Money works in India.

Americans are complaining about the cost of the recent elections which cost a total of $6 billion or Rs 300 billion in Indian money. Former wrestling executive, Linda McMahon, a Republican from Connecticut spent $100 million of her own money for 2 attempts for a seat in the Senate and lost both times. nytimes.com, 8 November. Obama had to face $386 million worth of advertising against him by super PACs and other outside groups. " Unlimited contributions and secret money in American politics have resulted in the past in scandal and the corruption of government decisions," said Fred Wartheimer, President of Democracy 21, a watchdog group." This will happen again in the future." However, this is just peanuts. In 2009 the Congress alone spent more than Rs 1 trillion bribing voters when they increased civil service salaries by 80%, forgave all loans to farmers and started the MNREGA scheme which pays villagers for fictitious work for 100 days a year. Tamil Nadu promised color TVs, mangalsutras and goats, UP promised free laptops while Punjab promised free electricity to farmers. While the money in the US came from personal accounts of rich people here politicians were merrily spending taxpayer money to win elections. The result is a fiscal deficit of 5.6%, Current Account Deficit of 4.9%, Public Sector banks have bad loans of around Rs 3 trillion and state electricity boards have debt of Rs 2 trillion. God alone knows how much debt is being carried by the various state governments. More money was extorted from businesses to pay for helicopters and fleets of cars for campaigning and to distribute bottles of cheap alcohol to men and saris to women to buy votes. While in the US there is some accounting of the amount of money spent no one here knows how much money goes down the drain during elections. While in the US money did not make that much difference, here all the scoundrels are back with big smiles and garlands around their necks. Bob Perry, a Texas homebuilder spent more than $21 million through super PACs on 2 Republicans fighting Senate battles in Florida and Virginia. Both lost narrowly. Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate, spent a record $60 million supporting 8 Republican candidates. All 8, including Mitt Romney, lost. " Money is a necessary condition for electoral success," said Bob Biersack, a senior fellow at the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign spending," But it's not sufficient, and it's never been." Try telling that to our lot. Sadly we have no neutral think tank which analyses campaign spending and the source of money. This explains why the Reserve Bank has capitulated under intense pressure and promised to reduce interest rates in January. The hope is it will increase property prices and the black money that goes with it. General elections are in 2014. Expect a flood of money.