Political Diary

New Delhi, 25 August 2012

Coalgate: Political Gangs Of Wasseypur

YAAR,THIS IS BUSINESS OF DEMOCRACY!

By Poonam I Kaushish

Your freedom ends where my nose begins. This axiom accentuates the shenanigans witnessed during the last one week in Parliament. Wherein our Right Honourables brought both Houses to a grinding halt thanks to their ghisi-piti tu-tu-mein-mein on ‘your’ versus ‘our’ Rs 1.86 lakh crores Coalgate.  Never mind the heavy cost to the nation. Yaar, this is the business of democracy!

Importantly, the Comptroller and Accountant General’s bombshell on allotment of coal mines to favoured private parties who instead of extracting coal sat tight (only 28 of 86 captive coal blocks produced coal) stands testimony to a brazen ‘democracy by concessions and politics of direct sale’. Read, converting the nation’s resources into capital which in turn, are controlled by a small group of big business surpassing public interest.

Predictably, this elicited a typical response from the Congress. Said Union Finance Minister Chidambaram, “When coal is still under Mother Earth how can there be loss?” Ignoring the unwritten subtext, post this allotment these companies share prices increased hundred fold. Simply because the black gold mines belonged to them.

Arguably, where will this eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation end? With Sonia telling her MPs to go aggressive, the Government is unlikely to back down. A paranoid Sonia does not want a Bofors repeat which indicted her late husband Rajiv who lost the 1989 elections. Her fear stems from the likelihood that if ‘Coalgate’ is investigated it might directly implicate Prime Minister Manmohan Singh but also her impliedly as he was “her man”.

True, 2012 is not 1989 of 24x7 TV. The Prime Minister could exercise the option of addressing the nation on TV to overcome the Opposition’s obstruction of Parliament. Yet, if Rajiv Gandhi paid the price for holding the Defence Minister for Bofors, the same applies to Manmohan Singh as he was India’s Coal Minister from 2005-09 with two Congress Ministers of State.

Undoubtedly, none dispute Manmohan Singh honesty. It is also true that Sonia can replace him with another loyalist Defence Minister Antony to douse the Opposition tirade. Perhaps, she realizes if she does so, it would directly hit her. Given that she is the numero uno in both Party and Government. Asserted a senior BJP leader, “Coalgate is the only issue where we can nail the Manmohan-Sonia link”. Reportedly, the modus operandi was simple: Favoured private firms first negotiated a price with the High Command, paid up and then mines allotted to them.

Alas, the Congress cannot hide behind its “compulsions of coalition politics” allies or use them as its punching bag unlike the Rs 1.76 lakh crores 2G spectrum scam which netted the scalp of ally DMK’s Telecom Minister Raja  and Karunanidhi’s daughter and Rajya Sabha MP Kanimozhi being sent to jail. For rising prices, it has apportioned blame on NCP’s Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and for “UPA’s policy paralysis” on Trinamool’s volatile Mamata Bannerjee.

If all fails, senior leaders are clear they will adjourn Parliament sine die. With Mamata spiking FDI in retail and aviation, Pension Bill, only the Whistle Blowers Act needs to be passed. But cutting across Party lines, MPs would rather not have this law.

Undeniably, Coalgate has given the BJP-led NDA a perfect handle to brow-beat rival Congress-led UPA. But why has it chosen this scandal as it’s “now or never tactics”? Does the Sangh believe it can go in for the kill a la Bofors? Resigning from Parliament and various Committees will not bring the Government to the negotiating table. Also, with 20 months left for polls, by-polls could be held in 114 BJP-held seats whereby the Congress could stand to gain by wresting some seats.

Notwithstanding, that the Party might ultimately heed the advise of ally JD (U) and allow a discussion in Parliament whereby it retains the option of expressing dis-satisfaction over Prime Minister’s explanation and stall Parliament in the last week of the Monsoon session which ends on 7^th September. Thereby, keeping ‘Coalgate’ alive.

Moreover it has discounted another Joint Parliament Committee (JPC) as it would be an exercise in futility. Experience with the JPC on 2G scam shows, the Congress and its allies MPs outnumber and out-shout the Opposition whenever demands for questioning Chidambaram and Manmohan Singh are raised. With public memory being extremely short a JPC on Coalgate would soon be relegated to the dustbin of Parliamentary history. As was the case in the banking scam of 1992.

Perhaps, it also feels that by adhering to stalling tactics it could achieve the same results as it did by blocking the 2010 winter session of Parliament over setting up of a JPC on the 2G spectrum scam. In fact, following this outcry, the Supreme Court had laid out a new policy for auctioning of Spectrum.

Besides, it is no secret that crony capitalism is BJP’s mantra too. Remember Yeddiyruppa, Bangaru Lakshman etc.  Two of its Chief Ministers, Madhya Pradesh’s Shivraj Chauhan and Chhattisgarh’s Raman Singh are mentioned in the CAG report.  Succinctly confessed a senior leader, “Hum bhee doodh ke dhula nahin hain. Na toh Congress mein danav hai, na BJP mein devta. Dono ek he thaali ke chaathe bathe hain. Is hamam me hum sab nange hain.”  With elections due in both States it might find the going tough.

Thus, in this scenario it would suit the Sangh to hold the Lok Sabha polls along with the Assemblies due in end 2012-13. In the hurly-burly of a hurried poll, the BJP need not project its Prime Ministerial candidate as its Hindutva mascot Narendra Modi has been vetoed by main ally JD(U)’s Nitish Kumar. Further, it would be Advani’s last chance at taking a shot for India’s Raj gaddi, no matter the jostling by Gadkari, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh, Venkaih Nadu .

Clearly, all eyes are on what happens next. It is time our netas understand that there are moments when cynical calculations of political expediency become repugnant. In a Parliamentary democracy, civilized discourse is the answer. The only way forward is for both sides to sit and talk and iron out differences if India has to grow. Strong arm tactics can earn one a few brownie points, nothing more, nothing less.  At the end it is only the people who lose.

Today India is at the crossroad. Questionably, are we going to allow this ‘democracy of concessions’ to play havoc with the lives of the law-abiding citizens? Where our Right Honourables follow the dictum of ‘might is right’ and operate like Gangs of Wasseypur turning India in to a battle ground for corruption and killing. Time to pause and ponder. The buck stops here. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)