At the 2009 polls, the going rate jumped 10 times to Rs1,000 a vote, confided some netas.
During the assembly polls of 2004, a vote had cost a candidate one Rs100 note, and a few words of encouragement. But at the 2009 polls, the going rate jumped 10 times to Rs1,000 a vote, confided some netas.
“No amount of kind words would do. All that the voters wanted was cash,” said a neta. The practice was rampant in wooing slum, semi-urban and rural voters across the state.
Economist Girish Vasudev said, “It is not the institutions (parties), but the individuals (candidates) that are to be blamed for the current situation. When you lure voters with money to overcome your insecurity, you breed corruption. An individual falls prey to corruption as he has no faith in the system.”
Even by a conservative estimate, expenditures for the elections have crossed Rs1,500 crore, said a source. Top leaders in both the ruling and the opposition combines are dreading how many more crores would have to be doled out to buy out the hard-to-get rebels for government formation.
A BJP leader said, “The growing trend is painful for a cadre-based party, which believes in nurturing the constituencies through public work. We expect people to display loyalty spontaneously.”
A sitting BJP MLA from northern Maharashtra said, “In 2004, my total expenditure, including a marathon campaign, did not exceed Rs65 lakh. This time, I have spent over Rs1.75 crore.”
What makes it worse is that he is still not certain to win as his Congress opponents has spent three times more to win public support.
A political manager, working for a high-profile Sholapur candidate, said on Wednesday, “The amount of money the people now demand is unbelievable. Every voter wanted two Rs500 notes — one for voting and another for chai-pani.”
Generous distribution of money during election time is nothing new in state politics. Identical tales are pouring from all quarters — the Congress, the NCP, the Shiv Sena, the BJP.
An NCP political manager said, “Almost 50% of the total expenditure made by our party has been incurred on individuals, who otherwise would have sabotaged the chances of our top leaders in Sangli, Pune, Kolhapur and Sholapur.”
Citing an example, he added, “In Tasgaon-Kawthemahankal, one of the key assembly segments, rebel Ajit Ghorpade withdrew from the race against state NCP chief RR Patil after a promise was made to him
that he would be suitably accommodated as member of the legislature council (MLC).”
Together, the Congress and the NCP have promised to rehabilitate almost 45 candidates in the state legislature council. However, the truth is none will be able to accommodate more than eight candidates.
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