Rajya Sabha Election in Orissa: Horses or Donkeys in trade as intellectuals look at it

Subhas Chandra Pattanayak

To fill up four Rajya Sabha vacancies, at the moment, Orissa MLAs are casting their votes. Which four out of the contesting five will get elected will today be known. But how intellectuals look at what is happening gives us a speaking scope to understand the syndrome that has afflicted our democracy. It equally should make the players in the game conscious of where do they stand in public esteem.

I am inclined to give a few lines from social media FaceBook.

“Horse trading in progress in Odisha”, says ace journalist Prafulla Das on the election to Rajyasabha going on today in Orissa.

Eminent poet and IAS (Rtd) Rajendra Kishore Panda has also seen the incarnation of horses (ashwavataaras) in stiff shenanigans the context of Rajyasabha election, His FaceBook timeline notes,

“|| Jagannath Jaha Karibe . . . ||

“I am not doing anything; Lord Jagannath will get me elected as Rajya Sabha member”, a candidate has been claiming. And the Lord seems to be working very hard in that direction by multiple ‘ashwavataaras’!

Poor Lord!!!”

When commenting on Panda’s observation Parameswar Meher has said, “Rajaneetira synonyms barttaman pain Ghodabepar…..” (For now horse trading is synonyms of politics), commenting on Das’s observation, his friend Sandeep Jena has stressed that it would be appropriate to use the word ‘Donkey’ in place of Horse. “that is called a horse, which runs in races, but these beasts of burden are donkeys . …. Donkey trading has begun” (ghoda to usko kehte hein jo race me daudta hai…ye bojha dhone wale gadhe hein….gadha bepara aarambha hela…).

“They are just like DAADAN (bondage labor)” says another friend of Das, Santosh Kumar Patnaik.

“It is not horse trading, rather donkey trading” emphasizes Ruturaj Pattanaik on Das’ timeline.

I have nothing to say, except repeating what I have said in Prafulla babu’s observation: “Nothing else is possible when democracy has already been demolished by plutocracy, dear friend. Thanks for attracting attention through the appropriate and most precise depiction of the syndrome.”