“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 favour,” 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 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 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 a
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.
At the crossroads they 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. 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. 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 Bumaiah’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,” 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
Bharathmata, 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 his speech. It
became not only a blow but also a worthy lesson to them.
