NEW DELHI, April 29 -- "Whom are you going to vote for?" I asked Savitri as she was refining her mud floor with cow dung.

"The agent came here to canvass," the Dalit woman responded, "I asked him, 'What will you give me for my vote?'"

"If I have to go to the school to vote, stand in the queue under the hot sun, let them pay me," continued the widow.

I walked to another villager and repeated my enquiry.

Shyamlal signalled the symbol of the party for which he would vote.

"Why?" I was curious.

"I received Rs 100 from the agent."

"For a hundred rupees you are going to sell your vote?" I began preaching to that villager. "Accept the money; but vote for the party or candidate you want," I advised that tribal.

"Oh, how can we do that, Sa...