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January 27, 1998
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''Only if the Congress comes to power will we have a government which lasts five full years''
Bhoopalan, tea shop owner, Sriperumbudur
I hate all politicians. They are all interested
only in themselves. They want to become rich.
Not a single party or politician cares about the
poor. They don't want to listen to our woes. All they want is to utilise
the time they are in power to make their purses fatter. I am disgusted.
When amma (Indira Gandhi) was ruling things were
much better. Even during Rajiv Gandhi's time we were
better off. But in the last few years, things have gone so bad that
I feel frightened. I have voted only for the
Congress all these years. But this time I am not sure whom I will
vote for. I cannot make up
my mind as I do not like any of them. But I have faith in
the (Gandhi) family. I know they will not loot the poor
because they are very rich. Why do they need our money? They
are quite unlike all other politicians.
When Rajiv Gandhi died, I was in another village. All of us felt very
bad because he died here, in our Tamil Nadu. He was young, he
looked good and he was honest. I think God does not want good
people to live for long. When we saw a lot of tourists coming to see the
place where he was assassinated, we understood that there was
scope for business here. So I left my village and settled down here at my mother-in-law's
place.
Soon we started this tea stall.
Just look at the crowd. On days like this we have great business. I
am glad I took the decision to leave my village and come
over. You must have seen
the place earlier. There was hardly anything near the memorial. Now all those
who pass get down here and have a look at the
place. Naturally, many of them come
here for a cup of tea.
For the last few days, everybody over here was talking about this
amma's (Sonia Gandhi's) visit. We knew somebody important
was
coming when we saw so many policemen around...
No, I did not go to see her. If I leave my tea stall and go there, my business
will suffer. And my business is more important to me than a glimpse of her.
My friends tell me there were not many people to
see her. I did not expect a big crowd. She took
the decision very late... yes, very, very late. I don't think anybody will vote for
the Congress just because
this amma campaigns. Nobody respects the
Congress now. It is a very corrupt party. I read about all their activities in
the paper. All those leaders forced her to campaign for the party. Do you think they
want to rejuvenate the party? No. They are using this amma as they know that we respect her. After all, she is Rajiv Gandhi's widow.
Here people say that if this
amma comes to power, things will improve, prices of essential commodities
will come down and all that. I am not very sure about it. One thing I
can say: we will have a government which lasts five full years only if
the Congress comes to power. Whether they do right or
wrong, whether they loot
us or not, they
will be there for five years.
People get tired of going to polls quite often. That is why everybody says it
will be better if we vote for the Congress. Anyway, this amma is not
going to make any difference as she came in very late. She would have
stayed home happily. But those power hungry people dragged her out.
These days so many people are talking about the
Bharatiya Janata Party. I think they will come to power this time.
I don't mind them ruling if they can be there for five full
years.
One thing all of us have to seriously think about is, should
we vote for a foreigner? Yes, this amma is a foreigner. I feel that
we have to think of our people first. Outsiders should come only next.
When we have so many of our countrymen here, we should first see how they
are. Only then should we think of voting for a foreigner.
As told to Shobha Warrier.
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