Want more money? Get into Politics
From years, many business people, movie stars, sportsperson, etc. have branched themselves into Indian politics but for one reason - MONEY
Indian Politics requires people who are more into it for service and not to garner benefits and undue gains. Indian Politics history has witnessed innumerable politicians who have entered Indian Politics for money. It is the field of work where you are more out in the masses and less in the office. But, this has not been the story.
Every country has been shattered to some sense by its leaders who have contributed towards its doom. Scams, assassinations, unjust laws, and what not introduced. While some leaders did so for saving society, some did only to gain some profits, either financially or psychologically.
Corruption has become a rampant practice in politics. It has grown to become a ritual for the existing and aspiring politicians. According to the Corruption Perceptions Index rankings (2012 to 2019) New Zealand ranked as the least corrupted country and Somalia ranked as the most corrupted nation. The United States of America and France ranked 23, Spain ranked 30, India ranked 80 and Russian ranked 137 out of the 180 ranked countries.
Even with the presence of Anti-Corruption laws in India and Russia, corruption has never ended
Be it the rural regions or the urban and metro cities, ramping corruption has brought more chaos in the state. This has not only demarcated politics with unethical leaders but has attracted a lot of famous personalities to venture themselves into politics.
Celebrities have made their name in their respective industry but it was not enough for them. In the case of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was the Governor of California for 8 years (2003 to 2011) has had a tough time controlling power. From sexual harassment charges to favouring the murderer of a Louis Santos, a student, Schwarzenegger has faced many ill-wills.
I stepped over the line on sexual harassment: Arnold
On top of that, Schwarzenegger was voted one of the 11th Worst Governors of the United States by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
A United States Senator is paid $174,000 a year
For the performer and comedy writer of the famous ‘The Saturday Night’ show, things turned out to be miserable. Al Franken, former US Senator and comedy writer had made his name as one of the most prolific performers in the television industry. But in 2009, decided to run for elections and won to become the United States Senator from Minnesota.
In 2017, charges of sexual misconduct and harassment were charged against Franken. He was alleged for groping and forcefully kissing women during his various tours. This led to his name being attached to the #Metoo movement and eventually he resigned from his post as the Senator.
Indian celebrities have also joined politics. Why?
In Indian politics history, many celebrities have turned into politicians. MGR or Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran ruled the southern Indian state for 10 years. He was Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 to 1987. He formed the second largest political party of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK.
Prior to his joining politics, he was an icon in the Tamil movie industry. He acted in more than 20 films and earned many accolades.
During his tenure, the state of Tamil Nadu witnessed widespread corruption and unjust tolerance towards journalists. In April 1987, the Editor of Ananda Vikatan S. Balasubramanian was sentenced to 3 months in jail by the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly for publishing a cartoon, depicting government ministers as bandits and lawmakers as pickpocketers.
Read: The foundations for Tamil Nadu’s distinctive corruption system were laid during MGR’s second term as CM
Natwar Singh, an IFS officer and former Union cabinet minister in his autobiography stated that MGR supported the Tamil Eelam and financed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam or LTTE (who assassinated former Indian PM Rajiv Gandhi).
Another member of AIADMK, Jayalalitha who was popularly known as “Amma” (mother in Tamil), was surrounded by allegations of corruption and innumerable personal assets. A former actress and performer, Jayalalitha acted in over 100 films in Tamil, Telugu and Kanada film industry. After a brief and popular career in acting, she stepped in politics under MGR’s AIADMK.
Read: Jayalalitha Jailed reports BBC
Arun Shourie, former Minister for Communications and Technology in his book “Anita Gets Bail”, stated the various cases revolving around Jayalalitha and one of her close ally, Sasikala. Shourie noted various cases that yielded Jayalalitha’s secret possession of over 90 watches, 146-sale purchase deeds, gifts worth Rs. 3 crore and many other items.
Modern-day drama
The ‘Dream Girl’ of Bollywood, Hema Malini’s film career spans for over 30 years. She made her acting debut in 1962 in the Tamil movie Ithu Sathiyam. From the late 60s to the early 80s, she made a name for herself in the Bollywood. She was one of the highest-paid actresses in the 70s and 80s.
After giving herself a break from movies, Hema Malini entered politics formerly in 2004 as a member of the BJP. She was the Member of Parliament to the Rajya Sabha. She was often criticized for not doing any good to her constituency. As an MP, she jacked a salary of Rs.100,000 a month and other benefits for over 6 years.
From 2014, Malini is the MP from Mathura. After the brutal 2016 Mathura killings, she was busy shooting for a movie. In a tweet which she deleted later, she said,
Hema Malini’s stepson, Sunny Deol is an MP from Gurdaspur. Deol has been criticized for not performing his duty as an MP and is said to have joined politics only for gaining unprecedented benefits.
In 2019, Deol’s missing posters were found in Pathankot. Due to his absence in the field, he was termed as a missing person in his constituency. The actor-turned-politician had appointed a writer to attend meetings and key discussions related to constituency issues on his behalf. This invited bitter flak for his work style.
The list of personalities joining politics is never-ending. Among the modern and most controversial ones, Babita Phogat. Babita is a professional wrestler who has won a gold medal in 2014 Commonwealth Games and silver medals in Commonwealth Games of 2018.
With no experience in Politics, she embarks her political journey by joining BJP. She is known for controversial and casteist tweets.
Babita has sold her account to the BJP propaganda and only retweets the tweet of the BJP Ministers. In one of her tweets regarding the Tablighi Jamaat members, she tweets,
With the sole purpose of bootlicking and earning money, Babita Phogat may soon be escalated to higher positions.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thanks for visiting!
Share your thoughts and connect with me!