Candidates organise sexual favours for political workers during campaign trail
Candidates organise sexual favours for political workers during campaign trail
As much as the voter, every candidate standing for any election knows, his fate can be decided by the political worker.
A neta can have anywhere between 20 and 500 chamchas working for him and it's their involvement during the campaign trail that decides the leader's success.
For a month now, these political workers have been swamped by sexual favours.
Sources say, during every election, and this one is no different, political workers are given incentives to keep them happy by servicing them with prostitutes.
These political workers hold the key to a candidate's success during the campaign trail, which begins approximately a month before poll day.
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Tirchhi Topiwale: Political workers hold the key to a candidate's success and so, no effort is spared to keep them happy. |
Said Tejaswi Sevekari, who runs Saheli HIV AIDS Karyakarta Sangha, an NGO for sex workers, "A month before the elections, the demand for sex workers is huge.
A representative of the political workers scouts the red light areas and books women at least a month before the polls."
Rendezvous fixedSources added that the rendezvous is generally fixed at resorts, bungalows and farmhouses in the outskirts of Pune and that Mumbai is generally not part of the scheme of things.
The women normally spend two days with the client and they normally attend in groups of at least six, if not more.
In Pune, most of the sex workers are sourced from the Budhwar Peth area, which has at least 5,000 sex workers.
"Around 1,000 sex workers have been booked by political parties," said a source.
Sevekari added that the sex workers are also paid huge tips. "Only after they return, are we told that they were servicing political parties.
All their expenses travel to the resort, and all incidentals are taken care of," added Sevekari.
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POLL DANCE: During every election, political workers are given incentives to keep them happy by servicing them with prostitutes. |
More MoneyMary D'Souza, president of the same NGO, said, "Mostu00a0 girls are Nepalis or Bengalis. The girls are also expected to dance.
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A sex worker who earns between Rs 600 and Rs 2,000 per night at other times, earns more than Rs 4,000 at such parties." When the candidate wins, the parties are organised once more.
HotbedSangli has the highest number of AIDS cases after Mumbai in the state and is also a hotbed for prostitution.
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"Most of the deals are now done on the phone. Local political workers source sex workers from here, but the rendezvous is at a far away place.
The demand is as much as festival time," said Kamalbai Pane, from the NGO, VAMP, which works for sex workers in Sangli.u00a0
Added Shashikant Mane, from the NGO, "There may be a local demand for sex workers, but they do not travel for parties."
In New Delhi, Raman Verma from DelhiEscorts, said, "After the announcement of the Haryana elections, once the names of the candidates were finalised, the demand for call girls increased.
As Haryana politicians have a good network in Delhi, most of their demands are placed in the capital.
No less than 30 to 35 call girls were sent to different parts of Haryana every day. Otherwise just 10 girls are sent."
"As the date of the poll drew close, the demand fell.
Initially, I could not relate to this sudden change, but later, we realised most of the clients were associated with some political parties and the demand upped because of the elections," said Anshuman from Escorts4You, another agency.
Why are Political workers Important?
Political workers are particularly important to politicians as they canvass for them, do the ground work (from door-to-door campaigns, distributing pamphlets, handing over voter slips to citizens, taking part in road shows, getting numbers to attend rallies) making it impossible to participate in an election without their help.
Most workers remain nameless, but the power they wield is considerable. In fact, they also coax the voter to go to the booth.
The Other SideIt's very irresponsible and derogatory to make such statements. And even if the workers indulge after campaigning, why are parties held responsible. It's an insult to say political parties indulge in such things.
Madhav Bhandari, BJP spokesperson
I am not aware about such parties, neither do I nor the MNS ever attend such parties.
Nitin Sardesai, MNS spokesperson
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This is unheard of and I cannot imagine any political party doing this in Maharashtra. No political party would indulge in this and the Shiv Sena will never do it.
Neelam Gorhe, Shiv Sena spokesperson
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In my 25-year-old political career I have never heard about this. This is totally false and nothing of this sort happens in Maharashtra.u00a0
Dinkar Tawde, NCP spokesperson.
Only a dalal can think of resorting to such measures to win the confidence of workers. This has nothing to do with politics and politicians.
Nizammudin Ryeen, MRCC spokesperson
Election Rates
Pune
> Rs 600 to Rs 2,000 per night
> Between Rs 3 000 and u00a0Rs 4,000 for attending two-day parties
Sangli
Rs 1,000 per night at lodges
Inputs by Amit Singh