Parties scramble to buy votes - TeluguPeople.com News

HYDERABAD: Forget manifestoes, promises and speeches, which at times turned vituperative and vulgar. A day ahead of polling in Andhra-Rayalaseema, comprising 175 Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha constituencies, it was gala time for voters.

Whether in the agriculturally rich coastal belt, renowned for its canals and greenery, or the parched Rayalaseema, wads of currency notes are finding their way into every household even as liquor flows more than water.

If a Lok Sabha candidate is spending a minimum of `25 crore to a maximum of `50 crore, the expenditure for an MLA candidate ranges from `7-10 crore.

MP candidates are the primary source of funding for the MLA contestants. Each Lok Sabha nominee is said to have given at least `3 crore each to his party MLA candidates in his constituency. And, the MLA candidates are mobilising an equal amount with funding from the party being an added bonus.

As one travels in the Krishna-Godavari belt, you get to hear interesting ways of money flow. Camaraderie between rival contestants is total and understanding perfect.

The tried and tested method followed by everyone is simple: deploy lieutenants to each village, where locals identified for the purpose join them.

If one group, belonging to a particular party, is distributing money in a village, those aligned with the rival party do it elsewhere. With information being shared in real-time, rival parties avoid being at the same place at the same time.

The method is perfect in one sense. While a couple of people carry voter slips, the others go with money bags. Once the cash is handed over, the names are marked out on the voters' list and the entire exercise in a given village is usually completed within half-an-hour.

The going rate in most constituencies is `500 per vote, though there are segments in both coastal and Rayalaseema regions where candidates are shelling out anything between `2,000-`3,000 per voter.

When one of our reporters caught up with an MP candidate for an interview the other day, he cursed himself for entering the poll fray and vowed not even to let any of his family members repeat the mistake.

Around the same time, a dozen village-level leaders arrived at his residence, each claiming to have at least 100-200 voters in his pocket and wanted 'appropriate funding' to 'take care of them.'

The hapless candidate pleaded with them to wait till the polls are over and promised to look after them. 'No sir. That won't work. Payment must be made before hand,' they insisted.

This is the price, it seems, one must pay for the 'protective cover' the position of an MP provides ' especially so considering that a majority of the contestants from the principal parties are those having substantial business interests.

Police and election officials also appear to be tired. Andhra Pradesh has already achieved the dubious record of topping the country in terms of the quantum of money seized in this election.

Two days ago, in West Godavari district, acting on specific information, police had checked a vehicle parked at a hotel and found `1.5 cr in cash.

They immediately arrested its two occupants. A few hours later, after interrogating the duo, the police realised to their shock that another `1.5 cr was still lying hidden in the same vehicle.

To what extent this pre-election bribery will work is anybody's guess, but it surely has become a permanent feature of the election process which no serious contestant can afford to ignore.