Chapter 413 General Election
The Shiv Sena is not a political party, but it has close ties with the BJP.
Now during the general election, Thackeray, as the party leader, naturally comes out to promote the BJP everywhere.
He saw Amor at a glance and waved to him.
Thackeray, wearing a white shirt, black trousers, and sunglasses, pulled Amol toward him and introduced him to everyone.
"Ron Soul's confidant, formerly responsible for his security, now the HR manager for Soul Electric."
"Oh!" People smiled at him.
This position is very valuable, especially for ordinary people.
Because he can decide who can enter Sur Electronics, the largest electronics company in India.
Kamath, the Shiv Sena branch chief, immediately got off his motorcycle and shook Amol's hands warmly.
Thackeray asked his subordinate Kamath to take Amol with him to canvass votes for Ram Naik, another candidate of the BJP.
"There's bound to be some unpleasant things said," Kamat said with a laugh. "That's what canvassing for votes is like."
White lines were painted on the roads within a 200-meter radius of the polling station, and vehicles were not allowed to pass.
Everyone around him wanted Amor to go and see it for himself, and they were eager to lead the way for him.
Amor and his friends lined up in front of the school set up as a polling station and gradually moved inside with the surging crowd.
Kamat first stood at the threshold, and the staff with ink-stained fingers first verified his identity, then pressed the ballot with a steel ruler and tore it off for him.
Kamat took the ballot and a rubber stamp, went behind a chest-high cardboard fence, stamped the ballot, folded it, and put it in the ballot box.
"See? That's it." He demonstrated it again.
Yet for many in this city, voting isn't that simple.
They went through so much trouble to get to the polling station, only to find that a red tick had been put next to their names, and someone else had voted for them in their name.
In this supposedly democratic country, someone stole their rights and made choices for them.
Even though it was the only option that made sense to them.
At that point, it no longer mattered whether they could prove “I am me”, they were late.
The inspectors who verify identification information and provide corresponding receipts outside the polling station are independently hired by the campaign office.
The BJP inspectors receive a daily wage of 50 rupees, while the Congress inspectors receive 100 rupees a day, along with benefits such as puri, vegetables and hijab.
Amol immediately knew that the Bharatiya Janata Party, supported by the Shiv Sena, was sure to win: the weaker and more obvious loser the side was, the more money it would have to pay to hire people.
Amol took the opportunity to chat with a Congress worker named Bhatia.
Despite being a Congress supporter since childhood, Bhatia is not very interested in this election.
But he gave an interesting reason for supporting the Congress: "The Congress has had its fill, while the Shiv Sena has not. They are both bandits, but if they come to power, the Congress will definitely have a smaller appetite than the Shiv Sena."
This logic is indeed very clever.
Kamath of the Shiv Sena wanted to make friends with Amol, so he asked him to treat him to a meal, and was accompanied by another Shiv Sena leader, Girish.
They had lunch at an elegant, candlelit restaurant at the foot of Malabar Hill.
“It’s just to save electricity,” said Girish.
To hide his discomfort, he acted aggressively and criticized the waiter whenever he had the chance: "The food is so slow."
He had never been to such a high-end place, so he could only bluff.
"It seems like Girish was a big shot in the past," Amol laughed.
“He was rich then,” agreed Kamat.
What he wanted to say was that Girish had also had agency before.
Girish also graduated from a reputable university, but had difficulty finding a job.
"If I had known this, I should have attended a more prestigious school." He also learned computer programming and became a securities broker in early 1991 when the stock market was booming.
That's how Girish became rich, and that's how all those who rushed into the stock market at that time became rich.
In water-scarce India, he can afford to drink juice every day.
"Even if we want banana juice, we will buy more expensive bananas."
Unfortunately, after the serial bombings in 1993, the stock market plummeted.
Girish has been unemployed since then and lives in extreme poverty. Not only can he not afford juice, he can't even guarantee running water where he lives.
Later, he simply joined the Shiv Sena and became a small leader, making a living by taking private jobs.
"Money is God," Kamat added.
“Mumbai is the city of gold.” Girish nodded with emotion.
Kamat was no good either, having started running errands for gangs when he was young, buying them food and observing how they made money in Mumbai.
He failed his junior high school graduation exam the first time and had to retake it before he passed. When it came time for the college entrance exam, Kamat "smarted up".
According to him, studying hard, failing the test, and then retaking it is "something only a fool would do."
He forged his admission ticket, hired someone to take the exam for him, and successfully got an excellent grade.
After graduating from high school, Kamat joined the Shiv Sena and when he needed blood transfusions repeatedly, it was his fellow Shiv Sena brothers who donated blood to him.
This deeply moved Kamat, who said they were close friends who had risked their lives together and were real brothers.
Later, Kamat became rich.
He was no longer a street thug, and taking advantage of the booming sales of Sur TVs, he also started a private cable TV business specializing in showing adult films.
Because of the Shiv Sena cover, no one bothered him at all. The police even joked that they hoped he would broadcast the Happy Beans video.
That evening, his private TV station broadcast an R-rated movie produced by the New Union.
This business was very profitable. After making money, he opened a small pen factory, sold mangoes on the side, and bought a van to accommodate tourist groups.
Kamat, who has become a well-known figure in the society, has settled many regional disputes and his relationship with the police has become increasingly close.
There was a conflict between some hooligans and rickshaw drivers. In order to calm the situation, Kamat gave up his parking lot and allowed them to park for free.
He had a thick stack of business cards in his pocket, and the most conspicuous one was printed with "Chartered Chief Executive".
"With this card in hand, I am the Chief Justice of Bombay," Kamat said proudly, even though he was at most a notary public in name only.
Once a political party comes to power, one of the ways it wins over its followers is to promote them to higher positions.
Therefore, there are hundreds of "special chief executives" or "executive judges" parading around, and quite a number of them have a long history of bad deeds.
From a legal perspective, such a business card cannot give Kamath real power, but it is precisely this business card that gives him the identity and confidence he has longed for.
When he showed his business card, people saw the government seal on it and no longer wondered what the exact meaning of "Chartered Chief Executive" was.
Kamat also has agency power, and even the hospital has to give him face. His father recently underwent an operation that cost 15,000 rupees.
This is now completely affordable for Kamath, who has admitted his father to the Sindhuja Hospital, the best in Mumbai with five-star facilities.
"I can come and go freely in any hospital, even Sindhuja. I speak to Bal Thackeray, and once Thackeray makes a phone call, the hospital has no choice but to comply."
Kamat's daughter also entered the Bombay International School, an elite school founded by Ron that uses English as the medium of instruction.
The admission was brokered by a Congress member who also freed Kamath from custody after he was arrested for participating in the riots.
In return, as long as the congressman needs help but is unable to show up in person, Kamat and his subordinates will be willing to serve him and do their best to serve him.
From Ron to the MP, and then to Kamat, this is the bribery system under the electoral system.
After being busy at various polling stations all day, Amor invited the two to his home out of reciprocity.
He bought a new apartment near Bandra. Unlike Ashish, who lived in a shady "middle-class apartment," Amol chose a real luxury apartment.
He was a Brahmin and should have lived in a place like this. His wife and children had gone back to the countryside, and he was the only one in the apartment.
It was raining outside, and the night sky of Mumbai was full of lightning and thunder, which was a spectacular sight. They drank whiskey on the balcony.
Kamat took off his shirt and sat in an armchair in his vest. He kept glancing at his new watch, not to check the time, but simply to admire it.
Amol had noticed more than once that Kamat was full of pride. Few people of his background had ever reached the third floor.
The rain outside is getting heavier, which is a bit unusual for this season.
“It’s because of our sins,” Kamat muttered to himself. “Even God can’t forgive Bombay. He created the heavens and the earth, but he can’t accept Bombay.”
Kamat and Girish talked about what they did during the 1992 riots, where they committed murder and arson, and yet they are now the "special governors" of Mumbai.
This apartment is located near the commercial center of Bandra, with a food street downstairs.
They sat on the balcony and drank, but Kamat was a recovering alcoholic, which meant he didn't drink whiskey.
Amol poured him a glass of wine, which was not really wine. Kamat held the glass between his fingers and sipped it.
Watching the bearded Kamat cautiously sipping red wine is as incongruous as seeing him appear at a gallery opening or an English afternoon tea party.
The two of them looked around Amor's apartment with approval on their faces, as if they had lived in a house like it before.
After a while, Kamat got up and went to the bathroom.
"Don't you need to flush the toilet in your house?" he asked when he came back.
Amor looked up at him, not understanding for a moment.
"Let's charge," he said.
But Girish understood; he had used the toilet when he was a stockbroker.
He led Kamat back to the bathroom and showed him how to flush.
He taught Kamat: press the knob and the lever will drive the water out of the tank, so there is no need to scoop water into the toilet.
Amor laughed inexplicably, looked out the window and smacked his lips.
In an instant, colorful fireworks rose in the sky outside and then scattered in all directions. It must be someone's wedding.
After the fireworks faded, the sky was filled with silver-white lightning, illuminating this city that was both familiar and unfamiliar to Amor.
He looked down at Bombay below him, its dazzling and frowning chaos.
If it weren't for Mr. Sur, Kamat and Girish would probably be the life he should have lived.
(End of this chapter)
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