Heat rising in political mating season

"Therefore, the good of man must be the end of the science of politics."
- Aristotle
With the hectic political activity witnessed on the streets of Hyderabad coming to an end with balloting on the last day of April, the city heaved a collective sigh of relief at the fairly peaceful conclusion of possibly the most acrimonious elections that the country has witnessed in its history.Towards the close, it became quite a task to determine what caused more discomfort: the stifling heat of a summer sans April Showers or the frenzied debates on television. If one goes by popular perceptions, the relative calm that has set in over Hyderabad is nothing more than the lull before the proverbial storm. With the fate of the city hanging in balance, an anxious nation awaits the outcome with bated breath and crossed fingers.
Even though quite a few 'later day' puritans amongst us would never admit it, most did howl with laughter when first exposed to ribald limericks in their school days. The hilarious exploits of monkeys and kangaroos and of the irate farmer who shot his pet parrot when the chicken started laying green eggs, have traditionally introduced successive generations to the concept of strange bedfellows. But even those with an exceptional mastery over bawdy and risqué jingles would have to tax their memories to recall liaisons stranger than those being contemplated in current political parleys.
One budding 'leader' has taken the concept of political pliability to new heights. After continuously harping about his resolve to remain independent in the Telangana round of canvassing, he suddenly went into estrous during the Andhra phase of elections and has been belting out mating calls ever since. Latest reports claim that he is open to overtures from suitors of any ilk. Politics, as someone rightly said, has no relation to morals. In comparison, the madams of Mahboob ki Mehendi seem to have possessed at least some semblance of morality as evident in their steadfast refusal to entertain British soldiers. It is said that in order to keep the libido of his troops in check, the Resident had to import harlots from the Presidency areas and settle them at bordellos in the Residency Bazaar.
Nurturing political ambitions is a costly affair, both monetarily as well as morally. The utopian concepts of democracy envisioned for the country by its founding fathers have deteriorated into a cesspool, where political argument rarely implies a debate on the moral preoccupations of society. Politics in contemporary Indian society has come to denote nothing more than a means of usurping power. Despite the sustained and cacophonic debate on corruption, which gathered momentum and translated into a mass movement, the election process continues to be a major money spinner.
The axiom of politics becoming "so expensive that it takes a lot of money even to be defeated" was evident in seizures of unaccounted money surpassing all previous records, especially in Andhra Pradesh which accounted for almost half of the cash confiscated in the country. With bifurcation underway and two political setups slated to emerge in the city, it is no wonder that money flowed like water, and the flow will continue to increase in volume as horse-trading will be taken up in earnest once the results are out. The city police lived up to their reputation and effected the most thorough of searches, insisting that gentlemen even empty out their wallets for inspection! Rather amusing, as all the cash that can possibly be stuffed into a wallet would have proved insufficient to buy off even a lowly booth observer - their going rate is said to have been around 50 grand.
The seizures, despite the record haul, can only be but a fraction of what slipped through the dragnet. This intensified monetary activity of the nefarious kind is in all probability due to the largesse of vested interests who have decided that it would be prudent to bet across the board. With major development and infrastructure activity over the next decade a certainty, it would be prudent to have politicos in the bag irrespective of their party affiliations. That is precisely why the axiom conned by American actor Will Rogers that "A fool and his money are soon elected" may as yet prove to be true in Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh. For what could be better than having a grateful fool under obligation in the quest to reap manifold returns.
Paise tu khuda nahin, paise tu sanam nahin;
Khuda nahin, sanam nahin, par tu kisi se kam nahin!
(Kala Bazaar (1960); Shailendra)
(The writer is a well known heritage activist)