No I am not talking about the first family of India since they won the elections. It is about the greater Gandhi. His picture on the high denomination rupee notes reflects a smile which is engigmatic - like the Mona Lisa - but also seems to be a rather mischievous one - as if he knew the mischief he would be a party to.
It is no great news that money played a great part in the elections and has played a part in the last decade. However its use has become so widespread and in our southern state its blatant use has become a standard for elections. Rs 500 per vote has become a standard and in spite of several complaints the election commission is so powerless to do anything about it. A political party today needs no idealogy, policies or programmes. All that it needs is a good system of raising capital from the governments they run - and deploying part of it systematically to stay in power - through elections - so as to raise more capital. They can do this officially as well through schemes like free TVs and gas stoves. Nobody complains.
It might not be a bad idea to officially rename our currenacy as a 'Gandhi. It is afterall the land of Gandhi.
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