THE unmarked envelopes that Indian business has been handing over to politicians over the last month are slimmer than those for any other previous election in the last two decades. A number of diverse factors—some of them not so obvious—have contributed to this sea change from even last year when the right-hand man of one of the country's leading industrialists met a former central minister—now hawala-tainted—for the first time. "I don't know you, I don't wish to know you. You want my friendship? Pay me Rs 1 crore," was how the minister began the conversation.