"What is this, sir? You are talking like an opposition leader! Of the 237 promises given by us, we have fulfilled 236 promises. This is an unprecedented record. The opposition parties are dumbstruck, unable to say anything about this feat. All of us have watched from close quarters how hard you had worked to fulfill each of these 236 promises. You have fulfilled even those promises that were difficult to implement, by putting in herculean efforts. A couple of apolitical organizations have been taking efforts to felicitate you for this feat. But, you are feeling sorry that you have not been able to fulfill one promise!"
"During our election campaign, we said that if we came to power, we would fulfill each of these 237 promises. Should we have not kept our word?"
"We make promises with the expectation that we would be able to fulfill them. It often happens that some promises could not be fulfilled. There has not been another Chief Minister in our state or in any other state of our country, either in the present time or in the past, who fulfilled as many promises as you did. We had passed a resolution in the state assembly that the Union Government should reserve 10 percent of the seats in the educational institutions of the Union Government functioning in our state, to the students graduating from the schools run by the state government. The Union Government has put our request in cold storage, on political considerations. People are aware of these facts. They understand that the fault doesn't lie with you" said the party president.
"But, I am still living with the regret of having not fulfilled this promise. I should find a way to fulfill this. I have always been thinking about it" said Chief Minister Arivoli.
After a few months, the following story appeared in an investigative journal, under its popular column, 'Don't Tell Anyone.'
'Indian National Party (INP),' which is ruling at the centre, does not have a single member in the assembly of our state. Given this scenario, a candidate of this party getting elected to the Upper House of Parliament by the members of the state assembly has surprised every one. With INP having no member in the state assembly, how was the INP candidate elected by the members of the state assembly?
This is an exclusive report, based on the information collected by our special correspondent.
Five members were to be elected to the Upper House of Parliament by the members of the state Assembly. Given the strength of various parties in the Assembly, the ruling party PWP would have got three seats and the opposition party two seats.
But, two unexpected developments changed this scenario. 'People's Rights Party (PRP),' an ally of PWP wanted one seat allocated to it. With the PWP not acceding to this request, the PRP announced that its four members won't participate in the election.
Following this, the opposition bloc decided to put up a candidate for the third seat (in addition to the two seats the opposition bloc would have been able to win, based on its strength) and that seat was allocated to INP, the ruling party at the centre.
With the four members of PRP not participating in the election, the third candidate from PWP polled one vote less than the candidate of INP and lost the election. The candidate of the INP won the election unexpectedly. The PWP was shellshocked by this unexpected defeat.
Questions like whether the PRP would break its alliance with PWP and move to the opposition camp and whether this would bring about a change in the political equations have arisen in the minds of political observers.
"How did this happen? Why is PRP behaving like this?" Muthaiyan asked Chief Minister Arivoli, expressing his concern.
"Wait for a while. The climax is yet to come" said Arivoli, smiling.
After a few days, the Union Government announced that it has accepted the request of the state government to provide 10 percent of the seats in the educational institutions of the Union Government functioning in the state, to the students graduating from the schools run by the state government.
A statement released by PRP said:
"The Chief Minister has fulfilled his one unfulfilled promise also and created history. We abstained from the election to the Upper House of Parliament only to express our disappointment at having not been allocated a seat as requested by us. It was just a symbolic protest. We continue to be in alliance with PWP and will support the Chief Minister in all his endeavours. Our alliance with PWP will continue forever."
"So, this was your gameplan?" asked Muthaiyan, surprised.
"Yes. My objective was to fulfill the one promise that remained unfulfilled. In executing a task, if the normal methods don't work, we have to devise new ways of making it work. Though we lost one seat in the Upper House, we got what we wanted from the INP government at the centre, by facilitating the INP to win one seat to the Upper House, from our state. The PRP helped me in my plan. Now, I have the satisfaction of fulfilling the remaining one promise that had been elusive all along" said Arivoli, smiling with satisfaction.
Section 2
The Method of Executing An Action
ollum vAy ellAm vinai nanRE ollAkkAl
sellum vAy nOkkich cheyal.
Verse 672
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