Election Campaign


Telugu original by Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao, in Yuva, July 1977. Translated and posted with permission by Ananda Kishore.
In the first Lok Sabha elections, Dibbeswarlu the Great represented the kings and Dibbanayudu the farmers. Twenty-nine others who contested independently and lost their deposits don't even deserve to be mentioned.

But the election campaign of Dibbeswarlu the Great was the most memorable. It is a pity that such a golden episode wasn't even chronicled. The election campaign in Dibba constituency didn't change much over the years. Hence at least some people might be interested in knowing more about the campaign.

A hundred and five people attended the meeting addressed by Dibbeswarlu the Great. Eighty nine belonged to his own camp. A great attraction was that he came to the mike stone drunk. They spoke of it praisingly.

Starting with the address "Revered people of the country!", he spoke at length of his greatness. Then suddenly he remembered the elections.

"Who will you vote for? For Ravana? Kumbhakarna? They are crooked, heinous devils! They have no morals, no class! Consider how great Rama is! Ravana must be a stupid idiot to frisk away such a virtuous person's wife. He deserves to be tortured, minced, and murdered. It isn't enough to kill him. Such a devil must be axed to pieces..."

Overexcited, the Great collapsed and fainted. His henchmen poured something from a bottle in his mouth. Coming to his senses, he got down the dais saying, "Therefore, all of you should vote for me!"

"Everyone voted for him."


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