Did you say bribe?

Bribe. Mr Jaswant Singh’s pre-poll sop opera is being termed as bribing the public ahead of Lok Sabha Elections, which might be announced one of these days.

Well, I’m not at all concerned with the technicality, constitutionality and ethics of whether presenting an attractive budget by the ruling coalition before the elections. I am not concerned with the abuses Opposition parties hurls at the ruling parties.

But I object to the word: bribe. To take or to give bribe is an offence in Indian law. Should anyone damn the people of India along with the rulers who are bribing? The answer is no.

We are not a nation of morons. We don’t take bribes. We care two hoots about the sops if we think the government has done nothing to better our lives. People will vote out of their will, not because they have been bribed.

And suppose if they do get influenced by the monies the government is showing, it’s better that it is known to one and all. It’s better than the swigs of desi daru parties offer on poll day, it’s better than the death threats voters get on poll day, it’s better than the false promises that are never fulfilled, it’s better than the caste and communal incentives we are dumped with.