Have ‘moolah rogues’ left no room for ‘Messrs Clean’?

BENGALURU: Mukhyamantri Chandru, actor-politician and former MLC who recently joined AAP, took a swipe at all the three major political parties in the state, alleging that “honest politicians have become untouchables for BJP, Congress and JD(S)”.
Many others across the political spectrum, who feel they have been sidelined by their parties during ticket distribution, have echoed Chandru’s opinion.Arkalgud JD(S) MLA AT Ramaswamy, hailed by his peers as the “Mr Clean” of Karnataka politics, was quite candid about his predicament.
“When I decided to leave JD(S), many people invited me to join Congress, saying people like me should be in politics and contest polls. However, when it finally comes to allotment of tickets, they are in two minds,” he said. A four-time legislator, Ramaswamy decided to leave JD(S) since he had become “untouchable” after he opposed the candidacy of Prajwal, son of former minister HD Revanna who controls party matters in Hassan district, ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Like Ramaswamy, there are dozens of other aspirants with a clean image who want to contest polls, but the chances of them getting tickets are quite remote.
Others hesitate to enter the fray because campaigning has gotten too expensive now. Officials in charge of poll campaigns said tough competition between parties to win over voters has resulted in rising demand for goodies and freebies. They say there are constituencies where candidates have to shell out anything between Rs 30-40 crore as part of campaigning.
Of the 2,654 candidates who contested the 2018 assembly polls in Karnataka, at least 883 were crorepatis, while 645 had criminal cases lodged against them, affidavits filed with the Election Commission of India (ECI) show. In addition, children of nine former chief ministers had thrown their hats in the ring, besides a dozen relatives of prominent politicians.
The scenario is unlikely to be any different this time as the three major political parties — BJP, Congress and JD(S) — have made it clear that winnability is the most important factor. Although muscle power has been largely brought under control, spending in elections has gone completely out of control and ECI appears to be helpless despite the huge deployment of observers and seizure of cash, gold, liquor and drugs, apparently meant to bribe voters.
“With feudal, caste-based political families loaded with huge resources in the fray, democracy is becoming a no-entry zone for average citizens. The ECI must confront this reality and find ways to stop voters being bribed. Failing that, democracy will be reduced to an absolute farce,” said Vishwas Shetty, political observer.