A vote deal that helps you & me

Prabhjot Singh

Dear Candidate, I have been watching you for the past several weeks making efforts to win me over with lucrative promises. My vote can make a difference, not for fulfilling the promises you are making, but what it can get you. It does not matter to me which party or ideology you subscribe to. I am looking for a deal that is mutually beneficial. I want to make it clear that I do not want to negotiate a monetary price for my right to exercise franchise, but in accordance with set norms of fair play, benefits of vote must be shared by both parties — voter and the candidate.

I assure you that my vote can get you a plum post with a hefty salary; pension; free travel by road, rail and air; free vehicle with driver, fuel and maintenance; security guards; front row seats at all government/state functions; free medical treatment (within and outside country); reservation for your wards in educational institutions, jobs; free mobile, landline, laptop and smartphone; interest-free or low interest rate loans. You will also be entitled to claim reimbursements for all your official travels within and outside the country.

You will also have the right to criticise anyone, hurl abuses or chappals, shout slogans, and stop proceedings of the legislature, stage walkouts and hog headlines in newspapers, besides remaining in focus of television cameras.

Though you have been promising me the sky before every election, without fulfilling any of your earlier promises, I am listing only some of the items of an assured package that I offer in return for my vote. I can say without any hesitation that I have been keeping my word by guaranteeing your growth, both politically and socio-economically, to my great personal detriment. 

And once I cast my vote, your achhe din will start while my problems will begin to unfold. My wards get frustrated for want of jobs even after attaining high professional qualifications. When anyone in my family falls sick, the world turns turtle for me. There is either no doctor in the hospital or the stocks of medicine there have never been replenished.

Basic civic amenities are almost non-existent. I cannot even risk drinking water from a public hand-pump or a tap because it is highly contaminated. I want voters like me to grow like you.

I am open to negotiations that can be held in public eye to make sure that benefits of democracy percolate down to the grassroots.

Sincerely

An awakened voter