This business of filing the financial, criminal and educational antecedents of electoral candidates is becoming more and more of a farce. Plain and simple.
Sonia Gandhi declared her assets today while filing her nomination papers for the Rae Bareli elections, and hold your breath, Ms Maino claims she does not own a car.
(Since she no longer holds an office of profit, wonder whose car it was which ferried her to the DM’s office.)
However, churumuri‘s all-time favourite election claim is Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wodeyar‘s. In the last elections, the erstwhile scion of the Mysore kingdom, declared that he owned a Maruti Zen.
Yes, you read that right, a Maruti Zen.
As the lawyer always says in the courtroom scenes in Hindi movies, ‘Yeh point note kiya jaaye, your honour.’
churumuri 
And in all probability both Mrs.Gandhi’s and Wodeyar’s claims are true. If they need to use a car, they will just ask one of their friends/chamcha’s to arrange for it. Why would they bother to buy one and have it registered in their own name?
Mohan
LikeLike
Maybe. But has anybody in Mysore seen a Zen with a ‘gandu berunda’ on it? No. But has anybody in Mysore seen a Sonata with a ‘gandu berunda’ on it? Yes. The point is that filing of financial antecedents, although a good thing on paper, isn’t doing enough to clean up our democracy in practice. Why aren’t we seeing concerned citizens and groups questioning claims or filing cases? Why aren’t we seeing the media digging around to show the mismatch between claim and reality? Apparently, an MLA is opening a restaurant on Sri Harsha Road. His name has been hissed around in Corporation circles. But is this asset going to figure in that MLA’s nomination papers next time? Keep guessing.
LikeLike
Vivek Rajagopalan writes from New Delhi: I wonder how His Erstwhile Highness fits into a Zen, VLCC visits notwithstanding……….
LikeLike
Krishna,
The last time around, His Royal Highness gave me a complex. A superiority one! Reason: After reading about the filing of his financial antecedents, I realised that I had more money in my S/B Account than the scion of one of the wealthiest royalties in India!
God, now I realise I have a better car!
As for His Royal Highness, I think he should be helped to get a car loan from ICICI so that he can upgrade his ‘vahana’!!!
LikeLike
All these people the rich and the famous usually dont own much. They open trusts for some purpose and route the money through the trusts. Usually such trusts have only one or two trustees.
For more, have a look here:
http://www.indianexpress.com/res/web/pIe/full_story.php?content_id=87490
LikeLike
KP, please allow me to make a correction in your statement – please read your statement as “……Erstwhile Heaviness fits into a Zen, VLCC visits notwithstanding……….”
Regards
LikeLike
Hilarious, I can’t with stand this pun. KP & Shashank, Start writing for magazines (Or are you already there !) Dil maange more
Wodeyar, I heard has made mant bad businesses and hence is very short of money.
Infact, I had read in Lankesh patrike that He jumped to Politics, only to make money, as he was empty-handed as early as 1984.
Good, Hope out of this churn, one Kailaasam comes out.
LikeLike
paapa, soniage kurchi illa, wodeyarge simhasana illa. What they do with cars? they might have sold these cars for spending money on campaigning. But no doubt they will own a posh cars once they come into power. Nenapidi, they will sell it before next electiion announced. plz book in advance if you want one!!
LikeLike
Folks, we have breaking news from Calcutta, or as Alfred Satish Jones would like to hear, Kolkottho. Buddhodebo Bhottochoryo, the chiefo ministero of that wondrous state-o, too has declared in his election affidavito that he too doesn’t have a car-o.
LikeLike
What beastly fate! I own a car and have some money in my account!
Oh no, I can never become a ‘leader’ ever! And ‘serve’ the people of my land!
LikeLike