The nation’s Lok Sabha is heading to be a reality for the 17th time in a span of seven decades of its rule as a democracy. The elderly may feel tickled if they are reminded about their referring to the number 17 in days past. Their humour was lost on students not crossing the bar many times in the two public examinations, one was LS (Lower Secondary or the now-extinct five-rupee-examination) and the other was SSLC (Secondary School Leaving Certificate or twelve-rupee-examination). A recap from the land’s chequered long history should bring home the relevance of that odd number Mohammed of Ghazni (998 - 1041), the Sultan of Ghaznavid Empire, Afghanistan, came to India 17 times basically to loot the wealth in the temples of the land. The looting act of that daring invader doesn’t seem to have ceased except for the change of the persona whose identity is as clear as daylight. The naive among the land’s people are also aware of their unabated looting of public funds by the elected representatives of people in seats of power and authority.
The vote-seekers have gone into an overdrive to lure the 90-crore electorate by indulging in fierce war of words, with no holds barred, unmindful of mutually exposing their unedifying profiles, which the voting masses are taking in their strides, enjoying the obnoxious oratory of the netas.
