Political Novice Face Electoral Realities
印度新手女將投入選戰
By Gardiner Harris

SITAPUR, India – She marched through her campaign office like a candidate from almost anywhere in the world, girding herself to address a scrum of reporters. But the reporters were not interested in an interview. Instead, they came to insist that she buy ads in their newspapers.
她穿過自己的競選總部，一如全球各地的候選人，準備向一批記者發表談話。然而這些記者對訪問不感興趣。他們一定要她花錢在他們所屬報紙買廣告。

“If you give us business, we will cover you, but if you don’t give us money – will, we will still cover you,” one reporter said.
一個記者說：「如果妳給我們生意，我們會報導妳的動態。如果妳不給我們錢……我們還是會報導。」

To Shefali Misra, a candidate from the upstart Aam Aadmi Party here, the threat was clear. “They’ll smear me if I don’t pay,” she said grimly after the reporters left.
對印度希多浦爾新興政黨平民黨的國會議員候選人雪菲莉‧米斯拉而言，威脅意味很明顯。她在記者離去後嚴肅的說：「如果我不給錢，他們一定會抹黑我。」

Ms. Misra, a social worker running for office for the first time on a good-governance platform, is seeking one of 543 parliamentary seats in India’s national elections, a six-week exercise in which 814 million people are registered to vote. The election is the largest ever in the world and an inspiring celebration of universal adult suffrage.
米斯拉是一名社工，這是她首次參選，以廉能治理為主要政見，角逐印度543個國會席次之一。印度國會大選全程長達6個星期，登記合格選民多達8.14億人，不僅規模舉世最大，而且是鼓舞人心的全民選舉。

But lurking behind the feel-good spectacle is the reality that India’s elections are awash in illegal cash, serious violence and dirty tricks. Vote buying is so common that the Indian Election Commission has begun monitoring regional airports for the arrival of private planes and helicopters, and the police have set up roadblocks throughout the country to look for large amounts of cash, gold and alcohol to buy loyalty at the ballot box.
然而隱藏在良好感覺背後的事實是，印度選舉充斥違法的金錢、嚴重暴力與下流招式。由於買票隨處可見，印度選委會早已開始嚴密監視飛抵各地機場的私人飛機及直升機，警方則在全國各地普設路障，攔檢用來買票的大批現金、黃金與烈酒。

It is a gritty new world for Ms. Misra, 39, who studied at the London School of Economics and left a job in November at the United Nations Development Program. She has promised to fight corruption, build a high school for girls and give constituents better access to government services. She is passionate about improving the lives of women, whose status in India is particularly low.
對39歲的米斯拉來說，這是一個勇敢新世界。她畢業於倫敦政經學院，去年11月辭去聯合國開發計畫署的工作。她矢言對抗貪腐，創辦一所女子中學，同時使選民享有更多政府服務。印度婦女地位非常低；她很想改善她們的生活。

But days spent with Ms. Misra on the campaign trail demonstrated the hurdles she faced at every turn. To her great frustration, not a single woman appeared at any of her campaign rallies over two days. At one gathering, a man locked the door on several women silently peeking in through a crack from an adjoining kitchen.
然而貼身觀察米斯拉宣傳拉票數日後，明顯可見她處處碰到障礙。令她深感沮喪的是，在她兩天的競選活動中，沒有任何一名婦女出現在她的場子。在其中一項造勢活動中，一名男子把數名婦女鎖在門後，以致她們只能透過隔壁廚房的一個縫隙默默偷看。

And there was a vast gap between people’s hope and the reality of what India’s government could actually deliver. In multiple meetings, voters asked for interest-free loans and free weaving machines but left unmentioned the government’s inability to provide sanitation and clean water.
此外還有民眾的願望與印度政府實際上所能做到的之間的巨大落差。在多次集會中，選民要求得到無息貸款與免費縫衣機，卻未提到政府無力提供公共衛生設施與乾淨飲用水的事實。

“I’m not a politician,” Ms. Misra said in a stump speech. “If I was a politician, I’d make all these false promises I couldn’t possibly keep.”
米斯拉發表一篇競選演講時說：「我不是政客。如果我是政客，一定會拚命開出無法兌現的芭樂票。」

She belongs to Aam Aadmi, a new Party that has made ending India’s endemic political corruption a central plank. As Ms. Misra started in a procession of 10 motorized rickshaws, campaign workers arrayed the autos with armloads of brooms, a symbol intended to convey a clean image.
她所屬的平民黨是新興政黨，主要政綱是終結印度根深柢固的政治貪腐。米斯拉以10輛摩托黃包車展開宣傳拉票活動時，她的競選團隊成員以一些掃帚裝飾車子，以此營造清廉形象。

With the reporters who were pressuring her, Ms. Misra patiently said: “I’m not the one who decides where to buy ads. A central party committee decides that.”
米斯拉提到不斷向她施壓的記者時耐心的說：「我不能決定在哪裡刊登廣告。這要由黨中央委員會決定。」

And while Aam Aadmi eschews religious appeals, Ms. Misra found herself on her knees pleading for the support of a turbaned dwarf who bills himself as a religious leader and healer.
平民黨盡量與宗教訴求保持距離。然而米斯拉某日卻跪在一名戴纏頭巾的侏儒面前，尋求支持。此人自稱宗教領袖兼醫治者。

Sitting in a courtyard at the home of a religious order devoted to the Hindu goddess Kamakhya, the leader, Munnalal, told Ms. Misra “You’ll get at least 75,000 votes from my area.”
這名領袖曼名叫納拉爾，坐在崇拜印度教女神卡瑪契亞的教派所屬一處庭院內，他告訴米斯拉：「妳會在我的區域內獲得7.5萬張選票。」

Ms. Misra knelt before him and asked for his blessing.
米斯拉跪在他面前，請求他為她祈福。

“I will give it, but you must do more canvassing and get up earlier in the morning,” Munnalal said.
曼納拉爾說：「我會為妳祈福，可是妳必須更賣力拉票，早上更早起。」

“I will,” Ms. Misra promised, and she bowed for the blessing.
米斯拉回答：「我會。」她答應對方，並低頭接受祝福。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/world/asia/female-candidate-navigates-hurdle-filled-campaign-trail-in-india.html

Video：India at a Crossroads：A journey across the world’s largest democracy. This year’s race between the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party reveals deep divisions in society and politics.
http://nyti.ms/1nqqmFV

2014-05-13聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報十一版左