512. Election Manifesto

"Which party are you going to vote for - Tamil People's Party (TPP) or All World Tamils Party (AWTP)?"

"It is only for deciding this that I have been studying and comparing the election manifestoes of both the parties."

"Will studying the election manifestoes suffice? Should we also not consider the policies of the parties, the qualities of the leaders of the parties and the good and bad things done by the parties when they were in power?"

"Of course, we should. But, let us look at the election manifestoes primarily. After all, the election manifesto will be the action plan of a party, if it were to be voted to power."

"It is true. But many of the promises made by both the parties in their manifestoes are similar, if not identical. Are we to see which party has given the higher number of promises or promises with higher monetary values?"

"Well. In the past, people had voted by looking at the promises in that perspective and got disappointed by the kind of government they got. That's why, now a rule has been enunciated requiring political parties to give a detailed plan of action for implementing the promises they make in their manifestoes." 

"Yes. I saw that the manifestos contained a lot of details and workings. But I don't have the patience to go through these details."

"If we can patiently go through the details, we can learn a lot both about the seriousness and about the feasibility of the promises made."

"Okay. Tell me what you have learned by studying the manifestoes."

"One of the two parties has made several attractive promises. But its manifesto has not clearly stated how the finances needed for implementing those promises would be mobilized. The manifesto gives only some vague ideas and is short on specific facts and figures. On the other hand, the other party has presented a blueprint about how it will generate additional income for the government by making better use of the resources of the state, outlining the details of steps to be taken and giving figures for the additional income that could be generated from each of the steps proposed. The manifesto goes on to explain the financial outlay required for implementing each of its promises and how this can be met from the additional income generated by the steps outlined in the manifesto."

"Oh!"

"Not only that. The manifesto even discusses the possible hurdles the government might face in implementing the plans and how the government would overcome those hurdles. The environmental issues that would arise while implementing certain schemes and ways to resolve them have also been discussed. For example, the manifesto explains how and where the people, evicted from the houses built on lands that were water bodies earlier, would be rehabilitated. 

"Surprising! It appears that the manifesto has been prepared in consultation with experts in different fields. Doesn't the manifesto of the other party have such details?"

"No. It doesn't. As I had said earlier, the manifesto gives only vague and sketchy information. Pages have been filled to create an impression that details have been given in line with the requirement of the rule. But, there are no concrete details."

"Now, tell me which party has given the relevant details in its manifesto?"

"TPP."

"So, are you going to vote for the TPP?"

"Yes. What about you?"

"My vote will also be for the TPP!"

"But, you said we should look at some more factors!"

"It is known to everyone that going by those factors, we could vote only for the TPP!"

Thirukkural
Section 2

Materialism

Chapter 52
Assessing Before Acting

Verse 512 (in Tamil):

vAri perukki vaLam paduththu uRRavai
ArAyvAn seyga vinai.

Meaning:

He who has tapped all productive sources, increased the revenues, and brought prosperity and who has the capability to analyze and overcome the hurdles is the one who should be entrusted with the task of doing things. 

(This is the English version of the Tamil story 'thErdhal aRikkai' by the same author.)

Verse 513
Verse 511