Politicians become wealthy when they enter politics. Is it possible for them to serve public interests when they are so money minded?

Let me tell a real-life story. In the early eighties, I believe it was 1982, when a top neurologist (DM gold medalist) started a super specialty Neuro hospital, possibly the only one of its kind then. He bought a CT Scan machine, which cost him a crore. I am told that it was the sixth such machine in India then. And Forty-two years back 1 crore was a huge sum, and just the interest cost was said to be Rs.30000/- per day plus there were other operating costs like the cost of a good radiologist, radiographer as well as other establishment costs.

Now coming to the problem part. Both the neurologist(owner of the hospital) and the neurosurgeon were very ethical and their ethics will not allow them to prescribe CT Scan where it was not required. But then they had to run the hospital and bear all the costs including high bank interest costs. In those days bank rate of interest rates were somewhere around 18–20%. So to cover the cost they had a daily target where they had to prescribe CT Scan, including those few cases where they knew that CT Scan was not required. Their intention was not wrong but they were helpless. For better treatment advanced diagnostic equipment are essential, but they cost. And the cost burdens are distributed as well as borne by even those patients who actually didn’t need the service of the CT Scan machine. You can not help.

It happens with government infrastructure also. Whether you travel by air or not, the cost of airport construction, metro train, bullet train, the luxury aircraft for the PM, and the Central Vista project are to be borne by every common man. There is no escape route. We are all dearly paying for the cost of services which possibly we will never use. We middle-class people have to pay all the taxes while not using any of those services. We have to go to private schools, private colleges, and private hospitals for treatment, we have to do private jobs but pay every bloody tax through our nose.

The only difference we go on paying without thinking about it. Politicians become wealthy when they enter politics is part of the same process. These are all our money. The extravagant expenditure made by the political parties during elections as well as for buying MLA, and MPs are also our money. The electoral bond collection of thousands of crores is also our money. Nobody pays from their pocket. They make the payment and pass on the burden to us. Aurobindo Pharma bought electoral bonds worth Rs 52 Cr, BJP is the biggest beneficiary. Rs 34.5 crore was donated to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Rs 15 crore to the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and Rs 2.5 crore to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP). Yes, it is the same Aurobindo Pharma whose director was arrested in the Delhi liquor scam,

Now my point is different. I am sure Aurobindo Pharma must have recovered this huge amount by increasing the cost of medicine sold to us. So it is our money that has gone to BJP, BRS, and TDP. BJP got over Rs.6000 crores through electoral bonds. The entire money is ours even though people consider the BJP to be a clean party. These are only a few examples. BJP spent an estimated Rs27000 crores just for the 2019 election the highest by any party ever. I suppose the money was not grown in a tree. It must have been taken from us only. Our PM, who claims to be a “Fakir” but he travels in Rs.8000 crore luxury aircraft. The estimated total cost 2019 general election was said to be Rs.55000–60000 crores. Out of these around Rs12000 was expenditure of the election commission, rest were all expenses made by the political parties.

As I said in the CT Scan machine story, we do not have any idea what is required expenditure and what is not. We are paying a huge cost in so many directions. What is actually required and what is wasteful who will tell us? When I wrote about the electoral bond, so many people fought with me that the SC was not right to scrap it, it was clean political funding, etc. I do not know how clean it was. But one this for sure is that these were all our money only. Anyway we are paying for corruption at the highest level, we are paying for the luxury aircraft, we are paying for foreign trips of our leader. On top of it, wealth of the political leaders is increasing only. This is bound to happen. Because without money politics is not possible even if you are a very honest one. You will need money to fight and win elections. some people make it rationally and some make it beyond any rational.

Let me again refer to the CT Scan story. Say, prescribing CT scans to twenty patients daily would cover the cost as well as a decent profit. So it is a need. But a greedy private hospital or a very greedy doctor would possibly prescribe it to fifty patients daily and thereby extracting money even from the very poor patients as well or they will prescribe repeated CT scans & MRIs. Political leaders making money can also be classified into these two categories. Many political parties fall in the 2nd category.

Up to a certain point, the hospitals and doctors fall in the service category though making some reasonable profit. At the next level, it becomes a total business with no service motto. And in the next level after that, it becomes totally loot. Like the hospital staff and machinery, the Politicians also have to maintain a sizable working force on the ground to be effective in the field. And this is going to cost dearly. Plus he has to build a safe corpus for the lean period when he may not be in power but he has to maintain his base to come back. So he will have to make some extra money. How much is the question. You will find political leaders and parties in every category as mentioned above. Here also you will find some people who have or are making a loot.