In a poor country like India, public representatives had to appear poor to garner sympathy from their constituents. It was no accident that Mahatma Gandhi, a barrister from Inner Temple, after coming to India from South Africa, always wore only a dhoti. Jawaharlal Nehru, another barrister from Inner Temple, born with a golden spoon, and the other leading lights of the freedom movement preferred to live in austerity, in solidarity with their countrymen. With the rise in general prosperity, Indian politicians nowadays do not need to flaunt their poverty, but spouting propoor rhetoric is a must for vote gathering.

The hypocrisy behind such posturing can be judged from an analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), which showed that 233 MPs i.e., 43 per cent of the 17th Lok Sabha MPs, faced criminal charges, and 83 per cent were crorepatis. Thus, the overwhelming majority of MPs are rich, with some also being on the wrong side of law. The composition of the 18th Lok Sabha is not likely to be any different; the percentage of candidates with criminal antecedents has not declined, and Lok Sabha aspirants include a number of individuals with a worth of more than one thousand crore rupees.

Still, the favourite whipping boys for politicians of all hues are plutocrats ~ personified by Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani ~ conveniently shortened, and conflated into AmbaniAdani. At the beginning of the present elections, and in fact much before, the Congress went hammer and tongs against the duo, accusing them of profiteering at the cost of the common man, with the connivance of the present dispensation. But after the third phase of voting, we find the Prime Minister, an avowed votary of free enterprise, accusing the aforementioned gentlemen of delivering tempo loads of cash to the Congress. Probably, as Cicero had said much earlier, it is a case of o tempora, o mores (Oh the times! Oh the customs!). But are plutocrats really guilty of the crimes they are charged with, viz. amassing fortunes in an underhand manner? The charge does not stick, because in the recent past, not a single prominent Indian businessman has been accused of a serious crime, much less been found guilty by a court of law.

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Agreed, Indian businessmen are sharp and selfish, but that does not........

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