Registering your name in the list Vs Voting

Ah! Did I say registering my name in the voters list was easy (Election koothu!)? Of course it was easy! But that does not necessarily mean your name will figure in the final list. After two visits to the Taluk office, I was confident that my name would be there in the final voters list. Hm! Hm! someone in the election commission decided that Mr. Kamal Haasan and I shouldn't be voting this election! Though I was very disappointed that my name did not find a place in the list and I could not vote, it was a big consolation that even someone as popular as Mr. Kamal Haasan was dropped from the list! Praise democracy and equal treatment to all!!

Pay the voters or make the voters pay?

We have heard enough of candidates paying voters to listen to their propaganda. It is a big business during election time. Agents pick up loads of people from huts and villages to the meeting venue; arrange snacks and lunch for them; depending on the venue of the meeting, they arrange for site seeing; and finally pay them for their day's 'work'!

That's old news! Have you heard of a politician who makes his voters pay to listen to his propaganda? Here comes Mr. Vijayakanth, actor/politician from TN. This smart politician has been timing his movies, which is loaded with political overtures and his party's propaganda, in such a way that his die-hard fans pay to watch his movie and listen to his propaganda as well.

Now isn't he a politician at the core?

Political Parties or Corporates?

The more we read the election news, it becomes clearer and clearer that political parties and Corporates are alike!

At the fore of the goal set is the desire to dominate the 'market' or profit.

The Corporates build their brand by constantly being in the news through advertisements, announcement of expansions, etc. So does the political parties! Every issue is looked at and judged for its potential to create news, sensation.

Individuals or small business owners pay upfront franchise fee to acquire rights. They run the franchise, make profits, pay at regular intervals to the corporate - all these happen using the brand image of the corporate. So does the candidates of the political parties. It is rumored that they pay hefty sums to get seats. They pay at regular intervals to the party to retain their 'rights'. They run their 'business' un-interrupted with the support of the brand image of their parties.

Corporates hire celebrities such as actors and sports persons as their brand ambassadors. Political parties are not far behind in recruiting celebrities. Well! Many leverage their celebrity status to float their own parties is a different story!

In both political parties and Corporates, many key people may enter and exit. However, the control generally remains with the promoter's family!

The similarities end when it comes to forging alliance, though! When the Corporates go for partnership or joint ventures, it is for long term, five or ten years. The political arena is unpredictable. The have one alliance for the incumbent govt., one before the election and one after the election!