Political Diary

New Delhi, 24 July 2010

Aaj Ke Rajnetas

ARE THEY WORTHY OF US?

By Poonam I Kaushish

From “politics of direct sale” to rule by law, Indian rajneeti has it all. Today it has another earned another ignominious feather: democracy of convenience. That entails using, misusing and abusing power through political weapons at one’s command to fix rivals, making allegations, even it they border on the ridiculous, to get the better of adversaries, create mayhem to get one’s way and say et al. All employing individual meanness for the public good! Sic.

Four tales which ‘showcase’ the ugly, uglier and the ugliest of our aaj ke rajneetas. Story I: In Gujarat alleged terrorist Sohrabuddin and his wife are killed in a fake police encounter, November 2005. The Supreme Court orders CBI to probe the case as the State’s investigation was unsatisfactory. The agency summons State Home Minister Amit Shah who seeks time which is refused and a CBI special court refuses him anticipatory bail. Chargesheeted for criminal conspiracy, kidnapping and murder Shah resigns but is in hiding.

The BJP goes to town yelling blue murder even cancelling the Prime Minister’s customary lunch prior to Parliament’s monsoon session. It accuses the Congress-led Government of misusing the CBI and wanting to break the Opposition’s new-found bonhomie.  Challenging the Centre to file a case against the Andhra police and the State’s Home Minister for the killing of a senior Naxal functionary and a journalist in an encounter recently.

Clearly, the chargesheet holds out ominous portals. On one hand many find fake encounters abhorrent but desist from questioning Maoists killed in suspicious manners. Not a few argue that the security forces might adopt a “hands-up” policy in eliminating terrorists fearful of future allegations being heaped on them for political expediency.

Some contend that with the breakdown in the law-enforcing machinery, corruption and slow judicial process the only way to eliminate bad elements is to resort to fake encounters. Arguably, killings cannot be selective if terrorism has to be eliminated. Recall, innocents paid a heavy price to ensure a militant-free Punjab in the 90s. The then Governor late Dharma Vira believed in the dictum: there is no place for a live dacoit. 

As for the CBI’s role, all know that it is the hand maiden of the Government of the day. Be it the Congress, BJP, NDA or UPA. In recent times, UPA’s statecraft demanded that the investigative agency goes slow in cases against three regional satraps, BSP’s Mayawati, Samajwadi’s Mulayam and RJD’s Lalu. As did the BJP when it sat on India’s Raj gaddi.

Politically, the Sohrabuddin case has turned into an ugly war between the Congress and the BJP. Wherein Shah’s exit could stall Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi’s ambition of occupying BJP’s centerstage and lead the NDA. Notwithstanding, that it would help the Party in the State. Even as the Congress gloats over its victory of cornering its opponent it has to contend with the fact that the case has less to do with upholding the rule of law and more to do with scoring political brownie points.

Moral of story:  Let parties continue misusing the CBI

Story 2: The Jnaneswari Express collides with another train in West Bengal leaving 66 dead last week. The second accident in two months. Predictably, the Opposition demands Rail Minister and Trinamool Chief Mamata’s resignation regime as over 200 accidents have taken place since she took over 14 months ago.

. 

Leading to a bellicose war of words between Mamata and arch rival CPM. Asserted she: “The CPM has been planning sabotage…. opening clips on tracks… They are letting cockroaches into food…."I am prepared to resign if the CPM guarantees that it will not indulge in sabotage….  It is time for the CPM to go. Countered the Red brigade, “Mamata is politicking a serious mishap. No conspiracy theory can explain how 400-plus lives were lost in these accidents.”

At one level it is an appalling reflection on the standards of safety in the Railways and a heartless attitude towards loss of human life. Particularly as it runs 9,000 passenger trains carrying over 18 million passengers every day. On the other, it showcases Mamata’s cavalier attitude to her portfolio. Shockingly, over 90,000 safety-related posts have been lying vacant for want of official sanction and it needs vital technological upgrade vis-a-vis signalling and track maintenance for minimising human error.

Undoubtedly, much of the criticism is warranted. Instead of ensuring safety measures Mamata is more interested in securing the political ground in her home State and becoming the Chief Minister in the forthcoming Assembly elections. The Cabinet berth at the Centre is only a means of distributing patronage to her vote-banks to achieve that goal.

Worse, she merrily plays on the Congress’s political compulsions which dictate her indispensability from the Rail Ministry. No matter that passengers are paying daily with their lives. Not only that. By trivialising the deaths she underscored that in her scheme of things the buck cannot stop at her doorstep. Thus, drawing a new line on ministerial accountability.

Moral of the story: Today’s brand of politics is all about muck-raking, name-calling, shrill rhetoric and shoddy public spectacles.  

Story 3: A CAG report alleges financial irregularities in Bihar and all hell breaks loose. Disobeying the Speaker’s directive to let the House function, 80 Opposition MLAs overturn desks and chairs, break microphones and virtually came to blows with ruling JD(U)-BJP members. They also spend the night in the well of the two Houses of the State legislature. Obviously, taking a cue from their Opposition counterparts in Karnataka who had a five-night sleepover in the Assembly earlier this month to protest against the illegal mining scam allegedly masterminded by two ruling party MLAs.

The next day, 67 of the MLAs are suspended by the Assembly Speaker for the rest of the monsoon session for unruly behaviour and marshalled out. In the prevailing chaos a slipper is flung at the Speaker and outside the Assembly and the Legislative Council a hysterical woman Congress MLC animatedly threw flower pots around. In the free-for-all RJD members accuses Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of “losing his mental balance,” and JD(U) dubs Lalu “the epitome of corruption.

PS; The slipper throwing resonated in Delhi’s Municipal Corporation as a Congress member gave vent to his angst against the BJP. Indeed, politics is going to pot and has come a long way from ‘shoe-cide’ to ‘slipper politics’!

Moral of the story: Legislatures are supreme. But it helps if one shows muscle power.  

Story 4: It all started with a bumptious Congress Pune MLA ticking off a newspaper security guard, “Don’t you know who I am?” On receiving a negative reply, the MLA abused and beat up the guard and reprimanded him for daring to talk to him.  Later, the blasé MLA argued that he had done nothing wrong. “I am a VIP” and should get respect, he reportedly averred. 

There is no gainsaying that VIP is three grimy words that underline all that’s wrong with our powers-that-be. In a milieu flooded with loutish and loathsome VIP culture where a simple query is construed as an impertinent affront and challenge to the all-important person. Unlike the aam aadmi they profess to serve, they refuse to conform to rules instead rule by law. No IDs’, no frisking and long queues, show ID, brushing away bans etc. God forbid, if anyone questions their misdemeanor be prepared for open fury.

Moral of the story: Keep abusing power. Some men are more equal than others.

Importantly, these fables portray India’s tragic reality. True, we get the leaders we deserve. But at the same time are the netas worthy of us? The time has come to bell the political cat of convenience. And bring probity and morality into our national life. Any takers?  ----- INFA

(Copyright, India News and  Feature Alliance)