Hung Parliament

There are scores of questions after the Mumbai carnage. The hollow edifice of the Indian political system is under scrutiny. A wave of anger, disgust and urge for change is sweeping the inner layers of the country. Will it all express itself in the next Parliament?

Sanjay Kapoor Delhi, Hardnews

During the Karnataka assembly elections some months ago, the police intercepted a car near Bangalore. As the driver brought the car to a halt, police were puzzled by the gunny bags that were stuffed in the passenger's seat. Opening the luggage compartment, the men in khaki saw more bags. "What are in these bags?" a policeman asked the driver, who had, meanwhile made good his disappearance in darkness. When the bags were cut open, they were found to be full of currency notes in Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 denominations. No one owned up the money, which turned out to be several crores. Police sources claim that another car stacked with money was nabbed by them.

It is not clear whether anyone missed the money. No one really knows who it was destined for and why. Did the candidate for whom the money was meant win or lose the election? No one knows about it as there were so many moneybags flaunting dubious money who were contesting the Karnataka assembly elections. There were people with criminal background who allegedly raked in crores by dealing in drugs, extortion etc.

All these had prepared their paradigm for success in the elections. You could win an election by spreading money all around. In Karnataka, the Congress, BJP and Janata Dal (S) were flush with funds and spent them generously. Voters were liberally given money to vote for them. Did it matter whether a candidate represented the right kind of ideology or promised quality governance?

It is not really clear. There are those who believe that in a post-liberal world where there is nothing to choose between political parties, the only language that works with voters is money. Would an economy strangulated by the slowdown continue to show these traits? If you listen to many politicians, scrounging funds from everywhere to fight this election, then this would be no different.

Corroboration of this theory is provided by recent assembly by-elections (January 12) in Tirumangalam. The DMK won it by 40,000 votes. A whopping margin if one considers that it was a small assembly seat. "It is rumoured that each voter was given Rs 5,000-6,000 by supporters of both the parties," a senior Tamil leader told Hardnews. "You can imagine how much money was spent in this election. I hope Tirumangalam does not become a standard for fighting the general elections."

Although Tirumangalam's example will be used to kill any contrary view, a gentle Zephyr is blowing all over the country against criminals who manage to slime their way inside Parliament/assemblies and, later, in the government. This mood caught fire after the Mumbai terror attack when the chattering classes began to link our country's lack of preparedness with the politicisation of policing and national security issues.