The High Importance of Balancing Acts or 'X' factors

Howdy Everyone - The topic for this post is how do the political parties operate or how do the politicians operate or how do the people who serve other people operate, or how do the centers of power operate or how do the decision makers operate or how do the people who lead or drive the nations operate. The stress in the question is on ‘How’. If we can figure it out it will solve many of the unknowns or many of the puzzles or many of the crosswords or many of the strange things going around. Even if not heavily superimposing, this factor definitely weighs in a big imprint in these times. When you set out to do good, this factor plays behind the screen and comes out in the open to expose the vulnerabilities of our actions. It is up to every one of us to learn how to suppress this dragon from raising its ugly head in the path of good work. Leave behind the good work, leave the good results, leave the service to the public and this is not something to take lightly in these times, for our very survival depends on it. Our actions should be strongly married to this ‘x’ factor, and the work should be delivered in this strongly coupled environment. This is one of the secrets for the survival and sustainability of civilizations. 

Now, let us look at some of the ‘x’ factors or the ‘balancing acts’ in the way public servants operate or ‘how’ these people operate. I am talking about the public servants since I am heavily inclined to the same role or see myself in their shoes more often than not. You can do tremendous public service but if you lack this ‘x’ factor or the correct mode of operation, the output will be more often rejected, and it can be hardly of any use. I will come to this use case in a bit but let us look at how people who serve others operate. Political class is the group which heavily overlaps or falls in this bracket, and we can look at some of their balancing acts. I will look at the Indian system of recent times, since we are living in these times and come to U.S. examples as well. 

Let us look at the financial standing or the assets of the political parties in India which is a good indicator to know how they are going about their business. I am looking at Indian national political parties and publicly available data. The total assets declared by seven national parties during the financial year 2019-2020 amounted to Rs 6,988.57 crore. Among these national parties, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had the highest assets, declaring an impressive Rs 4,847.78 crore (69.37% of the total assets among national parties). Following the BJP were the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) with assets worth Rs 698.33 crore (9.99%) and the Indian National Congress (INC) with assets worth Rs 588.16 crore (8.42%). Additionally, the top 10 regional political parties declared assets worth Rs 2,028.715 crore (95.27% of the total assets declared by all regional parties for FY 2019-20). Among these regional parties, the Samajwadi Party (SP) had the highest assets at Rs 563.47 crore (26.46%), followed by the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) with assets worth Rs 301.47 crore and the All India Anna Dravid Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) with assets worth Rs 267.61 crore. In more recent data for the financial year 2021-22, eight recognized national parties declared a total income of Rs 3,289.34 crore, with the BJP accounting for more than half of it. The BJP also declared the highest capital under Fixed Deposits/Reserve Funds, with Rs 6,041.64 crore. These figures highlight the financial strength and resources of political parties in India, which play a crucial role in the country’s democratic processes. 

A look at these numbers will reveal that we are by mistake not staring at the balance sheet of corporate entities, but corporate style operated political parties. Thousands of crores in the kitties of the parties with public servants reveal the way politics are run in home country. We are not even looking at the most recent data in 2024 which might have increased the assets by few more thousands of crores for these parties. I am one of the foremost thinkers to feel politics should be clean and more oriented towards serving the people than receiving from them. Now, let us look at another system which has been introduced in 2018 to receive funds by these electoral entities – this is called ‘Electoral bonds.’ Electoral bonds are financial instruments introduced by the Indian government to facilitate transparent funding of political parties. These bonds allow individuals and organizations to donate money to political parties without revealing their identities to the public or the recipient party. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received the maximum funds through electoral bonds, totaling ₹6,986.5 crore since their introduction in 2018. Other major recipients include, Trinamool Congress (TMC): ₹1,397 crore. Indian National Congress (INC): ₹1,334 crore. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS): ₹1,322 crore. Biju Janata Dal (BJD): ₹944.50 crore. YSR Congress: ₹442.80 crore. Telugu Desam Party (TDP): ₹181.35 crore. 

I am disclosing the data available in public domain which can be conservative sometimes or a bit inflated at times. But nevertheless, this is the financial standing of the political parties which have been involved in receiving thousands of crores from the public for the powerful positions occupied and service rendered or seemingly duties discharged for amounts received. This is more or less the norm in the world leading nation U.S. as well where political class and the political parties deals with millions of dollars, running the government like corporate entities. This fundraising is legal, happens in broad day light and there are incentives for the top fund raiser. For example, the race for 2024 presidential election is in progress in U.S. and any candidate who can raise a lot of funds will be qualified for the debates. To qualify for the Republican debates, the Candidates must have at least 50,000 unique donors, with at least 200 donors from 20 states or territories. Anyone who cannot raise this threshold will be disqualified from the presidential race. How funny is this – incentive on receiving money than wholehearted determination to serve the people. Even the 2020 Democratic primary debates set this cap as well - Receive campaign contributions from 65,000 unique donors, including 200 donors from 20 different states or territories to qualify for speaking. This is how the people run for the top post – by heavily coupling with the finances, money power and ability to raise millions of dollars. Leaving the candidates, the political parties also drown in these finances breathing money day in and day out, while seemingly presenting themselves as serving this ocean of a nation. The vacuum for public service in U.S. is as big as earth and whoever comes into it formally will be legally working with big money. There are zero incentives for self-less public service, or it is outright discouraged. During the 2024 election cycle, the six committees associated with the Democratic and Republican Parties have reported raising a combined $713 million or almost 6 thousand crore rupees and spent almost all of it. This is how this country works – by heavily intertwining with money for every small, good action in public domain. Politicians should be working with a service-oriented mindset with integrity and honesty. They should prioritize the welfare of citizens over personal gain. A commitment to service ensures policies benefit the majority. But these ideals seem to live at a distance of 100 miles from the ruling class in the present world. 

The above figures imply the serving class of the world (at least from U.S. and India) are in good standing by doing the balancing acts. The buck stops at them and if they are in good standing while implementing policies that benefit people on a large scale, it can be said the countries are really progressing well – the people are good, and the ruling class is very good. Let us look what if they are operating without the balancing acts - at least, the ruling class are not serving on a ‘token’ salary, at least the ruling class is not managing expenses from token salary without banking on public donations, at least the ruling class is not digging into their own funds for the public good, at least the ruling class is not falling into debt traps and struggling every day to get out of them, at least it is not life on edge day-in and day-out for the ruling class, at least it is not a question or struggle for thousands of dollars or rupees but comfortably living with thousands of crores, at least the ruling class is not living in a single room and ruling the nations, at least the history will remember them by giving great name and fame for all the present day happenings instead of treating them anonymous. This is how the political class operates and should really operate by having all these x factors and balancing everything, which tells it is the correct way to lead nations. 

On the contrary, let me tell about you something simple yet powerful, honest with integrity yet long lasting and sustainable. This is the example of a poorest chief minister from North-eastern India. Manik Sarkar, born on January 22, 1949, is an Indian communist politician who served as the Chief Minister of Tripura for 20 years from March 1998 to March 2018. His life is characterized by simplicity, honesty, and dedication to public service. Despite holding the highest political office in Tripura, Manik Sarkar chose to live a simple life. He did not own a personal car or a luxurious home. Instead, he resided in an old, small house that belonged to his great-grandfather. He is the only Chief Minister in India who has no house or a car on his name. Even his wife takes a rickshaw while traveling, with no personal security guards. Sarkar donates his full salary that he receives as a Chief Minister to his party and in return, gets Rs. 5,000 (approximately $76 USD) per month as his allowance. Some official sources list his monthly salary as the lowest salary among all the Chief Ministers in India. Sarkar has often been called the "cleanest and the Honest Chief Minister in the country". Born into a middle-class family, Manik Sarkar’s parents worked as a tailor and a government employee. Despite being in power for two decades, he remained one of the poorest Chief Ministers in India, with a bank balance of just Rs. 2000 (approximately $25 USD). Manik Sarkar’s spartan lifestyle, extreme honesty, and dedication to public service serve as an inspiration for leaders worldwide. His legacy emphasizes that true leadership lies in serving the people with humility and sincerity. His moral compass and principles have driven his decisions and actions and not big money. 

Apart from this example, we should all be concerned about the x factors and balancing acts for sure. Indeed, in today's world, these have become a very strong reason for our survival. Our survival depends on leading a balanced life without giving too much into public life serving others. The biggest challenge and toughest duty for anyone of concern is to balance our lives and prolong our living. Otherwise, in today's world, how you operate will eventually consume your own self.