If you feel elections are a complete waste of public and private resources, you need to rethink.

They provide the Indian voters an opportunity to review performance of their current representatives, give them another term or elect new ones. They are a great source of entertainment and enlightenment. To top it all, they are employment-multipliers providing temporary work to painters, singers, drivers, transporters, printers and designers, agencies handling social media, drum beaters, rickshaw pullers, sound recordists, speech and jingle writers and labourers.

The elections are also a source of livelihood for unemployed youth, women, men and even children. Kelabadi, a slum located on the outskirts of Dalli rajhara near Dalli mines, bears evidence to the last. Many youth and women from the slum have been enrolled by different political parties to follow their candidates on campaign trails and add to the crowd for rallies and meetings of their political leaders. On an average, the candidates whose campaign cavalcade they become part of pay them Rs 100 per person and arrange for snacks/meals for them. The candidates also pay Rs 5,00 to youth who look after each of their campaign offices.

Similarly, drivers who often double up campaign jockeys are also paid Rs 500 a day. Sanjay Ramteke, a young driver with Rawte, would have made over Rs 15,000 in one month leading to polling on November 19. 

For rallies, the money is generally paid to a senior party functionary by the party’s block president. The functionary is supposed to distribute it equally among the other workers. But more often than not, he either distributes lesser amount to the workers or simply pockets the entire amount. During one of my rounds of Kelabadi, I came across Mohammad Yusuf Ali, a youth who was not looked after properly by a functionary of BJP candidate Hori Lal Rawte. Ali could be heard warning the functionary that if he was neglected again (wasn’t given food), he would not attend the campaign.

During the election campaign good Chhattisgarhi speakers and singers were in great demand as political parties recorded parodies of popular Hindi songs like lungi dance (Chennai Express), azim-o-shaan shehanshah (Jodha Akbar), Hawan karenge (Bhag Milkha Bhag). The campaign of Janak Lal Thakur was based on recording by a mine worker who lived in Kelabadi till some time back.

Even the exhortations recorded by Dalli rajhara Municipal Corporation to promote voting among general public was a great hit.  Besides other slogans, the recording also said, “mat daan karne zaroor jayenge, Har prataysi parkhe jayenge, koi pasand nahin aane par, NOTA ka button dabayenge (We will definitely vote, test every candidate and in case do not like anybody, will press NOTA).”