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CAMPAIGN TRAIL
POLLING BOOTH
ISSUES '98
MANIFESTOS
OVERHEARD
YEH HAI INDIA
CHAT

Corruption is the bane of this otherwise great country

I expect our leaders and politicians to be loyal to the parties who give them tickets and to the people who elect them. I request them to leave the political field if they cannot do anything for the people. There is no point getting elected and doing nothing for the very public who voted in your favour.

I particularly want our leaders to set an example for others by being completely honest and corruption-free. I want them to be Messrs Clean! And then, I want them to come down heavily on those who are found to be corrupt in every walk of life.

I strongly believe that corruption is the bane of this otherwise great country. It has become a saying, and rightly so, that in this country you can't get your work done without money. From peon to the top official/minister, everybody seems to be making tainted money. It is a vicious circle.

For example, I want to get a job. I give money to someone influential for that. Now, once I am appointed to that post, I am bound to try to get my money back. So I too will indulge in corruption. There is just no end to this. Because it is one of the major realities about India.

If this continues, I am afraid this country will go to the dogs. The sooner our leaders do something constructive to curb this, the better.

Please don't ask me about dreams because I have stopped seeing dreams, particularly those dreams which our leaders have to fulfill for us. I think India as a country has reached such a stage where you can only dream or not dream at all. Here, hopes get dashed and dreams get shattered.

Even if you dream, you don't dream with any nationalistic motive. You dream for yourself. For that matter, I too dream that I should become very wealthy one day and get rid of all the problems lower-middle class people like me generally face. But I know it this is just a romantic dream.

As told to Haresh Pandya

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