Cash for votes: in Parliament and polling-booths

The India Cables, accessed by The Hindu via WikiLeaks, confirm many of the self-evident truths Indians know about their politics. Cable 206688 describes, in simple and chilling detail, how Azhagiri, one of Tamil Nadu CM Karunanidhi’s several sons, distributed cash:

"8. (C) After long relying on political muscle to enforce his will in Madurai, Azhagiri has added money to his arsenal and is using it to a degree previously unseen in Tamil Nadu. Azhagiri's approach debuted in the January assembly by-election held in Thirumangalam near Madurai, which he managed for the DMK. This race was marked by unprecedented bribes to voters (ref A). M. Patturajan, the former Mayor of Madurai and a confidant of Azhagiri, told us that ""it is no secret at all, Azhagiri paid 5,000 rupees (approximately USD 100) per voter in Thirumangalam."" S. Kannan, a mid-level Congress party official in Madurai, told us ""the 5,000 rupees per voter in Thirumangalam changed everything,"" noting that previous bribes to voters had topped out at 500 rupees. S. Annamalai, Madurai editor of The Hindu, also confirmed the 5,000 rupee figure, telling us that all of his employees who live in Thirumangalam received the money."

Letters received in today’s Hindu confirm these stories. The cable also details politicians in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, including the Home Minister PC Chidambaram, allegedly distributed cash to lure voters. This Tehelka story lists even more incidents.

Given that our voters expect money from politicians to vote during elections, isn’t’ it ironical that the same voters are perturbed when our legislators accept cash to vote in favor/against governments during trust votes? The 2008 price for a MP was a paltry 10 crore per vote in trust motion (as per WIkiLeaks). The 1993 price of a MP vote (as discovered during the JMM MP bribery scandal) was approximately 2.2 crore – a rise of just ~450% in 15 years. Voters of these MPs should have therefore demanded that their MP maximize his/her returns by auctioning his/her vote during a trust motion, and then distribute the gains more evenly to the voters. Voters need to be better educated to be aware of their new rights in today’s market-driven democracy.