More rich you are more the chance of winning an election

More rich you are more the chance of winning an election.
Many of us were aware of this but when we see the actual statistics it is startling. National Election Watch a nationwide campaign comprising of more than 1200 NGO and other citizen led organizations working on electoral reforms, improving democracy and governance in India, has published a detail analysis of the Indian Parliament elections 2009. P Sainath, the renowned "journalist for the voiceless ' has written in The Hindu about this giving his insights.
Let me bring you some excerpts from the report and Sainath's comments.
There were 3,437 candidates in the polls with assets of less than Rs.10 Lakhs[1 million], says the report. Of these, just 15 (0.44 per cent) made it past the post.
But your chances soar with your assets. Of the 1,785 candidates in the Rs. 10 Lakh-Rs. 50 Lakh group, 116 (6 per cent) won. This win-ratio goes up to 19 per cent of candidates for the Rs. 50Lakh-Rs. 500 Lakh segment. And of 322 candidates in the Rs. 500Lakh-plus or platinum tier, 106 (33 per cent) romped home
Let us see this again
Candidate's Asset ------Chance of winning
Less than Rs 10 Lakhs ---------0.44 percent
Rs 10 Lakhs to 50 Lakhs--- --- 6 percent
Rs 50 Lakhs to 500 Lakhs ----19 percent
Above Rs 500 Lakhs -------33 percent
So if you are super rich you have one in 3 chance of getting into the Lok Sabha.
In other words if you are worth over Rs. 50 million, you are 75 times more likely to win an election to the Lok Sabha than if you are worth under Rs. 1 million.

If you are in the super-rich category there is high chance that you will get a cabinet post also.
23 of 64 Cabinet Ministers [more than 1 in 3]whose asset worth is in the public domain fall into this Rs. 500 Lakh-plus category. In the entire Cabinet, only one falls into the less-than-Rs.10 Lakh group.[ That is understandable.There were very few to choose from the 'poor' category]
Many MPs were reelected with handsome margins. You might have thought that they were re-elected because of their good work done for the people in their constituencies.We are not very sure how much they had done to uplift their voters,but we are sure how much they have done to help their bank balance.See this statistic.
Average individual increase in assets of a re-contesting MP is 287 percent[2.75 Crore].
So the Indian Parliament is a rich man's club. Entry is for the rich and when you enter, there is a high chance that you can increase your assets by several folds by the end of your 5 year term.This will also ensure your re-election. A win-win situation, right?
Sainath says the irony is all this is happening in India the

"One that still has 836 million human beings who “get by” on less than Rs. 20 a day. Which ranks 66th amongst 88 nations on the Global Hunger Index (just one notch above Zimbabwe). Which has plummeted to rank 132 in the United Nations Human Development Index (one slot below Bhutan) as our billionaire count has risen. That wallows below Bolivia, Botswana, the Republic of the Congo and the Occupied Territories of Palestine in the HDI rankings. And never mind being worth billions — 60 per cent of adult rural Indians simply do not have bank accounts".


For whom these rich Parliamentarians will legislate for? For themselves or for the common man?

Note: These statistics are based the Candidate's declared assets. Now if you include black money the assets may increase by 5 to 50 times.

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Was forced to run naked,but now trying to run for Parliament.

A victim of circumstance, she has emerged as a symbol of hope and pride.

This is the story of Laxmi Orang, an Adivasi girl from Assam.

Stripped naked and brutally assaulted by a violent mob in broad daylight, she had to run for her life in Guwahati on November 24, 2007. The barbaric incident, captured graphically on TV, which shocked the nation, took place when this young adivasi girl travelled 258 km from her village to the State capital for the first time to take part in a rally by the All- Adivasi Students’ Association of Assam (AASAA) to demand Scheduled Tribe status for the adivasis of Assam.

Traumatised by the brutal and barbaric attack, she disappeared into the fleeing crowd after a middle- aged local resident came to her rescue and took off his own shirt to help the girl cover herself. However, with her family rallying behind her, Laxmi Orang emerged from the ordeal a stronger and more determined woman.

Ms. Orang subsequently turned down jobs offered by the Assam government twice after the shameful incident in the central Beltola locality of the capital city.
She declined to accept ex-gratia of Rs. one lakh offered to her by the state government as compensation. The gutsy woman even refused to open official mail sent to her.
Ms. Orang, who has three educated unemployed brothers at home at Japowbari Orang Basti near Biswanath Chariali in Sonitpur district, declined the government offers at a cost, because it was a time when she desperately needed a job.

Today Laxmi has overcome the trauma and has plunged into politics - she has filed her papers to be a candidate for the April 23 parliamentary elections from Tezpur. She is the nominee of the Asom United Democratic Front (AUDF), a party led by perfume baron Badruddin Ajmal.

Prior to the Beltola incident, Ms. Orang was a daily wage labourer making Rs. 40 a day, who dreamt of saving up enough money to do a vocational course in knitting and tailoring. Poverty had forced her to discontinue schooling after studying up to Class X; her plight was such that she had to share a single kerosene lamp with her three brothers to study at night.
“I never dreamt of joining politics. But the incident at Beltola has prompted me to embark on this mission. I will devote my full energy to taking forward the struggle of my community for scheduled tribe status and the uplift of all poor and downtrodden people in my constituency. I will not rest till my mission is accomplished.”
Pitted against Congress heavyweight and sitting MP Mani Kumar Subba, who is seeking a fourth consecutive term, Ms. Orang is now busy reaching out to voters.
From morning till night, she and her core campaign team — father Deba Orang and brothers Raju, Rajen and Ramen — go door to door explaining to voters why Ms. Orang deserves to represent them in Delhi. The response, they say, is overwhelming.

“Everybody knows about my plight...my case is a true reflection of the injustice and apathy towards the marginalised sections of society,” Laxmi said even as she hopped out of a car to address a small roadside meeting. “I want to represent and do something positive for the people of Assam, especially for women from marginalised communities who are still looked down upon,” she said with a glint in her eyes.

She may have a problem, though. Going by the voters’ list, she is 18, and you have to be 25 to contest. Her nomination paper says the school dropout is 25, but the AUDF is taking no chances - Laxmi’s father Deba Orang also filed his nomination as a substitute AUDF candidate in case Laxmi’s papers are rejected.

“Winning or losing is part of the game...but I want to fight for justice and according ST status to my community, besides all other communities who are facing neglect,” Laxmi said. Even if Laxmi’s candidature is accepted, her electoral debut is not going to be easy.

Let us salute her courage and determination to fight back after such a horrific and traumatic experience.

Edited on 10 th April 2009; The nomination of Laxmi Orang was rejected as she was found to be under age

compiled from The Hindu and Morungexpress.com