8 April 2014 - QA 7

Gurudev, I am a first time voter. My constituency leader is not as strong a candidate as one may desire. But I still want that the leaders of that party win the election. So what do I do?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: I would suggest to not go after the local candidate when it comes to the National elections. You should intelligently evaluate who you want to make the PM of the country.
When it comes to the Municipal elections, then you should find out everything about the candidate. But at the national level, look at the interests of the nation. Vote for those who speak from the heart. We do not want a Prime Minister who reads a speech prepared by someone else. We want someone who is a strong leader and can voice his mind and opinions fearlessly.

See, everyone has the right to be aligned with or favour one political party or another. That is alright. But when it comes to the nation and her interests, you should keep all your political and local preferences aside, and think single-mindedly about the country first.
Look for a strong candidate who can really deliver on his promises and do good work, and then accordingly vote for him. Tell this to others also and make them understand. I will tell you why I am saying this.
Today one dollar is equivalent to 65 rupees. If a weak person comes to power at the centre, one dollar will rise in strength to equal 100 rupees.
Other countries want this to happen so that it is cheaper to buy things from India. But everything will get more expensive here for ourselves. The prices of regular daily commodities will touch the skies.
Other countries fear that if a strong person comes to power at the centre, then the rupee will gain in strength and the dollar’s purchasing power will fall to 40 rupees.

Certain foreign countries do not want our country’s economic condition to strengthen.
In last five years we have had 30 scams worth crores of rupees. It is said that 1.4 trillion dollars worth of Indian money has been secretly smuggled outside our country in the form of illegal black money.
When I had gone on a foreign tour once, a gentleman in that country told me that two billion dollars worth of Indian money has been deposited in our country’s bank by an Indian politician.
He asked me curiously, ‘How are you tolerating so much corruption in your country?’
Now what could I tell him! I told him that the people now are becoming increasingly aware about all these issues and they will have such corrupt people put behind bars. The time for change has come. We all have to do this. Nobody can understand why prices of food grains are rising in India alone, when they are actually falling everywhere else in the world! No economists can understand this. This is all because of corruption.
We are sitting on a wealth of huge oil reserves and still we are importing oil. We have so much Iron ore, still we import steel, and the same is the case with gold also. This is very controversial. That is why I say this country desperately needs change.