India, Dec. 29 -- What unfolded during the Pune Mahanagar Palika election process is not a logistical footnote-it is a loud moral indictment. Thousands of nomination forms sold in a flash, queues that looked less like civic enthusiasm and more like a cattle market, and whispers-no, allegations-that "tickets" are effectively priced rather than earned. Call it what you want: procedure, enthusiasm, or coincidence. To the ordinary citizen, it smells like a democracy on discount.

Let's stop pretending. When nomination forms are sold in bulk with such frenzy, the obvious question is why. Civic service does not suddenly become a mass obsession overnight. What has exploded is not public spirit, but political profiteering. Tickets have become com...