The two main political parties in Yahapalanaya held two separate rallies to celebrate May Day last Sunday. 

The leadership of both parties issued specific instructions to the organizers of their May Day celebrations well in advance not to misuse any of the state-owned resources in connection with the event. The Head and the Second in command of yahapalanaya won kudos from the civil society activists in particular for this decision.   

However, a purohita hailing from the South and carrying the ‘fuel power’ had reportedly given a ‘fiat’ to his party that ran counter to the spirit of the instructions issued by the yahapalanaya bosses. “Ask the drivers of the buses transporting our supporters to the rally to call at the filling stations, a list of which I am giving you. The authorities operating these filling stations have agreed to pump oil into our buses free of charge!”

A close henchman of the purohita a bit surprised at this arrangement had asked: “Sir, are you going to foot the oil bills later?”

The purohita who carefully looked around to ascertain that there were no nosy reporters within hearing distance, had replied: “Why on earth should we pay…?  Oil prices came down sharply in the world market recently and we didn’t ask this company to lower the prices in keeping with the price drops in the world market. And they have been making huge profits as a result. Therefore, I ask them to supply us oil for our May Day transport vehicles free of charge. I am confiding in you a top secret…!”