Chapter 329: Sharing the Cake
The first people to be frightened by the police were the villagers in the square, and they almost all fled in panic.
A policeman pushed the rickshaw puller to the ground and Munna started beating him.
They beat him with sticks, and when he fought back, they kicked him.
Muna and the police took turns attacking him, Muna whipping him with a stick, the police stomping on his face, and then Muna attacked again.
After a while, the rickshaw puller stopped twisting his body and stopped fighting back.
But still they kept on trampling on him until he finally turned back into the dust of the earth.
Muna spat fiercely at the mud under his feet.
Wouldn't it be better to just sell your fingerprints and make money? You insist on promoting democracy, what a traitor!
He had never seen a polling station in his life except today.
The only time he participated in a general election was by lying about his age in exchange for a chance to put his fingerprints on it.
That was at school, and the Socialist Party collected their fingerprints on the spot, without requiring them to vote at all.
"Collect the tickets from those villagers. Let's go south."
Muna will visit every constituency in Sonbadra to ensure that the AJP gets 100% voter turnout.
Mirzapur is still better. The villagers there voted for the Progressive Party enthusiastically without any explanation.
Songbadra is too barbaric after all, and Brother Anil has to clean up the evil forces here again.
Muna’s strategy is very simple. As he said before, just capture a small number of people. Who cares about the poor?
Of course, he can use the coal and limestone mines that are about to be mined in Songbadra as bargaining chips and promise jobs to the people.
But just giving benefits is not enough, you have to use both kindness and force. First make them feel afraid, then give them sweet treats and hope, and this place will become his die-hard voting base in the future.
It's like training a dog. First, make it submit. Once it's obedient, give it a bone, and the dog will become extremely loyal.
No one taught him this, but Muna just learned it.
This is actually not difficult. Just think about how the landlords treated the peasants in the past and do as they did.
The elections in Purvancha district are in full swing and other parts of Uttar Pradesh are not left behind.
The parties are competing most fiercely in Awadh, the boar's back, with Lucknow at its heart.
The Dalit queen, Mayawati, was holding an event here and actively canvassing votes for the Bahasa Samaj Party.
When Ron arrived at Mayawati's garden somewhere in Awadh, it was already getting dark, and the alley was blocked by hundreds of people shouting slogans.
The air was filled with thick fog, making it difficult to see if there was anyone in front, so Ron and his car had to move slowly.
It was difficult to hear what the team was shouting, but when I looked up, I could see Mayawati surrounded by microphones and cameras. She was holding a press conference in the garden.
Ron didn't have to wait too long before Mayawati dismissed the reporters. However, the supporters gathered here still did not disperse, so Mayawati had no choice but to send someone out to greet Ron.
They sat down on the garden terrace, and Mayawati lay comfortably on a wicker chair, with a blanket covering her shoulders.
Servants brought Ron and his friends lemon tea, Uttar Pradesh sweets, and even hookahs.
Ron sniffed and the air was filled with the smell of hemp.
"Being a politician is a very dangerous job. We have to find a shortcut to relax ourselves." Mayawati shrugged nonchalantly.
"Let's put that aside for now. Are you confident about this election?"
"The BJP, the Samajwadi Party, and your...oh, the Progressive Party. It's almost certain that the three of them will join forces to defeat the Samajwadi Party." Mayawati was very proud.
"I heard that Yadav is joining forces with the herders of Rohilkhand and making a big fuss."
Rohilkhand, or the back of the boar's neck, is a low-lying alluvial area. It is the main gathering place of pastoralists in Uttar Pradesh and is rich in sugarcane production.
Yadav realized that he could not turn the tide, so he lowered his stance again and took the initiative to find the herders' camp that he had ignored for a long time.
He must have promised the other party a lot of benefits. Rohilkand recently publicly supported Yadav and asked voters in the area to vote for the Socialist Party.
“That was his last, dying struggle,” Mayawati taunted. “The Upper Riverlands, the Middle Riverlands, the Lower Riverlands—they are ours now.”
"Here," Ron pointed to his feet, "Awadh, it's the core area of Uttar Pradesh."
"I'm here and I look outside and there are enthusiastic voters who support the Popular Socialist Party."
Outside Mayawati's garden, the noisy slogans never stopped.
Ron initially thought they were hired agents, but now it seems more like they are fanatical fans of the political party.
“When I drive past people,” she told the jubilant crowd in the yard, “I pull down the window shades so I don’t have to see their faces.”
Mayawati is extremely arrogant, conceited, and has a very domineering personality. She doesn't care about her supporters at all and privately regards them as no different from garbage.
"We can't make any waves just by relying on these supporters," Ron reminded her.
"Of course, I have another trump card." Mayawati stood up. "Follow me, I guarantee you will be surprised."
They came down from the garden balcony and into the courtyard at the back.
This place is simply a small farm or zoo, with many of the animals being cattle, nearly 200 in total, as well as two white Arabian horses and a few majestic monkeys.
Mayawati said that when she was in school, she had a vision of Krishna, the most beloved Hindu god, who told her to become a vegetarian and be kind to cows.
Since then Mayawati has been following his instructions and has also changed her lifestyle for this purpose.
It turns out you are trying hard to turn yourself into a Brahmin, Ron secretly complained in his heart.
What divine instructions, Lord Krishna, vegetarianism, this is completely the way of doing things in the Brahmin way.
Sure enough, in India, no one can escape the shackles of the caste system.
Even Mayawati, the leader of the untouchable party and the low-caste representative who shouted for the overthrow of the rich and opposed the Brahmins, were secretly approaching the Brahmins.
Is she really against Brahmins? She is only against the fact that she is not a Brahmin.
The ideas hidden in her bones still made her subconsciously move closer to the upper class, as if doing so could lead to enlightenment and purity.
They were already standing inside the cowshed, and Mayawati was introducing Ron to her favorite cows, each of which had a name.
There are many full-time servants who are responsible for taking care of these cattle, and hundreds of animals live better than farmers in the countryside.
“This is my favorite,” Mayawati said, patting a cow’s head lovingly.
She then placed both her hands in front of the cow and said, “This hand represents Mayawati and this one represents Yadav.”
When Mayawati raised her hand representing Yadav, the cow did not move.
But after a while something rare happened. When she raised her other hand, the hand representing herself, the cow nodded slowly but firmly.
Ron blinked and glanced behind the cowshed to see if any servants were pulling on the cow's tail or tugging on the rope, but there were none.
The performance was authentic and it must have taken Mayawati hours of practice.
Damn, can juggling be used in elections? He was amazed.
"Look, Lord Krishna has approved of me." Mayawati was very happy.
"Is this sure to work?" Ron asked doubtfully.
"Of course, Yadav's reputation will suffer a fatal blow!" Mayawati said firmly, "Yadav claimed to be the incarnation of Lord Krishna, but his loyal companion, the sacred cow, recognized me.
What does this mean? He is an imposter. Lord Krishna has never recognized him, and the sacred cows are unwilling to bow to such a scoundrel! He is doomed!
Well, this is really a magic showdown.
In Western elections, candidates assure voters what problems they will solve when they come to power.
In India, it’s a war between gods, and it all depends on who can do the most outrageous thing.
"We already have an advantage in the election. If Purvancha district can catch up, then Yadav's last hope will be shattered." Mayawati looked at him.
"No problem, but we paid a lot of price to win votes in the East."
"What do you want?" Mayawati asked directly.
"In the new coalition government, leave me two positions."
"Sul, you have such a big appetite," Mayawati said dissatisfiedly.
Each state has its own cabinet government, and the chief minister appoints ministers in different areas based on their functional divisions.
For example, there are nearly twenty ministries of various sizes, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Industry.
The title of minister is not unified in all states. Each state can establish different ministers in charge according to its own development situation.
Uttar Pradesh has special departments such as the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industry, and the Ministry of Textiles.
It seems that there are many positions to be arranged in the coalition government, but there are too many people and too little space to go around.
If the Popular Socialist Party wants to win the election, it must have representatives in at least 202 constituencies.
There are more than 200 people sharing 20 ministerial positions, and one is chosen from every ten people. Needless to say, the competition is fierce.
Ron took two as soon as he opened his mouth. How could Mayawati not be anxious?
She also has a large group of people to arrange under her, and the reason why everyone is willing to follow her into battle is that they hope to get promoted and make money.
Not to mention the BJP. After forming a coalition government, they have to sit in a row and share the fruits of their labor.
"Ms. Mayawati, I don't need those core departments. I just need the power to do something for the voters," Ron said.
"What's the meaning?"
"Minister of Public Works and Minister of Development of Backward Areas." Ron raised two fingers.
"You want an engineering project?" Mayawati understood.
"We agreed on this, didn't we? The Suer family has a professional construction team and a cement plant with a large output, which is a perfect match for these two departments."
"I want a 20% kickback!" Mayawati said without question.
"make a deal!"
Ron didn't bargain any further; this ratio was almost a conventional figure.
Of course, the most important thing is to get the Minister of Public Works and the Minister of Development of Backward Areas.
In particular, the Minister of Public Works is responsible for infrastructure planning and construction in the state, managing public works tenders, and coordinating major infrastructure projects.
Highways, bridges, water conservancy projects and so on are all within the scope of responsibilities, which is definitely a lucrative job.
Minister of Development of Backward Areas, well, it’s just a nicer name.
In some states, the minister has the power to formulate special development plans and allocate special grants for economically underdeveloped areas.
But Uttar Pradesh is extremely poor and there is no extra money to distribute. It is just a name.
But this is just right for Muna. If he can get funding in the future, it will be just right.
What are the funds allocated to underdeveloped areas for? To build hospitals, schools, and roads.
Coincidentally, this is the Suer family's specialty.
Mayawati attaches more importance to the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Home Affairs, which are the core team of the coalition government.
Well, no rush, Ron plans to take it step by step.
After all, this was his first time getting involved in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and taking down two ministers first was not bad.
(End of this chapter)
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