploit is the poor. Its amazing to see how the life of people changes come election season. My parents stay at Anantapur , a place 250Km off Bangalore in Andhra Pradesh. Usually whenever I go home , I return back by cab. This cab guy always used to crib about getting no business in anantapur. But with elections at the helm , he is completely busy chauffeuring nethas and attending their functions.
There are many more instances where people who were jobless are now juggling between various election works for various parties. The cropping up of myriad parties has done them a world of good as their value is heightened. The poor have become items of auction with various parties throwing in their bids by way of promises and perks.
The alliance dynamics has brought on a new dimension to this already vibrant elction season. The various permutations and combinations that are coming up has left people in a discombobulation. The coming together of yadavs and paswans in UP-BIHAR segment is a classic example. The traditional rivals have all of a sudden forged friendly ties. This election for sure is turning out to be a colorful canvas. But my only worry is will this canvas give us clear picture ?. Come 16th May we will get to know what the canvas has to show us.
