“Good news… good news for all of us,”
Srimanth said to the villagers around him.
“What news is that?” the villagers curiously
said to him around.
“Notification for Panchayath
elections…,” Srimanth replied happily.
“Election-fest today onwards… until
the election is held,” cheered the villagers around him.
“Time has come for me to be in the
fray…I contest the election… I will get your unstinted support in the way you
did in the election last year… A
notification was given today morning for the conduct of local body elections
for Sarpanch and ward members in villages,” Srimanth said with deep reflections
on how to win the election without fail.
The long-awaited aspirants jumped
into the arena of election campaigns with all wherewithal necessary for the
battle of elections. They had already kept strong drinks, and currency notes ready
for the voters in all villages. All knew well that it was the trend of the day
for the leaders to offer something for votes as practice though it was illegal.
They firmly decided to offer more drinks and more notes to the voters to win the
election than before.
There were some more aspirants apart
from Srimanth, aspiring to be in the fray. He wanted to achieve hectic this
time as an unrivalled leader in the village. Siddhartha, a sincere youth, was
another candidate who was supported by most of the villagers for the first
time. They filed their nomination papers
to be in the fray.
The scene was set for the campaign
by all the aspirants like Srimanth. He was a rich landlord. During the
Panchayat elections, he spent a lot in the past. This time he took the winning
of election as the question of prestige. He aimed at winning the election
spending a lot. He was busy campaigning, covering important people in the
village.
Srimanth learnt that most of the villagers
were supporting Siddhartha. All of them were talking about his landslide
victory in the election.
To win the election became prestige question
for Srimanth. He was prepared to offer the voters far more than before. He, along
with his supporters, went to almost all houses, promising many benefits to
every voter. He met the people with folded hands.
After the date of withdrawal, there
were only two—Srimanth and Siddharth-- in the fray. Both were serious about their
victory. Time was to decide who was to win the election this time.
“Dear people, you voted for me every
time. Bless me this time too with your valuable votes in my favor,” Srimanth
said to the villagers, bowing his head to them.
“Elections come and go, but we do
not witness any progress…,” a householder said with all feelings in her face.
“You can witness the fruits of my
efforts as in my previous tenure. This time I am sure that you will find real
progress in the village in near future. It is underway to be seen by the eyes
of all,” Srimanth and his supporters said with folded hands.
“Your promises are age old… nothing
new…I do not know when I find progress in the village,” a householder in the
second house.
“I am at your service… I am like the
shepherd to look after you and the people are like the sheep in my supervision,”
Srimanth said, smiling.
“Yes, the shepherd is becoming far fatter
than before, and the sheep too are becoming far weaker than before,” said the
householder in the second house.
“Dear Sir, I have come here to make
a humble appeal to you, all. You remember to vote for me this time also,” Srimanth
said to the householder in the third house.
“We remember you to eradicate
poverty. You have already eradicated poverty but ‘eradication of poverty’ is just
the slogan every time in campaign to win the election,” the householder in the
fourth house said furiously.
“There is progress as you know…You
will surely witness the progress as per your wish… Poverty is surely eradicated,”
Srimanth said humbly while leaving the house.
In some houses, there was a
complaint against the monkeys’ menace in the village. The leader Srimanth
promised to pick up and leave the monkeys in the thick forest nearby.
In every house there was similar
response echoing from their mouths. Every householder expected the same that he
was averse to village welfare. In every house, he hinted that they would get
all in the night. He secretly supplied fifteen thousand rupees for every vote.
In addition, a whiskey bottle for man and sari and a silver ring for woman in a
family.
Srimanth’s supporters happened to witness
tears rolling down from the eyes of Gandhiji’s statue at the crossroads of the
village. They foolishly thought that tears were snow drops, appearing to be
coming from the eyes. They never realized that they were doing all against the
dreams of Mahatma Gandhi. They minded doing their evil practices and so they
were busy executing them against democratic rules enshrined in the Indian
constitution.
Srimanth secretly supplied all in
every house at midnight. The villagers participated in a wet party every night until
the election was held. On the other side Siddhartha, with his supporters, was
campaigning in his own way. He was able to convince the people with his
promises in a public meeting,
“I am contesting the election keeping
in view the welfare of the people in the village. I make my promises true, or
else I shall not stand before you to ask for votes from you all the next time. You
have heard the slogan of Eradication of Poverty since independence. They say
thar I am for the people of the village.”
Siddhartha decided to give the
people whatever was possible by him. It was very less, and in fact it was nothing
when it was compared with those offered by SrImanth. The contestants who had withdrawn
from the fray expected big amounts from him. He was able to give them everything
possible.
Siddhartha had his own style of
electioneering, and it was very convincing. He at last went to a beggar’s
house. He showed due concern to the family though it had only two votes. He went to the beggar with folded hands. He
said to the beggar humbly,
“Dear voter, you know poverty, I
need not tell you about poverty.”
“Yes, I know…Why there are the rich
and why there are the poor. There is a clash between the rich and the poor. The
clash was not created by our Mother India. It was created by the political leaders
born and brought up by her in the past,” the beggar Bhumaiah said with
feelings.
“I know… I know…All have equal rights
in owning land and doing agriculture for their livelihood in the agricultural
country like India. This never happened in the past and will
never happen in the future,” Siddhartha said with all feelings.
“What you have expressed is absolutely
true…If land were given to all people, there would not be the pangs of hunger
and the pathetic plight of the beggars in the rich nation like India with all
resources,” Bhumaiah said with feelings.
“I am moved by your pathetic plight,”
said Siddhartha said with deep feelings.
“No leader thought of solving the
problem of poverty,” said Bhumaiah.
“Keeping in view the present
situation that every leader is giving small or high to voters, I would like to give
you twenty thousand rupees. I know that you vote for me though I don’t give you
anything,” said Siddhartha humbly.
“I don’t want to take even a single
pie from you. Leaders like you must be elected. This is not the age for the
sincere people to be elected. Even then you ought to be in the fray, you can
impress the people with your virtues and values as a leader,” said Bhumaiah with
all glittering smiles.
“You can take the amount…for my
satisfaction…,” said Siddhartha humbly.
“No, I don’t take it… I live in a
democratic nation. I have loved my nation since I was born here. Bharatmata is
great…my mother India is great. If I take the amount from you for the votes in
my family, it is sheer humiliation to my nation. Regarding my voting for you, I
don’t want to take any kind of gift. My greatest gift is to vote for a good
person…for a great nation. That is what my Mother India, Bharath Matha, wants
whole heartedly. I respect her from the bottom of my heart,” said Bhumaiah
openly with patriotic feelings.
“Sir, we don’t take anything from
you,” said Bhumaiah’s wife with folded hands from their poor hut.
Siddhartha hugged the beggar as he
was moved by the beggar, Bhumaiah’s principle of patriotism, saying, “People
like you must live in India as leaders.”
“We vote for you…There is no doubt
about it. We wish you all the best,” the beggar Bhumaiah and his wife said with
love and affection.
Siddhartha and his followers went
ahead campaigning. He went to every house and requested the inhabitants with
folded hands to vote for hm. He had confidence that he would win but he had the
fear of being defeated as his opponent Srimanth hosted parties and feasted for them
every day, spending all his wealth.
Totally different scenes were seen. The people were swinging in the lovely
swing of intoxication.
When Srimanth spent a lot to offer
money and drinks to the voters of the village, he was sure of winning the
election.
Amid the efforts of the contestants,
the election for Sarpanch and ward members took place in a peaceful manner.
Polling was going on. Srimanth was
still making his efforts to get votes cast in his favour. Siddhartha was found
wherever he went with folded hands as a mark of respect for the people and reverence
for a democratic nation.
Beggar Bhumaiah and his wife came to
the polling booth and exercised their rights as citizens of the nation. They
performed their duty in casting their votes in a democratic nation.
After the election, the counting
process was going on. The polling personnel were busy. They were very cautious
not to make mistakes unknowingly. They counted the votes under the tight security
of the police.
The result was in their hands. Total
number of votes polled was 500. Siddhartha got 251 votes to get victory in the
election. Srimanth, who was trailing closely behind, got 249 votes to be defeated
in the poll.
Srimanth and his supporters demanded
recounting. The polling officials counted the votes again. They found the same difference
of votes between Siddhartha and Srimanth. Siddhartha was declared elected in
the poll.
After the declaration of results Siddhartha
came to Bhumaiah and hugged him with all love and affection, with tears in his eyes.
“I have full confidence and courage
to say that my victory is ascribed to Bhumaiah’s and his wife’s voting in my
favour. Your votes made me win the election. It is the fact, the truth…the
truth of truths behind my victory. The two voters voted for me as per the
principles of democracy. Democracy has won this time. If he and his wife had
voted for Srimanth, he would have lost the battle with two votes. They wholeheartedly
voted for me to win,” Siddhartha said to Bhumaiah while shedding tears.
There was a jubilant procession in
view of Siddartha’s victory in the village. All were enjoying the occasion. Srimanth
borrowed loans at higher rate of interest. He sold off all his property. He was
known for his riches in the village. He became penniless. Moreover, he fell
into heavy debts. He had no way to clear them off. He shut the doors of his
house inside and kept on crying for his antidemocratic practices. His wife and
children joined him, crying. He was to lead his life like a beggar in the
street.
After a month of Siddhartha’s
success, there was a felicitation function going on in the presence of all
villagers. It was felicitation offered to Beggar Bhumaian couple in a befitting
manner. Siddhartha presented two acres of land with the document of registration
related to it. Bhumaiah readily agreed to receive the felicitation. His happiness
knew no bounds as democracy won for the first time at the village level.
Siddhartha wanted to express his
views with mixed feelings. All clapped when he came to the podium and expressed
his response, “At the outset I would like to express my deep sense of gratitude
to my model nation, Bharath Mata who became free from the clutches of the Whites
under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi. She became free for the rule as per
democratic means. My victory is ascribed to Smt. & Sri Bhumaiah’s voting in
my favour. If they had not voted, I would have got two votes less than Sri
Srimanth. It was they who voted for me and helped me reap the fruits of my
success. I thank all the people wholeheartedly. I serve the people of my
village with love and affection, commitment and devotion. It will be the best
village not only in the state but also in my beloved nation. I bring to your
notice the murder attempt against me before the election. They did not want to
see me in the fray. Had they killed me in the dense forest near the village, I
would not have stood before you as the sarpanch of the village. Your strong
will and unstinted support led me on the journey of my victory. Thank you …one
and all.”
Bhumaiah came forward to the podium
to express his response, “At the outset, I offer my respects to Bharatmata, I
congratulate Sri Sidhartha and the ward members on their victory in the
election. It is the success of democracy…not the success of any one…a single
person here… the success of everyone here. I congratulate everyone here. As
citizens, we should love our village. We should struggle and strive to serve it.
For that we should elect a suitable leader in the panchayat election. In the
state, we should be wise in electing a worthy leader in the MLA election to rule
the state successfully. We as the citizens, we should also elect a right leader
in the parliamentary election to find ourselves happy under his able and stable
rule at the centre… As you all know that I am a beggar, living on begging… You
may not believe in me…At first Srimanth sent thirty thousand rupees through his
supporters. I bluntly refused to take the amount and other things from them (All
clapped). I overheard Srimanth’s words: “If a beggar and his wife do not vote for
me nothing will happen to my victory…I have solid votes and thumping majority
for my landslide victory.”
I should also tell you about the
victor in the election, Siddhartha. He also came to me before the election to
offer me twenty thousand rupees and so on. I politely rejected his offer. My
wife too cooperated with me. In fact, the prevailing practice made him get ready
for that. I was not ready to take even a single pie from him (all clapped
heartily). If the evil practice goes on, poverty will never be eradicated…It is
used as a mere slogan in every election… I wish Sri Siddhartha all success in
proving himself as the worthy son of Bharat Mata and make all keep their heads
high. Let us join hands with him for his success. Now I wholeheartedly thank
Sri Siddhartha for the gift of two acres of land to me. This is the only way leading
the leader to success in the eradication of poverty. Now I am not a beggar…I am
the backbone of my nation. I appreciate Sri Siddhartha for the right reform in
the eradication of poverty. Such steps lay a sure road to our progress and
jubilation. The leader should think on these lines… Wish the victors all the
best…Thank you all for felicitating me on the auspicious occasion, Thanks to
one and all…”
All listened to the wise Beggar Bhumaiah’s speech spell bound. The people who had taken money and other things before the election were in realization on the lines of his speech. It became not only a blow but also a worthy lesson to them.
