Political Diary

New Delhi, 1 October 2011

2G Scam: Rift Wide Open

MORE THAN MEET THE EYE

By Poonam I Kaushish

Political India is beginning to resemble a leaking sieve. Wherein our netagan seem to have got all their connections crossed and jangled. Be it Manmohan Singh’s UPA II Government, Congress or the Opposition BJP. A classic case of star spangled jinx!

Anyone looking for proof would not have to look far as self-confessed goof-ups have become the symbol of directionless and comatose governance UPA style. The latest, being a 14-page note sent by the Finance Ministry to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on the notorious  2G spectrum scam.

Predictably, all hell broke loose as the 25 March memo seen by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee underscored his predecessor Chidambaram had not exercised his powers and “stuck to his stand.” to force then Telecom Minister Raja to take the auction route of the valuable spectrum.

After 8 long days of stony silence, the two protagonists Mukherjee and Chidambaram finally came together last Thursday in a purported show of unity to clear the air. Sic. Said Finance Minister Mukherjee in a terse 12 line statement, “Apart from the factual background the paper contains, certain inferences and interpretations that do not reflect my views.” Cooed Chidambaram, “I accept the statement as far as all us in the Government are concerned, the matter is closed.”

Alas, Mukherjee’s statement not only failed to cut any ice but also left many questions unanswered. If the Finance Minister or his officials did not 'indict' Chidambaram in that note, then who did it, and why? The argument could be extended to the Prime Minister easily, particularly as the memo was a “harmonised note produced by various representatives of Ministries as an inter-ministerial background paper.”

Questionably, can Mukherjee just see a note and assert these not his view? As Minister if he did not agree with the memo’s contents, vetted by officials including of the PMO that Chidambaram could have stalled Raja, nothing stopped him from appending his own views in writing.

Certainly not. Mukherjee and Chidambaram’s body language said it all. Both looked tense and upset notwithstanding the seemingly brave mask in place. There is no more than meets the eye. It is no secret that a wide rift exists between the two specially after the “chewing-gum bugging” of Mukherjee’s office early this year.

Undeniably Sonia-Manmohan ordered a truce to save the Government from further embarrassment. True on the surface, the ‘ceasefire’ seems a loss of face for Mukherjee, but it may prove a deceptive victory for Chidambaram at a later stage. The Finance Minister has merely said the note does not “reflect his views.”

If truth be told Mukherjee has cleverly further tied Chidambaram in knots.  By not denying the statement’s contents he had made it official-Government speak. This has now only deepened the crisis and exposed the Government too Opposition onslaught which is raucously demanding Chidambaram’s resignation.  

This apart, it is all very well for Chidambaram to assert that for the Government “the matter is closed”. Certainly not. As the one in the dock, who has given him the authority to accept Mukherjee's statement? Also, with Mukherjee giving legitimacy to the note in which the Cabinet Secretariat has contributed substantially by adding some 35 paragraphs, Chidambaram’s worries have only increased.

Clearly it is not a question of bruised egos of warring ministers, but about loss of revenue. The 2G issue has serious legal implications with lower court ready to frame charges and the Supreme Court give it's verdict on whether the scam should be still monitored by the Special Investigation Team. Chidambaram will be pushed into the defensive when the Apex Court resumes hearings after the Dusshera vacation.

Sadly, this lack of trust within the UPA leadership cannot be dismissed as merely a conflict of sense of self or ambitions. It is a direct fallout of this culture of lack of political accountability. This lack of conviction is symptomatic of a deeper malaise within the Congress arising primarily from the dichotomy between power and responsibility. Which cannot be excused as political delinquency and coalition compulsion.

The blundering by the Congress over the Telangana issue best epitomises this malaise. Consider: Andhra Pradesh which sends the highest number of MPs for the Party is split down the middle over this burning issue and is in the throes of strike which has entered its 19^th day. Yet the Congress at the Centre and its State Government continues to vacillate on how best to end the impasse. Happy just buying time. But for how long? Speaking volumes about a leadership that has jeopardised the Party's position in the one State, other than UP, that matters the most to the Congress and UPA?

Look at the irony. Even as the UPA seems paralysed, the main Opposition Party BJP has been unable to seize the moment .It  is boxed in by grandiose pretensions of being a ‘Party with a difference’ but is in fact a party with differences with votaries of the Sangh Parivar pulling in different directions.

Today, it is grappling with dissensions as never before.  So caught up are its Gen Next leaders busy taking potshots at each other, jostling to emerge numero uno has set many tongues wagging.. The latest fissure is that of Gujarat Chief Minister Narender Modi-Advani-Gadkhari. The cleft came to the fore when Modi absented himself from the Party’s two-day National Executive meeting last weekend. Reportedly, Modi is unhappy with Advani's yatra for good governance and clean politics starting on October 11.

Aggravating matters, instead of starting his journey from Gujarat, Advani chose Jayprakash Narayan’s birthplace in Bihar and got Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is not a fan of Modi, to flag it off. The Gujarat Chief Minister is also upset that Advani did not attend t at his Maha-rally on the outskirts of Ahmadabad. The BJP President Gadkari's decision to re-induct controversial RSS pracharak Sanjay Joshi, Modi’s diehard detractor, has upset him. Remember, Modi had made plain his prime ministerial ambitions during his recent Sadbhavana fast,

This confusion is compounded by the fact that instead of marshaling all its resources, reconciling internal differences and exposing the 'contradictions' within the Congress and the Manmohan Singh Government, the BJP continues to hog the limelight for all the wrong reasons, when it should have positioned itself to corner the ruling combine at the Centre.

Happily for the UPA is riding the crest of the TINA (there is no alternative) factor. Even if the aam aadmi is burdened with crippling prices and corruption he has no alternate other than this Government. Already civil society led by Anna Hazare has usurped the Opposition BJP mantle. The so-called Third Front is non-existent. Consequently, UPA may have lost the moral fabric that once held it together but it will not sink.

Clearly, the time has come for the Government to smell the coffee. The Prime Minister needs to urgently pick up the gauntlet. Ideas are aplenty; the imperative need is to act firmly. Manmohan Singh must realize that the going has got tough. No longer will “work in progress” suffice.

Time to recall, late US President John Kennedy words: “When at some future date the High Court of history sits in judgment on each one of us... our success or failure in whatever office we hold will be measured by our answers to four questions: Were we truly men of courage? Were we truly men of integrity? Were we truly men of judgment? Were we truly men of dedication? ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)