Political Diary

New Delhi, 18 July 2017

‘Power’ of Corruption

WHAT HAS MORALITY GOT TO DO WITH IT?

By Poonam I Kaushish

This is ludicrous. Look at the inequity of the system. A 10^th class fail is Bihar’s Dy Chief Minister and a person who got 89 marks instead of 90 is rejected by the Teachers Recruitment Board in Tamil Nadu. The former shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly asserting, “I am elected by the people.” Sic. Indeed, Mera Desh Mahan!

If the ignominy of being uneducated yet lording over the fate of citizens including the young teacher aspirant is bad news, worse is the 10^th class fail RJD Chief Lalu’s son Tejashwi  has been caught with his hands in the corruption jar and is holding an entire State Government to ransom by daring, sack me if you can.

This follows the ED and CBI raiding 12 properties owned by Lalu, wife Rabri and Tejashwi  across the country and charge-sheeting them for illegally awarding hotel maintenance and operation contracts to private firm Sujata Hotels for the railways BNR Hotels in Ranchi and Puri when the RJD chief was Railway Minister in 2006.

Simultaneously, the company sold a prime three acre plot in Patna to Delight Marketing Company owned by Lalu crony and ex-Corporate Minister PC Gupta’s wife Sarla for Rs 1.5 crores (less than circle rate Rs1.93 crores) when the market rate was Rs 94 crores. She transferred the land to Lara (Lalu-Rabri) Projects LLP owned by Tejaswi. The ED is examining the circumstances in which Tejashwi acquired control of AK Exports, via "prima facie illegal transactions".

Undoubtedly, it is matter of time before Tejashwi is compelled to quit or sacked. Specially post Lalu’s assertion that his son owed no explanation as to how he acquired disproportionate assets which he never declared and flexing his muscles I-am-your-mai-baap. Resulting in the JD(U)-RJD cracks  growing deeper with the RJD Chief threatening Nitish that his ministerial brood would quit the Cabinet along-with his  ladla and political heir.

I am not surprised, like father like son. Remember Lalu too had initially refused to quit as Chief Minister when charge-sheeted in the infamous chara scam in 1997. “Where does the Constitution say a person duly elected in the people’s court has to resign merely on being charge-sheeted by policemen? What has morality got to do with politics”, he quivered. 

True, the courts will judge the merits of the case, but it raises disturbing questions about our democracy. That it does not strike any chord among our leaders who have reduced graft to a farcical political pantomime. There is no sense of outrage or shame. Can one compromise on corruption? Does politics force an indulgence on issues of governance and probity? Is this part of political dharma? Whereby politics has everything to do with acceptability, little with credibility and public life is all compromises, not principles dripping morality sermons but not practicing it.

Either which way, Lalu & Co has exposed the hypocrisy of our netas. As long as he is part of the Establishment, all wink at his misdemeanors’ letting him misuse and abuse the legal lacuna to his advantage till he runs out of legal lacunas. Witness, the statement by the ‘secular’ parties, “political vendetta ….framed by ‘communal’ BJP”, they yell.

The RJD Chief is not the only one. Recall the scandals during Congress-led UPA II which earned it the ignominy of Republic of Scams, 2G scam, Adarsh, CWG, Coalgate et al. Bringing to the fore striking immoral aspects of governance. Whereby, an honest person is perceived as one who does not get caught.

Indeed, it was a matter of time when Nitish will croon enough, fed up of managing the inherent pulls and pressures, several run-ins and extreme contradictions with Lalu since coming to power two years ago. They in all probability will turn foes again given Lalu’s disposition of always being numero uno and believing he is truly the king maker, which in this case he is.

Ironically, both Nitish and Lalu are identical in political upbringing but absolutely unlike in demeanour and track record of governance: Nitish’s development, good governance and clean image vs. Lalu’s Jungle raj. The Chief Minister is said to be uncomfortable with the growing influence of Lalu’s family on the coalition and the shadow the graft charges have cast on his brand of politics, built on a promise of clean and corruption-free governance.

Today Nitish is caught between a rock and hard place given his zero-tolerance against sleaze and demanding tough action against those holding benami properties on the one hand and fear of the alliance breaking midway at the other. How he manages his remaining term is a tough call given the divergence of style and functioning. Reportedly, he has approached Congress Sonia and Rahul to persuade Lalu not to delay Tejashwi’s resignation and put the alliance’s future in doldrums.

However, given Rahul’s Quixote ways, Nitish is nobody’s fool even as he has an unenviable task of either convincing Lalu to get Tejaswi to resign yet not pull the plug from the Government and manage the inherent contradictions, re-allay with old flame BJP and save his Government or call for fresh poll. Already, his colleagues are making the right noises ‘of always being comfortable’ with erstwhile Saffron ally. The arithmetic too works, JD(U) 71+BJP’s 58 totals 129, a simple majority in the Assembly.

That the BJP is not averse, is apparent with senior Party leaders nostalgically recalling their 17 long years jugalbandi before parting ways in 2014 by making plain it was willing to extend outside support. For Modi he kills two birds with one stone, gets a foothold in Bihar and defuses Nitish’s ambition as joint Opposition candidate for Bharat’s Gaddi in 2019.

Nitish is savoir-faire knowing that to fulfill his development agenda he has to work with the Centre and open its purse strings. More so, as in the last two years crime has returned manifold, women are no longer safe and State contracts reek of corruption. Alongside, he has to press on with policies that proffer educational opportunities, jobs, provide fiscal substance for upward mobility and social upliftment of his rainbow coalition of OBCs, EBCs, Mahadalits, Musahars and Muslims who voted for him and continue focusing on bijli-sadak, Suraksha andNari Shakti.

Ironically, those who have worked with Modi and Nitish swear that both share many common traits. Both are meticulous, honest, hardworking and come from humble backgrounds. In their respective settings, both are often accused of being “arrogant and authoritative”. Their politics may diverge but it leaves the scope of the twain meeting in the future.

Clearly, the chickens have come home to roost for Lalu and family. But whether it is curtain down for Bihar’s first family it is too early to say as the saying goes: “Jab tak rahega samose main aaloo, tab tak rahega Bihar main Lalu!”

What next? The Bihar spark might reignite the old chingari showing there are never any full stops in politics. Consequently, power-sharing will remain the name of the game, but it’s the political malfeasance and assiduous cultivation of low morality for a place in high political society that worries one. Importantly, our democracy needs urgent course correction and corrective action. Wherein the Laloo narrative should make our netagan do a double-take, “Politics might no longer be the last refuge of a scoundrel”. ---- INFA

(Copyright, India News & Feature Alliance)