I am a master in India

Chapter 329: Sharing the Cake

The first to be frightened by the police were the villagers in the square, who scattered almost immediately.

A policeman pushed the rickshaw driver to the ground, and Muna began to beat him.

They hit him with sticks, and when he fought back, they kicked him.

Muna and the police took turns hitting him; Muna hit him with a stick, the police stomped on his face, and then Muna would hit him again.

After a while, the rickshaw driver stopped twisting his body and stopped fighting back.

But they kept trampling on him until he finally turned back into the soil.

Muna spat fiercely at the mud beneath his feet.

Why don't you just stick to selling your fingerprints for money? Why insist on this so-called democracy? It's outrageous!
In all his life, he had never seen a polling station before, except for today.

The only time he participated in an election, he lied about his age in exchange for a chance to leave his fingerprints.

That happened at the school; the Socialist Party collected the handprints on the spot, so they didn't need to vote at all.

"Collect all the votes from those villagers, let's go south."

Muna will tour every constituency in Sumbadra to ensure the Progressive Party achieves 100% voter turnout.

Mirzabul is better; the villagers there don't need to explain themselves, they enthusiastically vote for the Progressive Party.

Sombadra is ultimately too barbaric; Brother Anil needs to clean up the evil forces here once more.

Muna's strategy is simple, just as he said before: grab a small number of people, who cares about the poor?

He could certainly use the coal and limestone mines that Sumbadra was about to exploit as leverage to promise job opportunities to the people.

But simply offering benefits won't work; you need to use a combination of kindness and pressure. First, instill fear in them, then give them rewards and hope, and this place will become their staunch support base.

It's like training a dog. First, you need to make it submit. Once it obeys, give it a bone, and the dog will become incredibly loyal.

No one taught him these things, but Muna just learned them.

It's actually not difficult. Just think about how landlords used to treat peasants and do the same.

Elections are in full swing in Pufancha district, and similar events are taking place in other parts of Uttar Pradesh.

The most intense competition among the major political parties is in the Awad region, which is the back of the wild boar, with Lucknow located in its heart.

The Dalit queen, Mayawati, was holding an event here at that moment and actively campaigning for the Socialist Party.

When Ron arrived at Mayawati’s garden in Awad, it was already getting late, and the alleyway was completely blocked by hundreds of people shouting slogans.

Thick fog filled the air, making it difficult to see if anyone was ahead, so Ron and his team had to move their car slowly.

It was hard to hear what the crowd was shouting, but if you looked up, you could see Mayawati surrounded by microphones and cameras, holding a press conference in the garden.

Mayawati didn't keep Ron waiting long before dismissing the group of reporters. However, the supporters gathered there didn't disperse, so Mayawati had to send someone out to greet Ron.

They sat down on the balcony of the garden, and Mayawati reclined comfortably in a wicker chair, a blanket covering her shoulders.

Servants brought Ron and his companions lemon tea, Uttar Pradesh sweets, and even hookahs.

Ron sniffed the air; the scent of hemp filled the air.

“Being a politician is a pretty dangerous job, we need to find a shortcut to relax,” Mayawati shrugged nonchalantly.

"Putting that aside for now, are you confident about this election?"

"The BJP, the Socialist Party, and you... oh, the Progressive Party. It's almost a certainty that the three of them will join forces to defeat the Socialist Party," Mayawati said proudly.

“I heard that Yadav is joining forces with the herders of Rohirkand and making quite a splash.”

Rohirkand, the back of a wild boar's neck, is a low-lying alluvial plain. This is a major settlement area for pastoralists in Uttar Pradesh and is a major sugarcane producing region.

Yadav realized that he could not turn the tide, so he once again humbled himself and took the initiative to approach the herders' camp, which he had neglected for a long time.

He must have promised the other party many benefits. Rohirkander recently publicly supported Yadav and called on voters in the region to vote for the Socialist Party.

“That was his last desperate struggle,” Mayawati said mockingly. “The Upper River Valley, the Middle River Valley, and the Lower River Valley are already ours.”

“Here,” Ron pointed to the ground, “Awad, that’s the heart of Uttar Pradesh.”

“I’m here, looking outside, and there are enthusiastic voters who support the Socialist Party.”

Outside Mayawati's garden, the clamor of slogans never stopped.

Ron initially thought they were hired shills, but now it seems they're more like fervent supporters of a political party.

“When I drive through the crowd,” she said to the people who were having a good time in the yard, “I pull down the window curtains so I don’t have to see their faces.”

Mayawati is extremely arrogant and conceited, with a very domineering personality. She doesn't care about her supporters at all, and privately regards them as no different from trash.

“These supporters alone can’t make any waves,” Ron reminded her.

“Of course, I have a trump card.” Mayawati stood up. “Come with me, I guarantee you’ll be surprised.”

They came down from the garden balcony and into the back courtyard.

This place is practically a small farm or zoo, with mostly cattle, nearly two hundred of them. There are also two white Arabian horses and several majestic, mischievous monkeys.

Mayawati said that when she was in school, she saw a vision of Krishna, the most revered god in Hinduism, who told her to become a vegetarian and to be kind to cows.

From then on, Mayawati followed his instructions and even changed her lifestyle for this purpose.

"So you're trying to turn yourself into a Brahmin," Ron thought to himself.

What divine instructions, Krishna, vegetarianism—this is completely the behavior of Brahmins.

Indeed, in India, no one can escape the shackles of the caste system.

Even Mayawati, the leader of the Dalit party, a low-caste representative who loudly proclaims the overthrow of the rich and opposes Brahmins, is secretly moving closer to the Brahmins. Does she truly oppose Brahmins? She only opposes the idea that she is not a Brahmin.

Her deeply ingrained beliefs still subconsciously lead her to gravitate towards the upper classes, as if doing so would bring her enlightenment and purity.

They were already standing inside the cattle pen, and Mayawati introduced Ron to her favorite cows, each with a name.

There are many full-time servants to take care of these cattle, and the hundreds of animals live better than the farmers in the countryside.

“This is my favorite,” Mayawati said, patting a cow’s head affectionately.

Then she placed both hands in front of the cow and said, "This hand represents Mayawati, and this hand represents Yadav."

When Mayawati raised the hand representing Yadav, the bull remained motionless.

But a moment later, something unusual happened: when she raised her other hand, the one that represented her, the cow nodded slowly but firmly.

Ron blinked and glanced behind the barn, trying to see if any servants were pulling on the cows' tails or tugging at the ropes, but there were none.

This performance is real; it must have taken Mayawati several hours to train for it.

Damn, they can even use juggling in elections? He was amazed.

“Look, Krishna has approved of me.” Mayawati was very happy.

"Is this sure it will work?" Ron was a little skeptical.

“Of course, Yadav’s reputation will suffer a fatal blow!” Mayawati said confidently. “Yadav claims to be the incarnation of Krishna, but his faithful companion, the sacred bull, has accepted me.”

What does this mean? He's impersonating a god! Krishna has never approved of him, and the sacred bull refuses to bow to such a scoundrel! He's doomed!

Well, this is truly a clash of magic now.

In Western elections, candidates promise voters what problems they will solve when they take office.

In India, it's a battle of gods, all about who can pull off the most outrageous act.

“We already have the upper hand in the election. If Pufancha District can catch up, then Yadav’s last hope will be shattered.” Mayawati looked at him.

"No problem, but we paid a heavy price to win the votes in the East."

"What do you want?" Mayawati asked directly.

"The new coalition government should reserve two positions for me."

“Sur, your appetite is too big,” Mayawati said disapprovingly.

Each state has its own cabinet government, and the chief minister appoints ministers in different areas based on their respective functions.

For example, there are nearly twenty ministries, large and small, including the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the Ministry of Industry.

The title of minister is not uniform across all states; each state may appoint different ministers to oversee different matters based on its own development situation.

Uttar Pradesh has specialized departments such as the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Sugarcane Development and Sugar Industry, and the Ministry of Textiles.

It seems that there are many positions available in the coalition government, but there are simply not enough to go around.

For the Socialist Party to win the election, it needs at least 202 constituency representatives within its camp.

With over two hundred people vying for twenty ministerial positions, the competition is fierce, averaging one in ten people.

Ron took two without even asking, how could Mayawati not be anxious?

She also has a large group of people to manage. The reason why everyone is willing to follow her into battle is that they are hoping to get promoted and make money.

Not to mention the BJP, after forming a coalition government, they will have to sit in a row and divide the spoils.

“Ms. Mayawati, I don’t need those core departments, I just need the power to do something for the voters,” Ron said.

"What do you mean?"

“Minister of Public Works, Minister of Development for Underdeveloped Regions.” Ron held up two fingers.

"You want an engineering project?" Mayawati seemed to understand.

“Didn’t we agree on this beforehand? The Su family has a professional construction team and a large-scale cement plant, which is a perfect match for these two departments.”

“I want a 20% kickback!” Mayawati said without room for argument.

"make a deal!"

Ron didn't haggle any further; this ratio was practically a standard practice.

Of course, the most important thing was that he won the positions of Minister of Public Works and Minister of Development for Underdeveloped Regions.

In particular, the Minister of Public Works is responsible for the planning and construction of infrastructure within the state, managing public works tenders, and coordinating major infrastructure projects.

Highways, bridges, water conservancy projects, etc., are all within his scope of responsibility; it's definitely a lucrative job.

Minister of Development for Underdeveloped Regions, huh? Well, at least the name sounds nice.

In some states, this minister has the power to develop special development plans and allocate special funds for economically underdeveloped regions.

But Uttar Pradesh is so poor that it has no extra money to allocate; it's just a name without substance.

However, this is perfect for Muna; if funding comes in later, it will be exactly what he needs.

What do underdeveloped areas need funding for? To build hospitals, schools, and roads.
Coincidentally, this is one of the Suer family's specialties.

Mayawati values ​​the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Ministry of Home Affairs more, as they are the core members of the coalition government.

Well, no rush, Ron plans to proceed step by step.

This was his first time getting involved in the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and getting two ministers in first place was not bad.

(End of this chapter)