PROBITY AT THE ALTAR OF DYNASTY

What the entire nation has totally missed out while debating the unprecedented corruption on the 2-G spectrum scandal is that probity has been sacrificed for the sake of perpetuating a dynasty. Corruption is not a new phenomenon for Indians or for that matter in any society in the world. This is not to suggest that corruption, because of its prevalence for decades with complete immunity to the bribe takers and givers, has to be condoned. The point is that the 2-G scandal throws open a new angle to the scourge of corruption.

What is that? No one in his senses would attribute mala fides to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. It is not that as a seasoned economist he does not understand the implications of the fraud committed on the nation and the enormity of presumptive loss to the exchequer.
Why then did he keep quiet for nearly three years? One cannot say that the officials did not bring to his notice the massive scam that was unfolding under his very nose. He himself wrote to the scamstor Raja that he should think of auction option rather than first-come-first serve criterion. He knew that Raja, emboldened by the support of “Maharaja” ignored any sane counsel from Finance and Law ministries.

Besides, four Members of Parliament wrote to him pointing out the lapses on the part of Telecom Minister which brought unimaginable losses to the nation. Arun Shourie who was the Telecom Minister in the NDA regime had concrete inside information by virtue of his past association and contacts in the ministry and promptly alerted the government. Likewise, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, independent member of the Rajya Sabha Rajiv Chandrasekhar, and even the NDA chairperson L K Advani wrote to the Prime Minister. But deafening silence was the response.

Is the Prime Minister so uncivilized to ignore communications from people who matter? Far from it. Everyone who knows him vouches for his decent and civilized behaviour as a person and as the top executive of the nation. Why then, did he ignore all the whistle blowers?
As regards the petition of Dr Subramanian Swamy, the Supreme Court has already made its mind known to the people of this country over the PM’s inaction and the very fact that the court asked for an affidavit from the Prime Minister himself speaks volumes about the mess that the government finds itself in. We will only know next Tuesday whether there was any obfuscation of facts on the part of PMO over the Prime ministerial “inaction” when the Attorney General Goolam Vahanavati, instead of Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium, defends the Prime Minister in the apex court.

But, what cannot be denied, based on the documents in public domain so far, is that the Prime Minister did not act on the petition of Swamy for eleven months and did not apply his mind based on the evidences placed before him by Swamy. Instead, he replied to Swamy 11 months later, after the CBI started a bogus investigation filing an FIR against “unknown persons”, stating that it was “premature” for any sanction since the investigation was not over.
It cannot be said that he was unaware of the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, nor can it be imagined that the officials did not brief him correctly. Congress apologists may take to posturing and confuse the public that when the investigation was still on, how could the PM accord sanction for prosecution of Raja. The Supreme Court itself has called this bluff.

Let’s also not forget that the very same Prime Minister was prepared to risk his government when he could not have his way on the issue of Civil Nuclear Deal. Ultimately, bunch of political crooks had to enter the scene to salvage the government. When such was the uprightness of Dr Singh, why did he succumb to pressure in the case of Andimuthu Raja. Party men may go round and say that the PM did indeed take action when he sacked Raja. No one is so naive in this country to buy this argument. The leaked CAG report, impending Parliament session and the obiter dicta of the apex court left no other option for the PM.

But the 1.76 lakh crore question remains. What were the compelling reasons that restrained the hands of the Prime Minister, known for his high personal integrity and honesty, for two years to act against the most despicable character in public life A Raja who brazened out his heinous crime. There was only one reason. He did not get the “nod” from his boss who, as someone suggested, had “outsourced” the job of Prime Minister to Dr Singh.

Why was the UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the real power behind the throne without any accountability, was scared of action against Raja, the blue-eyed boy of DMK supremo M Karunanidhi and a household member of his family. As insiders put it, Dr Singh was quite reluctant to take Raja into his cabinet in 2009 and because of the relentless pressure, he had to oblige. Obviously, Karunanidhi could not bring direct pressure on the PM, but the pressure was routed through the chairperson of the UPA, whose only mission has been to preserve the gaddi for the perpetuation of Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. To accomplish this political mission of her life, she was prepared to devalue all standards in public life, and cause any amount of losses to the nation’s exchequer. This selfish compulsion was euphemistically called “Coalition Dharma” by her minions. Why should we use a sanctified phrase like “Dharma” with far reaching nuances for an act that is full of “Adharma”?

Congress party is coming out with all sorts of explanations and counter charges pretending to occupy a high moral ground citing the example of Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi. The fact that a person like Kalmadi was allowed to lead India at the Asian Games in Guangho (China) when a litany of corruption charges are pending against him, bares the sheer hypocrisy of the party.The bottomline of the spectrum corruption saga of the UPA is this. DMK has proved to be an albatross on the neck of the Union government. Dayanidhi Maran “wanted the policy to be framed exactly the way he wanted”. Another minister in UPA-I T R Baalu had to be kept out because of the mess he created in his ministry. And now, it is Raja, father of all scandals.

Therefore, the Congress party, if it is to be perceived as honest, has to make it clear whether it still supports Raja and stands by the DMK inspite of the damning disclosures that are surfacing linking the DMK to the 2-G scandal. If it sticks to the alliance with the DMK, because the UPA has to be kept in tact for the princeling to succeed, one can safely conclude that both the Congress and the DMK will sink together in the deep waters of Kaveri or in the stinking Koovam river.