The sudden death of Andhra Pradesh chief minister Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash triggered off a political crisis in the state with his son Jagan Mohan Reddy, a political novice and a first-time M.P aspiring to become the chief minister. Even before Rajasekhara Reddy was cremated, the political drama began to unfold with supporters demanding that Jagan should be made the CM. Some of them even refused to cooperate with chief minister K. Rosaiah. The high command tried to rein in Jagan but had to go through embarrassing moments when his supporters went berserk burning effigies of Congress leaders. Ultimately, it took some weeks for the high command to send a signal to the Jagan supporters that Rosaiah will remain the CM. Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself told Jagan last week in no uncertain terms that he will have to cooperate.

How did Jagan muster the courage to take on the high command? It is money power, which speaks as most of the MLAs supporting him were financed and handpicked by his father and owed their allegiance to him rather than the party. The Congress should learn a lesson from the Andhra experience.

What is happening in Karnataka also shows the extent to which money power speaks in politics. The Reddy brothers, who are ministers in the Yeddyurappa government in Karnataka, are holding the government and the party to ransom by sheer money power. Interestingly, Jagan Mohan Reddy is said to have business links with the Reddy brothers and the Congress was said to be trying to destabilize the first BJP government in the South. These two mining magnates from Bellary have become a force to reckon with in the Karnataka politics and beyond. In the present crisis, they got away with many of their demands including dropping of some ministers from the cabinet, getting rid of some officials, withdrawal of orders affecting them, and inclusion of Speaker Shettar in the ministry. A harried Yeddyurappa had to yield reluctantly. Such was the money power in Karnataka.

When Jharkhand was created, the people of the state were hopeful that the long-awaited development of the area will take place. However, the Madhu Koda story shows that the politicians like him used their position to plunder the wealth of the mineral-rich state. Koda was a minister of mines and cooperatives from February 2005 to September 2006. He became the chief minister of Jharkhand in 2006, the first Independent to become Chief Minister. He was supported by the Congress and RJD and remained chief minister until August 23, 2008.

The country was shocked by the amount of wealth Madhu Koda had amassed using his position. Official estimates and documents seized from him reveal illegal transactions worth Rs 2000 crores. How could an elected representative and a school dropout who went on to become the chief minister of the mineral rich state amass so much wealth in so short a time? Madhu Koda and his associates are alleged to have invested in mines, steel, and power in many countries including Thailand, Indonesia, UAE and Singapore.

It is not as if the political parties and their leaders are not aware of the growing use of money power in politics. When the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi talked about power brokers in the Congress centenary celebrations in Mumbai in 1985, every one applauded him for being bold to take note of it. However, Rajiv Gandhi could not get rid of the power brokers. Now his son and the AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi is talking about money power. A few months ago, while addressing a meeting he said, 'The youth want to join politics but don't know the way. Once they enter politics, they don't find it clean. They are confused about politics and it looks as if there is a wall between them and politics. We have to break this wall.' Can he?

While all the political parties express concern about growing money and muscle power in politics, the do not hesitate to give tickets to them. For instance, the builder lobby got a good number of seats in the recent Maharashtra elections. Criminals are said to have captured 50 per cent of the seats.

There was a time when the politicians used the muscle power of goondas for their purpose. Soon the musclemen themselves decided to enter politics and win elections. Then the politicians used rich industrialists and landed gentry for funding their elections. Soon they themselves started contesting elections and getting elected. Recent statistics show that with the growing need for fighting elections, more and more people with money as well as muscle power are getting patronage from political parties to fight elections,

Political parties should realise the danger of money power and muscle power in politics. If they do not check this, then there will be a day when they will regret it. A beginning should be made at the time of ticket distribution. While there is nothing wrong in rich people wanting to become parliamentarians and legislators, it should not create a situation in which the Reddys of Karnataka or Jagan of Andhra try to hold the state to ransom. (IPA Service)