This is how democracy works in India.
It is often said that 95% of the funds received by many NGOs are spent sustaining the NGO itself, while only 5% reaches the truly needy. Political parties operate under a similar reality, though on a much larger scale.
Nobody enters politics to spend their family’s fortune. Posters, cut-outs, rallies, press conferences, social media campaigns, television advertising, travel, meetings, and election machinery all require enormous amounts of money. Indians have long moved beyond the age of revolutions and ideological sermons. Most voters have heard every political philosophy imaginable. The only way for a political party to remain top-of-mind is through relentless visibility, marketing, and promises—many of which are never fulfilled.
So where does the money come from?
Ordinary citizens rarely donate in meaningful numbers. Why would they? As a result, political funding largely comes from industrialists, business houses, and the ultra-rich. But why do they donate?
Because doing business in India has historically involved navigating bureaucracy, regulations, and political influence. Businesses seek access, predictability, and favourable treatment. Political donations become an investment in relationships.
When a party comes to power, favours are often perceived to return in the form of contracts, tenders, licences, ports, airports, infrastructure projects, and policy decisions.
And do not assume that large business groups donate only to one political party. They rarely put all their eggs in one basket. They support multiple parties because elections are uncertain. If power changes hands tomorrow, they still need access to the new government. This is why many large business houses have prospered under successive governments, regardless of which party was in office.
Any new political party—whether it is AAP, TVK, Cockroach Janata Party or some future movement yet to be born—eventually faces the same financial realities. The cycle repeats itself.
In such a scenario, if you are still waiting for a political messiah to save you, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. Democracies are not rescued by saviours; they are shaped by institutions, incentives, accountability, and citizen participation.
As for messiahs, history and faith traditions have their own candidates. Politics, however, is usually far less miraculous.