Do political parties distribute cash to buy votes? - How much is it true?

We keep seeing news in media about the corruption ways of the political parties to buy people's votes. Although election commission is trying to enforce strict election regulations, it by and large fails in taking action against those who violate the regulations.

We keep hearing about political parties distributing cash and liquor to people to buy votes. Is it true? Well, it is an open secret that everybody knows. Here is a direct evidence. Today I was educating our servant on how to vote in the new EVM (electronic voting machine) system at my home town Anaparti in Andhra Pradesh, India. My grand mother told her not to sell her vote to any party/candidate for cash; accept the money if anybody gives it, but don't get influenced by it. Then I got curious and asked her whether anybody has already given her money. She revealed that Praja Rajyam party had given her Rs 250 and the ruling congress party had given Rs 500! This is true and this is what happens everywhere!! Anaparti's congress candidate is Nallamilli Sesha Reddy and Praja rajam contestant is D R K Reddy. Well, though the latter is my relative, I can not support a person or a party that takes recourse to corruption to win elections. In fact, there is a wide spread news that Prajarajaym party sold Anaparti ticket for Rs 4 crores to D R K Reddy. It is widely believed that cine actor and Praja rajyam party president Chiranjeevi sold most of his party tickets and there are credible evidences for this. Many of the party internal sources too acknowledge this.

Why don't the election commission and the police take stringent action against these perpetrators of crimes. Why don't they cancel the candidature of the candidates? True they arrest some people here and there, seize some cash and liquor. But how much is it useful? All this is an eye wash. They should severely punish the actual contestants and cancel their candidature rather than arresting chota-mota volunteers.

In a nutshell, most of the politicians in India spend huge money for buying party tickets and then they buy poor people's votes with cash and liquor. Then what service will they do to people when they come into power? They will be spending their time and energies to earn 10 times more money than what they spent. In fact, everybody knows that this is what congress chief minister (of Andhra Pradesh) Y S Rajasekhar Reddy did in the last five years. His family earned thousands of crores during his tenure as Andhra Pradesh's chief minister. It is unfortunate congress and its president Sonia Gandhi supports such a corrupt leader.

As responsible citizens, we should vote "out" these corrupt parties and individuals and pave the way for a positive change by electing right candidates and parties.

Tags: Indian National Congress distributes cash to buy votes.
Prajarajam bribes voters for Rs 250.

L.K. Advani's letter to religious leaders

Following is the letter by Shri L.K. Advani, Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) to religious leaders posted on BJP's website.

Most Revered

Kindly accept my namaskar on behalf of my party and self.

I am writing this to seek your blessings as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the National Democratic Alliance gear up for the elections to the 15th Lok Sabha. My party and our alliance are seeking the mandate of the people of India to form the next government on the promise of Good Governance, Development and Security. Should we win the mandate, it would be our endeavour to provide an honest and corruption-free government, committed to protecting the vital interests of the nation and dedicated to promoting the welfare of the people, especially those who are underprivileged.

You are well aware of the state of the nation today. National security has been threatened by cross-border terrorism, which claimed more innocent lives in India in the past five years than the combined terrorism-related toll in the entire world, except Iraq. Unchecked infiltration from Bangladesh has, as warned by the Supreme Court itself, assumed the proportions of an “external aggression”. India’s neighbourhood is in turmoil, with anti-India forces raising their heads everywhere. The developments in Pakistan, in particular, portend ill for India. Our country’s traditional friendship with Nepal and Sri Lanka is under stress.

Mismanagement of the economy in the past five years has brought enormous misery to the common people. The unprecedented rise in the prices of essential commodities has affected all sections of society. The bubble of the stock market-oriented economic growth has burst and the country finds itself in a deep economic crisis. In addition to the existing problem of widespread unemployment, our country is now witnessing a new problem of job losses on a massive scale. Uncertainty and insecurity have gripped the lives of our young people. What has pained me the most is suicide by thousands of debt-ridden kisans, the anna-daatas who feed the nation. I have rarely seen such despair in India as I do now.

It will be my sincere endeavour, and the first priority of a future NDA government if it is elected by the people, to replace this mood of despair with hope and confidence.

India is a deeply religious country. Our people have unshakeable faith in religion, and seek the guidance of religious leaders like you in matters both worldly and other-worldly. This is because religion in India has always cared for the well-being of the nation and its people, and striven for strengthening the ethical edifice of both the state and society. I am sure that you will give the right guidance in the present circumstances.

Our promises to the people will be presented in the NDA’s Agenda of Governance. But I would like to take this opportunity to mention a few specific assurances that are relevant to religious establishments in the country.

• It will be my endeavor to seek on a regular basis the guidance of spiritual leaders of all denominations on major challenges and issues facing the nation. For this, we shall evolve a suitable consultative mechanism.

• We shall end governmental neglect of the multi-faith spiritual heritage of India. The advocacy and practice of secularism, which unfortunately has come to acquire an anti-religious or religion-neutral connotation in the past five years, will be restored to its true meaning — Sarva Panth Samaadar (equal respect for all faiths). We would like religious establishments to play an important role in inculcating spiritual and patriotic values in our people, thereby creating a society of enlightened citizens.

• We shall launch a National Mission for the beautification and development of all major pilgrimage centres of all faith-communities, providing good amenities to pilgrims on the lines of what has been achieved at Mata Vaishnodevi Shrine and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. The National Mission will be chaired by the Prime Minister. Given a series of mishaps in recent years, ensuring safety and security of pilgrims will be accorded high priority.

• Cleaning up of the Ganga and other rivers will be a matter of high priority.

• Ram Sethu will be protected.

• Controversies like the one that arose over the allotment of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board in Jammu & Kashmir will not be repeated.

• Protection of cow and her progeny will be our solemn commitment.

• All foreign funds will be regulated as per government norms to ensure that they are used solely for the purpose for which they are received. Religious conversions using fraudulent and unethical means will be outlawed.

• I am aware that religious organizations often face a lot of difficulties in government-related matters, especially while getting their IT exemptions renewed. Hence, our government will create a special cell to facilitate the works of all religious institutions.

• All social welfare and nation-building activities of religious institutions (mid-day meal schemes, environment protection, value- based education, care of orphans, etc.) will be duly supported by the central government.

• Spiritual tourism will be promoted in a big way.

• Government will take major steps to promote India’s spiritual heritage worldwide.

As Dharam Guru, your good self has always worked for peace, harmony, unity, well-being and brotherhood without boundaries in society. These are also the values that I believe in. It has been my lifelong conviction that politics, governance and other national affairs should be guided by lofty ideals as enshrined in the concept of Ram Rajya (Ideal State), popularized by Mahatma Gandhi.

At the present crucial juncture in our nation’s life, when people are looking for a decisive change, I seek your blessings, guidance and support.

With Sashtang Namaskar,

L.K. Advani

Sri Sri Ravishankar responds to Advani's letter on the occasion of Indian elections 2009

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar responds to Advani's letter to spiritual leaders

* appreciates initiative to include leaders of all faiths to keep the secular & spiritual character of our country intact.

* lauds Advaniji’s move to bring back 74 lakh crore rupees of Indian black money from Swiss banks.

Sri Sri Ravishankar's response was published on Art of Living's official blog.

14th April, 2009
Bangalore, India

In appreciation of Advani’s letter, His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that religious and spiritual leaders are in touch with the grass-root populace on a daily basis and it is wise to take their advice on things concerning people. It is only spiritual and religious leaders who can put a check on corruption and criminalization of politics. Sri Sri has lauded Advani’s move to bring back 74 lakh crore rupees of Indian black money from Swiss banks.

The role of spiritual leaders in track-two diplomacy with India’s neighboring countries cannot be under-estimated. They can help ease tense relations between countries and during times of disaster can mobilize volunteers for relief work. It is time the voice of religious and spiritual leaders is heard. Sri Sri particularly appreciated Advani’s initiative to include leaders of all faiths to keep the secular & spiritual character of our country intact.

letter to spiritual leaders

Time to Act! Classified Information about the Congress government

Dear Ones,

Go through each and every link below, our country's Future is in our hand! Become Aware of the current situation of our Government and you have the power to bring about change!!

As a true citizen of this country, you should share this information with ALL NOW, only few days remaining for voting!

Vote 4 Change!

[Corroborated by credible sources – Indian Express, Economic Times, IBN 7, Wikipedia, Official Government websites, etc. For email clients that do not support embedded links, please check the bottom of the email – we have all the links for you.]

1) Is common Indian on the street really safe?

a) Check this shocking video clip from IBN 7: Become a terrorist and get paid by the Indian Government.

b) Taliban is not just at our doorsteps, it has infiltrated into Kashmir [news article]. Is the present Govt really concerned about the security of the nation?

c) Every major city in India has been attacked consistently over the last two years. In the last five years, 3850 Indians have died in Terror attacks [news article] in over 3000 incidents [stats from Wikipedia]. In 2008 alone, 12 major terror attacks have rocked the country.

2) What is the present government doing with all our money?

a) As revealed in 2008, Rs 70 lakh crores of money from India is lying in swiss bank accounts [news article]. Even though the German government is ready to reveal the details of account holders, the government is least bothered to ask for it.

b) On the day of Mumbai train blasts, the present government gave Rs 150 crore for earthquake-relief in Pakistan. In 2008, the government has given Rs 3000 crores to Afghanistan for Infrastructure development. Developing our own country’s infrastructure did not cross our governments mind!

c) Rs 87153.12 crores missing [Official website of Comptroller and Auditor General of India] from Universal service funds, infrastructure development fund and money allocated for centrally sponsored scheme.

d) In the Rs 10000 crores, medium-range surface-to-air missile (MR SAM) deal with Israel, the government has suspiciously agreed to pay 6% [news article] as “business charges” which comes to whooping Rs 600 crores. According to defence experts, this is simply inflated and illegitimate.

3) Is this Government really secular?

a) When Madrasas are being shut down in Pakistan, the Indian Government is giving them CBSE status [news article]!! Is it not discouraging Muslim children in getting secular education?

b) Andhra Pradesh government under the direction from central government has closed down 28000 temples out of 36000 temples in last 5 years.

c) Our Government has given 25 lakh scholarships ONLY to minority students [news article]. What sin have the majority done not to deserve these? Why cannot poor students of all communities be given scholarships instead of only Muslim children?

4) Is this Government really pro-poor?

a) The number of people living below the poverty line has increased by a horrifying 20 per cent. India had some 270 million people below the poverty line in 2004-2005, when the present Government took office. That number has gone up to 325 million, which is 20 per cent increase.

Do you want the same government to continue?

The time for politically correct statements is past.

We have just a handful of days before we cast our precious vote. Let’s vote for change!!

[Your immediate participation needed! Just hit the forward button my friend. And no kidding, this time you would’ve done service to your nation]

Congress party is full of thieves

Election commission has ordered the ruling Congress government in Andhra Pradesh to remove Rajiv Gandhi's photos from all the Arogya Sri ambulance vans in the state. However, in violation to this order, they still kept his photo in this ambulance in Anaparti, East Godavari.

Gandhi's photo on 108 ambulance in Anaparti violating of EC' orders.