elections

Indian Elections 2009 – Who will form the government – Voters perceptions –

Recently in the last fifteen days I had been talking to commuters in the electric trains to understand their perceptions.

I came across several Bihar – labor working in all kinds of employments. They gave a very bad report card on Lalu. Because of his impotent policies they have to come to Mumbai in search of jobs, leaving their agricultural lands. He has a great following of Yadavs and Yadavs do not bother other communities including SC/ST in Bihar.

Similarly I came across several Marati commuters recently came to Mumbai in search of jobs from places like Nasik, Satara, Maratwada, Vidarbha, Sangli, Aurangabad, Goa, and other districts including Baramati. They all tell stories after stories how they are starving in their hometowns. When I asked how Sharad Pawar is not taking care of you in Baramati and other NCP leaders in other locations, their only clear statement is that these men want to earn wealth at all costs. They just do not bother about others. They say that when I pay you some moneys for vote why should I look after you, after all you sold the vote is the statement of a youth angrily. I bought your vote just to make good by getting into power may be many times more and hence we pay you! That is what the NCP party workers seems to tell these people, so also MNS and Shiv Sena workers said one or two youths who polled their votes to these parties.

I asked do you want these party leaders should become prime minister instead of Dr. Manmohan Singh (he is better known in poor peoples circles as ‘Sardarji”) the current Prime Minister. Yes Sardarji sab ap bolrahe hai, (you are referring Sardarji gentleman!). I nodded. Yes wo adhmi achha hai. Wo to ana chahiye (Yes, that man – good man should become PM). When I asked them why? Pat came their reply in chorus – Wo ham lohem keliye kuch karra hai (He is doing something for us).

Even in our villages all people praise him after all he has done something to us but our politicians from Maharashtra are in fact looting us. They do not even pay the moneys they got from central government as grants on account of agricultural problems. These men ask us to give them 50% commission of the allotted moneys. They want that commission should be paid to them beforehand that is before they could get the moneys! I told them you have Shiva Sena leaders and MNS leaders and they could help you to get the moneys! What came the question from the people (locals from Maharasthtra)? They all said in chorus these people are worse than devils and will take another 50% of the grant! That way they have respect for the local regional parties.

I saw a set of Tamils from Chennai areas. How are things in Chennai and Tamil Nadu. They questioned me back, asking me if we are okay there why we should come to Maharashtra in search of jobs, though there is a lot of opposition from MNS and Shiva Sena. Yes one good thing inMaharashtra is these Shiva Sena and MNS men they want a share of some moneys and if you pay they will not raise any objections about you getting jobs, just because they seem to tell these people that they formed these regional outfits as an innovative method to earn moneys in a perannial fashion after all our Maharashtrians are just entertainment oriented people and they will not work and they want to drink and dance and enjoy and that is good for us to make easy money like this after all you people will have to work and you do not bother to pay a part of it to us and that is a treasury for us. Now that has become a second nature in us to get moneys from someone by some kind of ‘dadagiri’. The Tamil labor tells, ‘ in fact these men are giving protection to us’ though we share part of our earnings. Another good thing is there is no big caste problem like in Tamilnadu. If you are not a backward you will get nothing. Even if you are backward you should part a part of your earnings to the DMK party workers as they say they have to send a part of it as normal ‘hafta’ to the party leaders! He said even to become a backward class you should pay the leaders a good lot of money and they will issue caste certificates, by saying they are paying that money to the powers that be sitting there in Tamilnadu. Yes, that kind of things do happen here also in Mumbai and Maharashtra. Immediately someone in the crowd narrated the story. Due to shortage of space I cannot narrate the story here. That is the plight of the people all over India. Many in the crowd told that regional parties should not be there at all. In fact more and more regional parties definitely we are beaten more often by more number of regional party leaders or party men. They cursed the regional parties. So too some one from UP told us that congress men in UP in power do not harm as by driving out of our villages, but see Mayawati or Mulyam Singh and the like men they just such your blood, said a dejected UP dalit labor.

The sample survey tells us the story how the regional parties workers are living at the cost of their own regional people. I asked them will this kind of thing how long it will go on. They said we do not know but certainly one day people will turn against such goons and even kill them.

I asked them how about communists around. Pat came reply they are just devils and they will just eat you said a man from the group o people. The train reaches CST and we all disbursed at the station.

Spirit of the conversation with people:

People of different states really just fret and fume at their regional leaders. They are just angry with them after all these men are the cause of these peoples displacement. Because of these politicians they have to leave their places to go to places which topography not known to them and that way they are migrating from all over India in search of places that can provide them some shelter and food and thus some living. Truly poor man did not get any benefit of economic reforms and these reforms helped some miniscule minority and in fact even that benefited by the economic reforms are just squandering what ever excess moneys they got thanks to economic reforms, mostly information technology workers and even many among them are feeling the pinch of recession cum inflation in the economy.

Congress also should not give in to the regional parties too much as they want to get all the best for them and not to the states concerned. Congress if wants to come back to power in the next elections, it should be firm with regional parties. Regional parties flex their muscles to earn their moneys by way of all kinds of conceivable commissions as also by wrong billing mechanisms through the contractors to the governments.