A law unto themselves!

A couple of cases of high handedness on the part of the elected representatives, in the runup to the assembly elections in the state, shows how the so called leaders of the masses(?) have become averse and touchy to criticism of any sort. The first was the case of the Food minister who'd manhandled a young man who had said that he will not cast his vote. The minister was interacting with the people at a railway station, asking for votes, when he came across some people seated on one of the concrete benches. Seeing the minister approach them, all of them stood up except for the young man, which must have irked the 'gentleman' who must have started believing himself to be 'God Almighty' thanks to his ministerial trappings of the past five years! And when the youngster replied in the negative, it was too much to stomach and so, the 'worthy' just manhandled him!! The second case was a more bizarre one. A television channel was filming an 'open house' - a programme conceived on election eve, covering all constituencies of the state - where all the candidates of the constituency were exchanging their views while taking on questions from the public. One of the candidates was asked a pointed question as to why one of his party worthies had been let off lightly, despite a serious charge of sexual harassment against him, to which a wishy washy answer was provided. No sooner was this aspect highlighted in the 'summing up' by the programme producer, he was accosted by a few of the party loyalists who started manhandling him. To save himself from the ugly situation, the mediaman moved closer to that party leader for help who, much to his surprise, manhandled him in turn! Politicians having an inflated opinion about themselves is not a new phenomenon but were an exception rather than the rule. But the increasing number of cases and the audacity with which they're carried out need to be condemned and the protagonists taught a lesson, by the people, at the hustings.