Not Enough Money

Vasu Reddy From Chicago
vasureddy@aol.com.

Elections of 2014 are almost over in India, and in about a week we will have counted towards a new government to lead the massive democracy for next five years. This elections have a bit more sizzle than the last one, although till date the directed attacks have been limited to verbal duels, and apparently there has been no loss of life in the long and drawn out elections. Each of the contesting parties and candidates have been promising everything on earth to people, just as they did in the previous election and the one before and so forth, and pretty much everyone promises all things for free and everything for everyone.

With absolute authority and hundred percent straight face they will swear on everything and anything that they will do the impossible for their constituents. From freebies to loan waivers, interest free loans to outright abolishing of past loans, all things that are imaginable are absolutely free and immediately done, once voted into power. As usual politicians both the incumbents and the wannabees both are making promises to no end, and tall claims of transparent and frugal management of the future. Each candidate and each party are spending money that is beyond a reasonable comprehension. For all the money that is going into the elections and all the candidates that are spending the fortunes in getting elected, the final call from the voters is almost done, and in about a week the winners will be planning for what they do for next five years and the losers will be licking their wounds and planning on what they will have to do in five years to get back into the action.

No matter how we look at the elections, the cost of them is massive for the country which is always clamoring for resources. There is a limit to how much each candidate can spend, but the restrictions certainly doesn't stop the candidates from spending as much as possible to attract the voters to the polling booth, and casting the vote for the right candidate. The money although is flowing all around, the influence of money is limited in the final votes leading to the election of candidates. The money could have been well spent on social-economic programs that could well lead to attracting voters in the long run, but the candidates seldom think of long term, but just what they need to do at elections time.

The value of elections is enormous to the retail and other businesses, outside of the liquor and food businesses, the travel, clothing, advertisements, posters and news, and whatever other means of transportation and advertisements, all of them become a very active at elections time. The money flow also allows the people to spend the free money they get from candidates back into the purchasing things that are basic necessities. So, the flow of money is a good thing in helping the retail businesses.

What happens after the elections is the real issue for both the candidates and electorate. What will the elected candidates do and how will they fulfill the promises made to the electorate? There is not enough revenues to meet the current demands of the public, and all the freebies announced during the elections will cost much more than what is available. The cost of elections and money spent by the candidates will be paramount in the minds of both the winning candidates and those who lost. Their primary concern will be how to recoup the money they spent and some more, which will precede any people related programs. Where will all the money come from? And how will the money be recouped? Where will the money come for any people programs and development of the nation? What will we do to handle the immediate and future needs of ever growing population? So many questions, all leading to the where will the resources come from and how will the nation handle the ever increasing demands?