Political Diary
New
Delhi, 28 February 2015
Political
Twilight Zone
CRONY
CAPITALISM, TOH KYA?
By Poonam
I Kaushish
“They are very important
people… see they are comfortable.” A harmless instruction, one would dismiss.
Yet it has exercised-excited political Delhi,
thanks to the main protagonist: Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Underscoring yet again the sordid politician-businessman--journalist nexus,
succinctly crony capitalism whereby, self-serving dostis and family ties influence Government decisions and deals to
enrich each other. Welcome to 21st century desh ki rajniti: The new Carpetbaggers!
All hell broke loose when an Essar Group
“whistleblower” went public with internal company communications of how Gadkari
and family were flown from Nice to spend two nights on Ruia’s luxury yacht
stationed in the French Riviera waters 7-9 July 2013. Spiced by giving us a
peep into the murky world of how the company cultivated Ministers, politicians,
bureaucrats and journalists, showered them with gifts and favours to push its
business interests.
True, Gadkari’s defence is that he was not a
“public figure” so “where is the problem?” Adding, “I was on a personal holiday
in Norway
and all tickets and hotel bills were paid by me….I have known the Ruias for over
25 years…so they invited me. I see no conflict of interest since I was neither
the BJP President nor a Minister or MP. I will not do so now since I am a Minister.”
Sic
But the moot point is: He was still a very
important person in the Party hierarchy.
More scandalous is Gadkari’s blasé attitude. Nonchalantly, he justifies
the boat visit as a “study tour”. Really, who is he trying to kid? Has he
forgotten that as a public figure he should have insured that no conflict ever
arises between his public duties and private interest?
Why blame Gadkari, Congress’s then Coal Minister
Jaiswal, senior leaders Digvijay Singh and Motilal Vora, ex-MP Laguri and BJP’s
Varun Gandhi referred candidates for jobs in Essar. In fact, one of the emails
suggests that 200 slots were earmarked for VIP “referrals” and a separate data
bank maintained.
Call it plutocracy (rule by wealth) or
kleptocracy (rule by theft) either which way
netas of all shapes and sizes,
hues and colours, communal and secular flock together collectively cooing
there’s nothing’s wrong. The name of the
game is quid-pro-qous and you-scratch-my-back-I-scratch-yours.
Alas, today bribing bureaucrats
is de rigueur wherein instead
of success being determined by the rule of
law, a businessman’s success is dependent on the favoritism that is shown
to him by the Government. A powerful trickle down effect where the
lowliest rural officials and policemen expect their palms greased just to do
their jobs.
The surfeit of classic illustrations of crony
capitalism abound. From the 2G spectrum
scam, Adarsh Housing Society scandal, Coalgate wherein coal blocks were given
to families and friends of UPA Ministers, Congress and its allies MPs’ or
people close to the Party. And the infamous Nira Radia tapes encompassing industrialists,
media, netagan, babudom et al.
Shockingly, in 2011 92 Rajya Sabha MPs had
pecuniary interests including remunerative directorship, shareholding of
controlling nature, paid consultancy and professional engagement. Worse, they
were members of Standing Committees in which they have business interests.
Primarily because, there are no rules of the game. Morality and ethics no
longer matter.
Big deal, if this smacks of conflict of
interest. Questionably, what is the line between a politician’s public and
personal life? Can he be ethical in public if he is unethical in private? Is
his private life any concern of the people? Has politics become too personal or
should politicians expect intense media scrutiny of their affairs? Do we have
unrealistic expectations of our leaders?
Undeniably, the issue is not Gadkari’s
indiscretion, but it once again underscores our politicians are expected to be
a notch above ordinary mortals. To be respected and held in high esteem who
don’t easily succumb to human weaknesses and foibles. Moreover, a man’s public
life can never be clean if his private life is not. The two are indivisible as
a person’s public demeanour is influenced by his character, integrity and
values.
Gadkari and his ilk forget that a leader has to
pay the price of privacy once he enters public life which demands accountable
to the people. The aam aadmi has a
right to know everything about his netas as
their salaries are paid for by the people who need to make informed judgments
about the kind of leaders they want.
Alas, not only him but many of our netagan resist accountability and
continue to rule by law. Not for them
the need to uphold the tenets of good governance. Over the years we have stood witness to the
public mask and private face of our netagan.
Replete with State-funded narcissism at one end, interspersed with our polity’s
experiments in untruth to the unprecedented private-public partnership in our
all-powerful Government system. Exposing
our fallacious tryst with good governance!
Sadly, the tragedy of the Gadkari saga is that
it has not made any iota of difference or guilt among our teflon-coated politicians who
continue to be fair game and ply whatever you want: Lay down any law, bend any
rule, change any order, transfer any person and fudge figures. All for
freebies, holidays, money, entertainment and all the goodies even sexy
two-legged sizzlers.
Undoubtedly, constant scrutiny is the price of
fame. If our leaders want to enjoy the privileges of power and all the status
that goes with it then they should willingly pay the price of absolute
integrity and honesty. If a person takes small favours how can one trust him on
bigger things?
What next? Time we put in place a clear and
transparent regulatory framework and stop crony capitalism riding roughshod
over bona fide businessman. Our netagan need
to cry a halt to political cronyism wherein it spills over into the business
world; self-serving friendships and family ties. Corrupting public-serving
economic and political ideals.
Simultaneously, our polity needs to realize
people placed in positions of judgment or power must take extra steps to insure
that their private interests do not compete with their professional duties
leading to a conflict of interest. Whereby, a businessman’s company benefits
financially or otherwise thanks to his closeness to a leader.
The nation demands, its polity to be whiter than
white otherwise they are not fit to do the job It is high time to cry a halt to
increasing degradation by conducing our own due diligence, else we lay the
foundation for a weak and pliable polity. We need an effective vetting process
of the real chaal, charitra & chehra
of our leaders.
Our leaders
need to recall a home-truth: With power comes responsibility. Heed former
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher warning, said she: “If individuals
behave irresponsibly, it is impossible for them to establish a responsible
society. Without a responsible society, there cannot be a responsible
State”.
As Modi asserts, a corruption-free India and its
democracy come first. We need to expose the private mukhota of the public chehra.
Public accountability is indispensable in a democratic set-up. Or else be
prepared to face public sting! ------INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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