ABSTRACT
An unrelenting paradox of democracies is that the poor have more stakes but lesser say in the system than its affluent beneficiaries. The poorest are not even in the frame in the larger picture of development, public service delivery or social policy gains. For them, even the most trivial benefits of governance, like timely access to a diarrhoea drug or a midwife, can be a matter of life and death. And yet, their faith in elections is a tribute to Indian democracy. Voting is relatively easy, but participation in governance beyond voting takes an opportunity cost. It is well known that poverty causes vulnerability and non-participation leading to bad governance and poor service delivery, which together end up causing more poverty and more alienation. The silver lining is that the politics of elections confers some rudimentary power of negotiation in the hands of the poor. The number game does not always lead to positive results but still, it allows a growing fringe of the poor to demand ration, water, power or other benefits during India’s many elections from village Panchayats to Parliament.
