My good people I come before you this evening as a man whose honesty and integrity have been questioned. Now, the usual political thing to do when charges are levelled against you is either to ignore them or to deny them without giving details, But before I answer any of your questions, let me state categorically that I have not touched a kobo of the #50,000 we contributed. Every kobo of it has been used in defraying political campaign expenses.
As a matter of fact, during one of my ‘meet the press’ conferences, Tony Agiwa accosted me and said, ‘Honourable Senator what about this fund we hear about?’ I told him there was no secret about the fund and that he should meet Abu O. Abu to get details of the fund. I told him, ‘You will find that the purpose of the fund was primarily to defray political expenses’. In answer to another one of his questions, I said that neither contributors to this fund, nor contributors to any of my campaigns have ever received any special consideration that he would not have received as an ordinary constituent. And I can say that never, since I became a Senator, have I made a telephone call for them to an agency or have I gone down to an agency on their behalf. Records will show that, and these records are in the hands of the Administrator.
Constituent in the passage means
The correct answer is: D
Explanation
The term "constituent" is used in the context of comparing contributors to the fund or campaigns with "an ordinary constituent." The sentence states: "I said that neither contributors to this fund, nor contributors to any of my campaigns have ever received any special consideration that he would not have received as an ordinary constituent."
Contributors to the fund or campaigns: Refers to individuals who have made contributions to the fund or supported the speaker's political campaigns.
Ordinary Constituent: "constituent" is used to mean an individual voter or member of the constituency. The passage emphasizes that contributors are not receiving any special consideration that an ordinary voter (constituent) would not receive.
So, the speaker is asserting that all constituents, whether they contribute to the fund or campaigns or not, are treated equally without any preferential treatment. The term "constituent" here refers to an individual with voting rights in the area represented by the speaker.