7 - The Allure of Politics: The Candidates, the Cadre and the Euphoria of Elections

Summary

Action alone is the exclusive prerogative of man; neither a beast nor a god is capable of it, and only action is entirely dependent upon the constant presence of others.

—Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition

Dheeraj Tokas's entry into Munirka's political landscape has been nothing less than phenomenal. Particularly so because he is not from the wealthiest or the most connected families in the village. Dheeraj started his career under the aegis of a strong Congress leader, a former member of the legislative assembly (MLA) whose patronage, as many allege, helped Dheeraj to act as the broker for a huge land deal with a prominent real estate company. Rumour has it that the windfall from that land deal changed his fortunes overnight. It was this new-found wealth that helped Dheeraj's political ambitions grow, and he soon started challenging his patrons in the Indian National Congress (INC). After he had fallen out with the INC, his wife, Parmila Tokas, stood independently for the seat of councillor from Munirka in 2012 (as that year, that particular ward was reserved for women candidates) and won it by a stupendous margin. Parmila and Dheeraj were, however, more ambitious. It is common for the nouveau riche to enter municipal-level politics. But the real litmus test is the legislative assembly elections. After Parmila's massive victory, Dheeraj fought elections for the state legislative assembly in 2013 from the Bahujan Samajwadi Party, which he lost rather badly. But right before the 2015 state legislative assembly elections, within two months of joining the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Parmila won the much-coveted AAP ticket for the R. K. Puram constituency with a massive margin of over 19,000 votes. Dheeraj may not have been very successful himself in winning elections, but together with this wife, they seemed to have figured out the ‘trick’ to winning them. Dheeraj handles much of the work, and Parmila's connect with people gets her the votes.

Why Politics?

I shift gears to discussing electoral politics in this chapter because it is pivotal to one's understanding of the social life of rent. Money circulates through multiple registers of meanings and social realities.