The ability of the Indian polity to rule thrives on corruption and corrupt practices alone.After all how are these political parties existing financially. For a single election, the legally accepted expenditure of national parties will run into more than a thousand crore. The fact however is that more than 5000 crore are spent by national parties as per very conservative estimates, the estimates derived from the ground realities as witnessed during an election and some statements of senior politicians aired on TV channels from time to time. Let us try to figure out and analyse as to where from such big amount of funds come from.
Out of 1200 million Indians, 800 million ( 67% as per the latest government estimates ) comprising of all labour,small vendors, static and mobile (rehriwalas, pheriwalas), small farmers and business households who barely manage to make both ends meet and who rely on food subsidy for their very existence. Unimaginable that they can and will spare money for the political parties. Additionally 300 million belong to service class households, retired and serving who as it is feel that they are heavily burdened by taxes without any worthwhile return from government. They have no axe to grind with politicians and never shell out even a single penny for any political party.
Now we are left with earners of a class of 100 million citizens i.e. say about 20 million persons belonging to political class, business class, big farmers,self employed category. Out of this also 90% belong to middle income and high middle income group. The balance 2 million along with corporates and influential persons making big fat earnings with the connivance of government and its officials to dole out the total election burden of political parties, an expenditure of about Rs10000 - 15000 crores. An average donation of Rs 50,000.00 to Rs75,000.00. These individuals and entities are not doing this for love for a party, a particular legislature or love for serving the nation. The aim is very clear and every investment made by way of such donation has to bring in a minimum unearned reward of of ten times ( the basic principle of all bribery and graft ) by some dubious mechanism against national interest. The cost of each election apart from the government expenditure of conducting elections is between 1 lakh crores to 1.5 lakh crores of black money generation. No economy howsoever large it may be can afford something as big as this and we, the common citizens can only pray that some good sense prevails amongst Indian polity and they find out a solution to this 'Indian reality of elections as the mother of all corruption.'
