Cash For Votes Allegations - No Surprises

When Desicritics invited opinions on the "cash for votes" scam - my internet search engines hadn't picked up on the one crore rupees displayed by BJP MPs in Parliament for apparently abstaining from the Trust vote on the UPA Government - still a small sum, going by the recent talk of an MP's or an MLA's worth in the Karnataka Assembly.

That said, I think the average Indian is probably resigned to it - the horse trading, the relatively large sums of money exchanged etc; Shibu Soren, who got convicted for one such act for Narasimha Rao's government is still around, still an MP - and is being promised ministries while in the process of deciding this government's fate as well.

I don't see why people would be surprised about Horse-trading when we see murderers, rapists, arsonists and rioters as MLAs/MPs. At least 4 of those are prominently highlighted in the media with 3 currently in jail. Why would one expect any of those members not to be available for cash/positions - after all, those would help "cement" their illegal lifestyles. (Only self-interest, no national interest)

Even the not-so-tainted MPs would be available for sale, wouldn't they? After all, the honourable PMO no less sent 8 letters for a specific company's profit to one PSU oil company - there was nary a trust vote over that - some edits, some TV debates, Karan Thapar haranguing a couple of "TV politicians" (politicians with little other political 'base') - and that was about it.

On the specific issue that this trust vote is over, I can count on my fingers the number of times it came up for debate in Parliament, and the clarifications issued by the PM - twice that is, excluding the current debate. If my Prime Minister cannot brief Parliament on what is referred to as a "game-changing" agreement more than twice, or create a consensus why advocate for it - or go to a trust vote over it?

Another reason for actually needing to curry the MP's favour with cash is the ridiculous laws governing defection, lack of inner party democracy/meritocracy and the so-called "party whip". What's the point of the "party whip" - I mean, come on, if you need a "whip" to convince your party members that they need to vote for your government (or against the other party's government) - surely something's wrong there?