The Leader.

The afternoon sun was firing on all cylinders when the leader arrived at his constituency followed by a handful of followers. People of the area preferred to remain indoors because of the sweltering heat and some other reasons not known to outsiders but only to some close associates of the leader himself and the local leader representing the villages of that region.

Some leaked news, spread to the media and other reliable sources said that the leader had promised to donate a handsome amount to the 10 different clubs of the area. The leader had handed over a sum of money to one of his associates to distribute the same equally among all clubs. But the sum of money which finally reached the members of various clubs was not adequate nor as per the promise made by the leader. Hence the dissatisfaction spread from the club members to the villagers. And all of them joined hands, passed a resolution in a meeting and decided to boycott the meeting of the leader.

The leader desperately wanted to hold the meeting and appeal to the public for their votes before the election. The date of the election was very near and the leader had a big area to cover. One by one he wanted to touch all the areas of his constituency as that was the last phase of his campaign and therefore he himself wanted to conduct the campaigning. This area was the first one to start with. But the indifferent response of the public made him utterly disappointed. Immediately he called his deputy and asked, " Are Santosh, kya hua? Kahan margaye sare gaon walle?" (Santosh, what happened? Where the hell are the villagers?) Santosh, who was the middleman to deal with the members of the clubs and the leader had no immediate reply. He got off the SUV and walked to a nearby building where some young guys were enjoying a party. He called one of them near and spoke something in a low voice. He also handed over a packet to him which looked like a huge sum of currency notes.

Immediately the scenario changed dramatically. The doors of the houses which were earlier closed from inside slowly opened and people of all ages gradually emerged and congregated at the scheduled site of the proposed meeting. What brought the change so fast and so methodically was beyond the capacity to decipher even for a seasoned campaigner like the leader himself.

Who misappropriated the money given by the leader and how the middleman created an artificial discontentment among the club members? Why & how the party was going on at the precise time when the meeting was to be held? How Santosh could amend all the differences between the club members and the leader so easily?

Slowly everything was becoming clear to the leader. After the meeting was over and the leader successfully launched his campaign called his deputy to come to his room immediately. When Santosh reached the assigned room of the leader there was no one present except the two.

After a few minutes a gun shot was heard. All the followers of the leader rushed towards his room. There was no one inside. Only a lifeless body was lying in front of them. A bottle and a broken glass was lying on the floor. The alcoholic contents of the glass have spilled on the carpeted floor. The strong odor of gun powder blended with the flavor of whisky was very much present in the air inside the room. The white Gandhi cap and a pair of power glasses were also scattered on the floor like a child's toys.