All of us cannot be politicians.

Politicians are a special breed. To be successful in politics you need to start early. Find a leader that you can latch onto. Serve the leader without questioning his crimes, including plunder, rape and murder, always taking care to have an alibi so that you can deny any knowledge later. At the appropriate time stab the leader in the back and take over his constituency, tell any lie to deceive the people and embrace the nastiest villains with unctuous smiles, always prepared to betray or be betrayed. Once in power loot the treasury, travel the world in first class comfort and start grooming your vile children to take over whichever party you belong to. If, due to serious bad luck, your crimes are exposed deny everything, allege conspiracy by your opponents and the police or darkly hint at black ops by an unnamed foreign power. Be totally shameless at all times. Keep repeating that you have dedicated your life to the service of the people and the huge bungalows, Z+ security and first class foreign travel are all a huge sacrifice even as patients die because they are stuck in traffic while your cavalcade with flashing lights takes precedence over all other citizens. All politicians are of the same ilk but Indian politicians are special in that they have absolutely no qualms about sacrificing the nation with its 1.25 billion people, to win elections. The Congress won elections in 2009 by embarking on a colossal spending spree to bribe voters. The MNREGA scheme has cost over Rs 2 trillion since 2006, the farmers' loan waiver cost over Rs 700 billion and the Sixth Pay Commission increased civil service salaries apparently by 21% and cost Rs 480 billion. However, these figures hide the facts that MNREGA is linked to inflation and has already more than trebled, farmers have taken new loans which they have no intention of repaying and civil servants are given a non-performance bonus, called Dearness Allowance which is equal to their basic salaries. Not only that. An officer earning Rs 10,000 per month will not dare to demand bribes exceeding Rs 1 million but if he is paid Rs 100,000 per month his Bribe Price will increase to Rs 100 million adding to corruption costs. The Congress is up to its old tricks again, announcing a Seventh Pay Commission, education schemes for Muslims worth Rs 160 billion and increase in subsidised domestic gas plus other schemes. Only the really lowdown can betray their country. Not easy.