Of revdi, papad and laddoo

SOMETIMES, politicians need to be careful in their choice of metaphors. A Chief Minister, in a TV interview, said revdis (such as free laptops, bus rides, tax breaks or even some units of electricity on the house) were insignificant when compared to the Rs 15 lakh-in-each-bank-account papad that was bandied about a few years ago.

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I checked their respective prices in terms of weight. Revdi costs about Rs 500 a kilo and papad a little over Rs 300. So, the comparison is inapt. Besides, one is sweet and the other salty. Laddoo, of which the ghee-saturated besan variety comes at upwards of Rs 800 per kg, would compare better. Either way, it is hardly a matter for our politicians, and even the Election Commission, to get worked up about. The electors take them with a pinch of, well, salt.

But the laddoo dream did linger for a while, until some spoilsport called it a chunavi jumla (election gimmick). Till then many people had hoped it would materialise. According to a news report, Dnyaneshwar Janardhan Awate, a small farmer in Aurangabad, even had his dream come true briefly when, out of the blue, one day in August 2021 he found Rs 15,34,634 in his bank account. In the earnest belief that a hope kindled in 2013 had finally become a reality, he even wrote to the Prime Minister, thanking him for it and started withdrawing the money to construct a house.

Alas, he was soon told that because of an error in punching the number, money that was meant for the Pimpalwadi village panchayat had landed in his bank account. He had already taken out Rs 9 lakh. He was asked to return it. He has requested that the payback be allowed in instalments. Imagine regurgitating a laddoo of which you may have already eaten more than half!

Awate’s case is an exception. Jumlas of all sizes — from revdi to laddoo — are par for the course in our elections. The netas know it and so do the voters. No one takes them seriously and, therefore, neither should the EC. It should, instead, institute awards for the most inventive ones. But woe to the politician who promises a whopper and then actually delivers. You have to play the game by its rules.

As for those who don’t have the imagination to come up with new jumlas, the EC can keep a recycle bin outside its office. Old promises that may have been forgotten can be dusted up and recommissioned. A list of authorised poll gimmicks, like that of approved election symbols, will go a long way towards levelling the playing field.