Election contests as an investment in power

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The scramble for Cabinet berths confirms what we knew all along - that election contests are indeed an investment in power. Candidates stake a lot, because the returns can be very high if they win and secure the right ministries.

A senior official told me that in the Thirumangalam (Madurai) by-election in January this year, one party spent around Rs 150 crore. One cannot vouch for the veracity of the figure, nor name the party for fear of provoking a vexatious lawsuit, but it just underlines the scale of spending. For the party a win, ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, was essential, to counter the impression that its fortunes were in decline.

In one of the Lok Sabha constituencies in Tamil Nadu, a candidate is said to have paid around Rs 15,000 in three installments to its polling agents to ensure people's attendance at election meetings. If all the 1,400 polling agents there were paid this amount, over Rs 2 crore would have been spent on this single item alone. Even this amount might be an underestimate.

It is said that goats shiver when elections are announced. Apart from being wined and dined, people were apparently given coupons, which could be exchanged for groceries, during the Thirumangalam bypoll.

Another official who was posted as an election observer in Maharashtra says the use of coupons is not a Tamil innovation. During the 2007 Gujarat Assembly elections, one party is said to have issued post-dated cheques for purchase of motor bikes to its polling agents on condition that they brought a certain number of people to the polling booths. Those that failed to meet the quota had to contend with "stop payment" instructions to banks.

This official says that during the recent Lok Sabha polls, apart from instances of distribution of cash and liquor, he was also on the look out for information on spurt in sales of home appliances.

Then there are candidates who see a pecuniary advantage in their nuisance value. A person close to a veteran Congress candidate from Assam (who lost these elections) says a rival offered to step down if paid Rs 12 crore.