Why netas shouldn’t look like they are living off the fat of the land

Shortly after the recent Cabinet reshuffle when she was shifted from the water resources and Ganga rejuvenation ministry and given the less weighty portfolio of sanitation and drinking water, Uma Bharati is reported to have confided that the prime minister had scolded her not for her performance but for her portliness. It would seem that an excess of girth can prove a drawback when seeking the berth of public office. Embonpoint does not go down well with an electorate that might prove to be sceptical of aspirants to high gaddi who look as though, once seated on it, they might cause it to collapse through force not of gravitas but gravity.

The Supreme Court has also looked askance at metaphoric fat cats with bulging asset portfolios far in excess of their known sources of income. Citing the case of over 280 MPs and MLAs whose wealth has increased by as much as 500% during their tenure in office, the Supreme Court has asked the central government to institute a probe in the matter. It would appear that in the political arena, while a 56-inch chest is to be vaunted, such amplitude is undesirable for the rest of one’s anatomy or for one’s bank balance. As the anti-incumbency factor has repeatedly shown, the body politic has had a bellyful of those perceived to assume public office only to lard it over the rest of us.