I am often reminded by my well-wishers that contesting any election is possible only when one has an abundance of wealth. "Everything else is okay, but you need a LOT of money to do this". They are not entirely wrong as this is the contemporary narrative of politics. Even corruption-free politics in which voters and brokers are not bought also require money for necessary expenses, and there is no denying that. However, the current narrative is not based on unavoidable costs, but an unfortunate nexus between politics, black money and clientelism. Today politics has become an amoral version of business that has no association with development and public welfare.

People who fail to do anything in life (including criminals) see politics as the only option for personal upward mobility. It has become a tool to acquire "power that can be misused". Politics that ideally should minimize social and economic inequality, thus deepens it. Today politics represents everything that it should prohibit and control. The most undeserving and incompetent people get into politics (take a moment and think of any politician). Political campaigns are run by black money. How can we expect people who rely on black money during elections to suddenly change the day they win? Not opposing it means supporting it silently. Maybe this is what even we as voters expect from our politicians? Have we ever asked where the money comes from which creates that mighty "wave" and runs all the helicopters? Some of us may even like to boast that our elected representative has a lot of money. Have we ever refrained from voting these people? No, we convince ourself that our leader is "very honest" because they do not personally take money (yeah right, only their party and party candidates do).

This approach to politics has unarguably two serious problems. First, black money defeats and demean moral commitment. Unarguably, as money becomes the deciding factor, people with no policy-making knowledge become politicians. And secondly, it completely twists the politician-voter relationship of accountability and responsiveness. If a political leader wins because of the black money they get from the ruling class (the top 1 per cent of people in the state) WHY will they be accountable to the public? Consequently, why will they work for the public? Expecting development in the current system is futile. This system is meant only to favor a few. So, whenever one such corrupt candidate wins, we lose. We vote these power brokers to lose. And there is no other way to put it. Think about it. If we do not stand for politics that stem from credentials and moral commitment, we lose the right to complain.

I stand for corruption-free, transparent and open politics. I have credentials, knowledge, expertise and moral commitment to challenge the power brokers, but I do not have access to black money. I consider this my strength, and I am determined not to change my path and not play by the current rules of politics. However, I do require money to bear the cost of the entire election. Even the corruption-free legal version of the political process requires money. And for that, support me and stand by me by donating for an open democracy. I assure you that your hard-earned money will not go wasted or mis-utilised.