I am a master in India

Chapter 320 Money and Power

You beast! You fucking beast!

He immediately asked for 50 million rupees, more than double the price that bandit Biyadav had offered.

“Ms. Mayawati, are you sure you’re not joking?” Ron shrugged.

“Sur, as a role model for Uttar Pradesh, you have to do something for your homeland.”

“I’m here to meet with you two today for these reasons, but don’t take me for a fool,” Ron said bluntly.

Everyone knows about Sur's commercial empire in Uttar Pradesh: cement plants, mines, and electrical appliance factories.

“So,” Ron interrupted her, “did you give me any help in making this possible?”

“But these are resources from Uttar Pradesh, and you got them without paying anything in return,” Mayawati argued confidently.

“Listen,” Ron emphasized, holding up his finger, “with fifty million rupees, I can create another political party, a completely obedient party, instead of one that makes exorbitant demands in front of me.”

“Sur, you disrespect our Socialist Party; you are no different from those corrupt Brahmins.”

“Hey, you two, calm down.” Singh reached out to reassure them. “We are allies, and our common enemy is Yadav. Don’t let our current differences undermine our unity.”

“Mr. Singh, you know everything I’ve done in Gujarat. Mr. Adniwa and Mordi understand even better what cooperation is,” Ron hinted.

“Yes, we’ve had a very pleasant working relationship. I understand what you mean, let me say a few words to Mayawati.” Singh nodded.

He was also annoyed by Mayawati's lack of restraint. How was her behavior any different from that of Yadav, that bandit?
At the BJP headquarters in Gujarat, Ron also gave them strong support during the election, but it was only ten million rupees.

As a result, Mayawati immediately offered five times the amount, as if it weren't money, but just a number.

Although the rupee is not well-regarded internationally, it still has considerable purchasing power in this era.

Fifty million rupees, if used for a speech similar to that in Gujarat, could easily cover a large part of Uttar Pradesh.

Mayawati seems to want to put most of the election season's expenses on Ron's shoulders, seeing it as an opportunity.

There's no way around it; the Suer family rose to power too quickly and became too wealthy.

Everyone else is secretly doing shady things behind the scenes, like marijuana, weapons, and opium. Nobody knows how much profit is made from these things.

As Mayawati just said, each of the Su'er is a prominent industry in Uttar Pradesh.

She even visited the Suer electrical appliance factory in Lucknow, where the assembly line with tens of thousands of workers completely shocked her.

Prior to this, no private company in Uttar Pradesh had achieved this scale.

Mayawati randomly asked several workers, and the minimum wage was over two thousand rupees.

If we calculate it this way, Suer Electric pays out tens of millions of yuan in salaries every month. How much must its turnover be?

She must have hundreds of millions, but she only needs fifty million rupees. The factory can earn back the principal and interest in a month.

She didn't understand industry or factory operating rules; all she saw was money flowing everywhere.

This is Uttar Pradesh, where every government official wants to get something for themselves, whether it's legal or illegal.

Ron was too lazy to explain to Dalit that the other party was simply treating him, a businessman, like a lamb to the slaughter.

Singh pulled Mayawati aside for a whispered conversation, and occasionally a few words of argument drifted over.

After about two minutes, they seemed to have reached some kind of consensus and sat back down on the sofa.

“Mr. Suer, if you want to defeat Yadav, you must create momentum through publicity,” Singh said.

“I understand,” Ron nodded.

"Therefore, investment is inevitable, and we hope you can provide 20 million in funding. Of course, the state government will also provide appropriate assistance after winning the election."

“How convenient is it?” Ron asked.

What kind of convenience do you need?

“The mines of Sumbadra, all the mines, coal, limestone, all need to be handed over to me. The projects in the Pufancha district also need to be handed over to me, I’m not talking about cement, but the entire construction project.”

“Okay.” Singh nodded, and Mayawati didn’t object either.

“I also have two small requests,” Ron gestured with his fingers.

Mayawati was about to say something, but Singh interrupted her by raising his hand, "Tell me, Mr. Sur."

“I want to obtain a telecommunications license in Uttar Pradesh, not for landlines, but for mobile communications.”

"The one the Ministry of Telecommunications is piloting? No problem. How about the other one?"

“I would also like to recommend a few voters from the Puvancha district, mainly in Varanasi and Mirzapur. You know, in the crazy east, I have to ensure my business is not harassed by local gangs.”

“Electors?” Singlet paused; this was a sensitive topic.

“My second uncle, Adiya, is already a councilor in Varanasi City Hall. He is not affiliated with any political party. If needed, he could become a member of the BJP tomorrow.”

Ron didn't hesitate to choose a political party for his second uncle. He was kind-hearted after all and didn't let his second uncle join the Dalit party in Mayawati.

Tsk, if that were really the case, Second Uncle Adiya would probably never do a foot-touching salute to a Dalit.

The BJP is perfect; they are already aligned with the upper caste and share the same religious beliefs.

Singh also thought this was a good idea; accepting the Sur family was tantamount to indirectly binding Ron to the BJP's war machine.

Not only did Mayawati consider Ron to be an extremely wealthy man, but the BJP also assessed his substantial financial resources.

If we're talking about who could become the next Tata or Reliance, Sur's potential is undoubtedly among the top.

"If it's someone from the Suer family, then of course there's no problem, but if it's someone else..."

"No matter what, we will stand firmly on the side of the Alliance," Ron assured.

“Okay, this condition is fine too.” Singh made the decision immediately.

"Where's the money?" Mayawati interjected.

“Don’t worry, the money will be sent over soon,” Ron chuckled. Within the alliance between the BJP and the Socialist Party, the Socialist Party did not appear to hold absolute dominance.

It makes sense, really. The Dalits, who make up a quarter of Uttar Pradesh’s population, are the main voting bloc of the Socialist Party, but the power of discourse is concentrated in the hands of a few high-caste individuals.

The alliance between the two sides was somewhat unexpected, yet not very close.

After the deal was struck, Ron didn't stay in Lucknow and immediately returned to the East.

Yadav has been abandoned by him, and the BJP and the Bahraini Socialist Party have become his next partners.

Overall, this business was profitable.

Twenty million is indeed a large sum, but the returns are also quite substantial.

The mines in Sumbadera were enough to break even, but Ron acquired the mining rights to all the mines in the area, both known and unknown.

The government infrastructure projects in Pufancha district were particularly lucrative, and he was no longer satisfied with just providing cement; he wanted to contract the entire project.

Yes, Suerjia is about to establish a construction company to provide a one-stop service from construction to materials.

The telecommunications license was purely incidental; Singh and his associates probably didn't even care about it.

Ron didn't have high hopes either; it was almost impossible for the mobile communications business to be profitable within one or two years.

But as I said before, let's reserve the spot first.

As for the constituency candidates, this matter needs to be discussed with my second uncle, Adiyah.

Ron didn't go back to Mirzabul first, but went straight to Varanasi.

"Second Uncle, congratulations!"

"What?" Adiya asked, puzzled.

"You're about to become the BJP's elector in the Varanasi constituency!"

"Huh?" Adiya blinked. "When did I join the BJP, and when did I decide to run for election?"

“Now.” Ron sat down without ceremony and waved his hand to order a servant to serve tea.

“Wait a minute,” Adiya stopped him, “you little rascal, have you been doing something bad behind my back?”

"How can this be a bad thing? Constituency representative, state assembly member, aren't you tempted?"

"Member?"

"Correct."

"A member of the State Legislative Assembly?"

"Yes."

“You have to tell me what happened.” Adiya sat down and waved for the servant to leave.

Ron gave a brief account of what happened in Lucknow, including his previous cooperation with the BJP in Gujarat.

"Ron, you mean you want me to run in the upcoming state elections as a member of the BJP?"

“Second Uncle, you understand Indian politics better than I do. For the sake of business, the Sur family must gain political power.”

“I can’t do it all by myself, you know, there are eight constituencies in Varanasi alone.”

Elections in India are conducted according to districts. Large cities like Varanasi are divided into eight districts.

Each district has one representative, forming Uttar Pradesh's vast legislature of over four hundred seats.

The Pufancha district, which they often refer to as the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh, comprises seventeen cities similar to Varanasi, contributing 117 seats to the Legislative Assembly.

The condition for winning the Uttar Pradesh general election is to win half of the seats, or 202 seats.

Looking back at Pufancha District now, we can see its importance.

It's no exaggeration to say that whoever controls the Pufancha district has already won half the battle in the general election.

The reason why Yadav, the BJP, and Mayawati are either pressuring or trying to win over Ron is because the Pufancha district is too important.

Ron was not content with merely being the moneybags of the major parties; he also wanted to cultivate his own agents in the Pufancha district.

Varanasi was the first step, not only because it is a holy city for Hinduism, but also because the Sur family had a certain political foundation there.

“Kid, I’ve never participated in a state election before. If I want to win a seat in the general election in a few months, it’ll cost a fortune,” Adiya sighed.

"Money is not important, but power is hard to come by."

"Okay, if we want voters to change their minds and vote for us in a short time, we have to offer them enough benefits."

“Bribery?” Ron raised an eyebrow.

"almost."

"How many?"

"A minimum of ten million rupees."

If we follow the BJP's model in Gujarat, two or three million rupees would be enough for a constituency.

Organizing a speech, handing out small gifts, and hiring some shills is more than enough.

However, Adiya had no prior political base, so he needed to spend several times more money to win over voters.

"Leave the money to me, Second Uncle. You should start preparing for the election now. Arrange the publicity and speeches as soon as possible."

“Alright, since you’ve made up your mind, I’ll go see the Indian Party tomorrow.”

“We want all eight constituencies in Varanasi.”

"What?" Adiya exclaimed in surprise.

(End of this chapter)