While the ruling elite have always remained a touch above those they seek to represent, the recent declarations of extensive assets and affluence lifts the veil of unawareness and ascribes a monetary value to the hitherto intangible disparity between the governing and the governed.

With politicians quoting assets and wealth enumerated in millions of rupees- with mis-declarations further obfuscating transparency- it is to be expected that the public is feeling rightful umbrage at the gaping fiscal realities between the political class and the common people. The sting is made that much more painful as the people trudge through a trying year, with recurrent power outages, rising inflation and diminishing affordability, a hike in food and fuel costs and an overall dwindling standard of living.

If the matter is to be argued in terms of ‘chain of circumstances’, it can be said that in a class-based society, the probability runs absolute that those with means are likely to have the resources to amass the necessary connections, affiliations- and to support their party’s year round campaigning - to ultimately assert themselves in the aggressive political space.

However, the truth of the matter is that the political class has always remained detached from the proletariat it so avidly seeks to symbolize- a phenomenon that rings true for most government and political structures across the globe and through the course of time, yet one that is dialectically opposed to the concept of democracy.

The people are more than justified in feeling this disparity in a proclaimed democratic system. The unveiling of assets has brought into sharp relief the contradictory empathising rhetoric of the political parties with the common people and their own distinct spaces of privilege.

Reconciling the two immiscible realities is a hard task and leaves the public’s misgiving unacknowledged - but that is the goal all political parties need to strive for in their campaigns and, ultimately the policies they seek to bring in.