When Arvind Kejriwal (AK) overtook Narendra Modi (NaMo) in terms of catching headlines of the media of this country, I am sure it came as a jolt out of the blue for the entire country. There were theories making rounds from various quarters as AAP being Cong agent, AAP being BJP agent, AAP being funded by USA, the ISI, the Chinese etc., etc.,
I wondered... even for a million dollars, would I want to be in the seat of AK? I guess not.
Forget AK. I for one, if at all should be contesting an election or want to be an MP or an MLA, what should be my motivation?
· To serve the nation? Come on, I have a family to take care of, EMI of a housing loan, EMI of my car loan, my kids education to be taken care of, our retirement to be taken care of.
Do you know some of the salaries of Indian politicians per month net of HRA?
o Prime Minister : Rs.1,60,000/- (Gross)
(http://pmindia.nic.in/pmsalary_july2013.pdf)
o Chief Minister of Karnataka : Rs.52,500/- (Gross)
(http://dpal.kar.nic.in/pdf_files/5%20of%201957%28E%29.pdf)
o MLA of Karnataka : Rs.20,000/- (I could get the net salary only)
These are the salaries given out to our leaders. Is it very enticing? You be the judge.
· Is the job profile of an MLA/MP very exciting if you may ask? Well, I have been in touch with one of the well known, hard working MLA’s who was a minister in the BJP government in Bangalore. Though this cannot be generalised, let me explain his day in general. This being a day when there is no Assembly.
o 06.00 : Wakes up (sometimes 8 AM, depending upon what time he has slept).
Goes for an hours walk.
o 08.00 : Breakfast
o 08.30 : Meets the visitors / general public at his house.
o 09.30 : Goes for a public meet. (Inauguration/ death/ problems in the
constituency)
o 12.30 : Reaches his office. Addresses people who have gathered to meet.
o 13.30 : Looks at files which require his signatures.
o 14.30 : Light lunch
o 15.00 : Meeting with the various department heads or local group leaders and
feedback on the progress of agenda set in the previous meeting.
o 18.00 : Tea break
o 18.30 : Public meet in the office or the constituency.
o 20.30 : Comes home. People would be waiting for him again with their personal
problems. He addresses them and often will have to pay cash to the
needy.
o 22.00 : Light Dinner
o 23.00 : Political meet with local leaders who would have come with confidential
political matters which could be internal or external, infighting etc.,
o 01.00 : The closing time is never before 1 in the night and could sometimes go
until 4 in the morning, depending upon the situation.
His daily out of pocket expense could be not less than Rs.30,000/- per day (This itself would amount to Rs.9Lcs per month). Majorly in doling out cash to the needy people of his constituency who would have come for various personal problems.
There is no personal life with the family. Minimal sleep time. Every move of yours is
watched by people, media and the opposition. There are people waiting to meet you wherever you go. Your daily expenses are so high. You got to contribute to the target allotted of the party fund. You have to recover the costs which you have incurred for the last election. You have to make enough money to fight the next election (30-50 Crores). With IT, CBI and the EC keeping a tab on all your wealth, how easy is it to make money. There are life threat from militants, mafia and naxals. The list is very long and I cannot cover the whole aspect here.Now tell me, how glamorous is this political life? What keeps our politicians motivated into this kind of life? Well, I guess, power (the feeling of being supreme) and money (being corrupt). Both being nasty addictions, they never seem to say enough of it.
How can I become one or survive being one without being corrupt? Can I take care of all these with the salary paid by the government?
I do have a theoretical answer which I will discuss in the next blog. But how practical is it or is it implementable or will it ever be implemented? Goddamn it, I don’t know. But for now, this job isn’t enticing.
