People's Democracy

EDITORIAL

Elections Under Crony Capitalism              

AS we go to press, the NDA seems to be pressing all its panic buttons. All reports from the ground have indicated that the first two phases of the current elections have not gone in its favour.

The next two phases are in areas where the NDA has been traditionally not so strong. Even the notoriously inaccurate opinion and exit polls are giving the NDA a beating.

Cynics, however, have a different story to tell. Crony capitalism seems to have taken in its embrace elections in our democracy. The first round of the opinion polls came about when the Vajpayee government was in the midst of a thousands of crores of rupees advertisement splurge declaring that "India is shining" and that everybody is "feeling good". To seek a share of this massive advertisement budget, it was seen as necessary to project the BJP/NDA as winning the elections hands down. Accordingly, the earliest of the opinion polls like that of the NDTV-Indian Express gave the NDA around 307 seats! Never mind that when this so-called opinion poll was conducted, in many states the seat sharing arrangements were yet to be put in place and in a vast majority of constituencies, the contesting parties had not declared their candidates!

However, with the election process beginning and the Model Code of Conduct coming into force, the government advertising campaign had to be stopped. After some confusion over legal and other implications and the connected wrangling between the Election Commission, Supreme Court and the government, advertisements by political parties are de facto being allowed on the electronic media. A huge budget for advertising in the third and the final phases is expected. What better circumstances can there be to enhance this budget even more than a close contest! In such a situation, all concerned would compete vigorously to influence the voters.

In the meanwhile, using the initial euphoria of the NDA returning to power comfortably, the stock market was manipulated to make the sensex rise sharply. The Economic Times reported that after the first phase exit poll, brokers collected over Rs 150 crore in three days from the share market for boosting the NDA’s electoral prospects. With the exit polls for the second phase showing a tough battle ahead for the NDA, the sensex fell by over 200 points which meant a loss in terms of market capitalisation of a whopping Rs 56,000 crores. Obviously, someone down the line is making massive superprofits.

The last time when the share market took such a battering, Arun Shourie publicly stated that ten players were manipulating the market. They were identified, but the Honourable Minister for Disinvestment (read Disinformation) chose not to name them under the plea that he had informed the prime minister and his deputy. Obviously, the government is aware as to who is manipulating the market.

The real reasons for the stock market behaviour, however, are deliberately being obfuscated. By the end of April, all the "books" have to be completed and tallied by all companies. The cash is, therefore, flowing out of the market to settle accounts. Once this is done it will again start flowing back into the market from the first week of May. By then, the exit poll for third phase would be out. The rising sensex then will be shown as proof of the NDA-BJP recovering the ground it had lost in phase two! In the meanwhile, thousands of crores of rupees would have been spent on a fresh round of advertisements by the concerned parties!!

Notwithstanding all such efforts to manipulate public opinion and influence the voters, it is clear that the electorate has decided many moons ago where he/she would cast their vote. And, in this case, it is clearly against the BJP/NDA. While the crony capitalists make their superprofits by seeking to manipulate the system, the people have decided to vote out this government. This decision of the people must not be allowed to be distorted and manipulated.