It is indeed ironical that electoral success is more often than not directly proportional to the amount of funds pumped into their electoral forays by the respective candidates........
If you do not prefer to take my word as the gospel truth, then listen to the litany of woes of the Aam Aadmi Party's candidates who are starved of funds and other resources and hence unable to reach out to the voters in the manner that they ought to........
According to party bigwigs and candidates, donations received from the Aam Aadmi through either cash or cheque or then donations received from NRI's other well meaning folks are their only source of funding as they are not privy to doles either from big business or industrial houses, religious trusts or other such institutions or fawning businessmen who shower their chosen parties with crores of rupees when the occasion arises........
In fact, many an Aam Aadmi Party candidate who has withdrawn his/her candidature confided that they had resorted to this desperate or last ditch measure as their election campaigns were simply not measuring up to those unleashed by their well heeled and connected rivals and also because quite a few electors/voters were demanding cash in lieu of votes and that indeed was a scarce commodity as far as they were concerned.........
These very same candidates also go on to bemoan the fact that they were severely hampered by the conspicuous absence of any support system whatsoever from either the party at the national level or then the party machinery at the grass root level.........
"One such candidate who has withdrawn from the electoral fray even ventures as far as saying that every request for the sanctioning for funds and other election related material is either met with a stony and resounding silence or then a pithy sum of funds and other election material is disbursed, but, alas the same does not last beyond a few days", he says..........
Giving vent to their collective frustration, the party bigwigs say, "we have been beseeching, imploring, requesting, cajoling and entreating the Aam Aadmi to come forward and loosen his/her purse strings and hence buffer or fill up our party's coffers"........
"Funds and contributions have indeed poured in, but the tide has been sporadic and ebbing and flowing with every political development, the trickle becomes a deluge every time Arvind is assaulted or attacked by either a disgruntled member of the public or political adversary but then becomes a mere trickle when the euphoria dies down".......
"We had even taken a leaf out of the US electoral practices and taken to organising fund raising dinners and other events with party candidates in order to swell our coffers, alas, this measure too did not yield the desired results and the results thus far have been anything but encouraging"........
"While we do understand and sympathise with our party candidates, the fact of the matter is that our hands are irrevocably tied behind our backs or then severely shackled as we had envisioned a rosy scenario where would be able to apportion a sum of Rs. 50 lakh or so to every candidate from a parliamentary seat, but the funds received thus far have been a major dampener in our efforts"........
"We have only been able to disburse a sum of Rs. 5 lakh or so to every candidate thus far and have not been able to do the same in a few stray cases, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan Ji were magnanimous enough to donate a sum of Rs. 1 crore each to the party's election chest, but we need at least a minimum of 50 more such contributions if we are indeed to make a serious effort to reach out to the remotest corners of this vast land and make our presence felt on the ground", the party bigwig mournfully signs off.........
Like it, abhor it, embrace it or then shun it, but the fact of the matter is that money does indeed make the electoral world go round at least...........
If you do not prefer to take my word as the gospel truth, then listen to the litany of woes of the Aam Aadmi Party's candidates who are starved of funds and other resources and hence unable to reach out to the voters in the manner that they ought to........
According to party bigwigs and candidates, donations received from the Aam Aadmi through either cash or cheque or then donations received from NRI's other well meaning folks are their only source of funding as they are not privy to doles either from big business or industrial houses, religious trusts or other such institutions or fawning businessmen who shower their chosen parties with crores of rupees when the occasion arises........
In fact, many an Aam Aadmi Party candidate who has withdrawn his/her candidature confided that they had resorted to this desperate or last ditch measure as their election campaigns were simply not measuring up to those unleashed by their well heeled and connected rivals and also because quite a few electors/voters were demanding cash in lieu of votes and that indeed was a scarce commodity as far as they were concerned.........
These very same candidates also go on to bemoan the fact that they were severely hampered by the conspicuous absence of any support system whatsoever from either the party at the national level or then the party machinery at the grass root level.........
"One such candidate who has withdrawn from the electoral fray even ventures as far as saying that every request for the sanctioning for funds and other election related material is either met with a stony and resounding silence or then a pithy sum of funds and other election material is disbursed, but, alas the same does not last beyond a few days", he says..........
Giving vent to their collective frustration, the party bigwigs say, "we have been beseeching, imploring, requesting, cajoling and entreating the Aam Aadmi to come forward and loosen his/her purse strings and hence buffer or fill up our party's coffers"........
"Funds and contributions have indeed poured in, but the tide has been sporadic and ebbing and flowing with every political development, the trickle becomes a deluge every time Arvind is assaulted or attacked by either a disgruntled member of the public or political adversary but then becomes a mere trickle when the euphoria dies down".......
"We had even taken a leaf out of the US electoral practices and taken to organising fund raising dinners and other events with party candidates in order to swell our coffers, alas, this measure too did not yield the desired results and the results thus far have been anything but encouraging"........
"While we do understand and sympathise with our party candidates, the fact of the matter is that our hands are irrevocably tied behind our backs or then severely shackled as we had envisioned a rosy scenario where would be able to apportion a sum of Rs. 50 lakh or so to every candidate from a parliamentary seat, but the funds received thus far have been a major dampener in our efforts"........
"We have only been able to disburse a sum of Rs. 5 lakh or so to every candidate thus far and have not been able to do the same in a few stray cases, Shanti and Prashant Bhushan Ji were magnanimous enough to donate a sum of Rs. 1 crore each to the party's election chest, but we need at least a minimum of 50 more such contributions if we are indeed to make a serious effort to reach out to the remotest corners of this vast land and make our presence felt on the ground", the party bigwig mournfully signs off.........
Like it, abhor it, embrace it or then shun it, but the fact of the matter is that money does indeed make the electoral world go round at least...........
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