Tampering Tele-conned

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The affidavit filed by the Prime Minister in Supreme Court in the wake of 2G spectrum is disappointing, avers Sanjay Gupta

The Supreme Court’s demand of affidavit from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the wake of 2G scam is considered to be an unprecedented step. It happened first time in Indian politics that a Prime Minister’s verbal explanation was not accepted and he was asked to file an affidavit regarding the scam. The apex court raised its eyebrow towards the irregularities in the allocation of 2G spectrum. The Court’s tough stand is a quite rational as the CAG’s report clearly points out dishonest dealing in the 2G spectrum.
It is pertinent that despite the Prime Minister being in the know of scam, he took pretty long period of 15 months to sanction for prosecuting Telecom Minister A Raja. It is disappointing that the affidavit produced by the PM in the Court failed to explain the delay. The PM’s official declaration in the apex court mentions the reason for this delay, but it does not explain that why the Centre showed its lackadaisical approach to such grave issue. If the PMO and other ministries simply pay lip-services in place of proper action against the architect of the biggest ever scam, how will corruption be eradicated? If the PMO took such a long time to swing into action against the staggering scam, one can easily understand how the unrecorded issues are putting at backburner.
Janata Party chief Subramanian Swamy first time lodged his complaint about 2G spectrum buzzing in November 2008, seeking sanction from the PM to prosecute A Raja. Swamy sent the PMO five reminders in this regard, but there was no action. Later Swamy got a reply from the PMO, stating clearly that prosecution against Raja was untimely. The PMO was seemingly creaking under pressure of its ally DMK. This is not a first time that a regional satrap of coalition has steered the government to its whims and fancies. It is worth mentioning, former Telecom Minister Dayanidhi Maran, also hailing from DMK, created pressure on the PMO to keep the 2G spectrum allocation out of the range of the empowered group of ministers. Obviously, the DMK cashed in on the shortcomings of coalition politics. Now is the time that national parties should frame some rules and regulations for the coalition politics so that the regional parties will not do politics of blackmailing. The way Raja kept breaking rules with impunity for a long spell, indicates major drawbacks of the coalition politics. Although the Congress gave its plea that commissioning and omissioning of ministers in the UPA government is the Prime Minster’s prerogative, the Manmohan Singh-led government succumbed to the DMK’s pressure and started avoiding taking action against Raja.
Unfortunately, the coalition meant for grabbing simply power defines unprincipled politics and opportunism but regional parties of the coalition government pile up problems for the main party for its smooth functioning. Today the Congress-led UPA government is undergoing the similar exertion that was experienced by the BJP-led NDA during its regime. Now both the Congress and BJP should discuss do’s and don’ts for the coalition politics in the Houses and script the concrete act. This will be a good sign for the country and Indian politics that the Congress and BJP together formulate a system where the Centre does not fall victim to the blackmailing politics of the regional parties.
If Subramanin Swamy’s complaint passed through one ministry to another, as the PM’s affidavit indicates, it strikes dismal notes that some elements at the top place of administration wanted to hush up this matter and the Prime Minister, known for his spotless image, became helpless. The integrity and commitment of the Prime Minister is indisputable, but his credibility got dented as the apex court asked him about his helping hand on Raja. If he wants to come out of cloud of doubt, he will have to launch crusade against corruption. And he has to begin with outrageous 2G spectrum scam.
It is hard to believe that the government is still buttressing its point through the affidavit that it has done nothing wrong. Neither will this protect the PM’s image nor his government. However, the Centre, particularly the Congress, claims for no room for corruption, it is hard to understand the government’s stand against Ashok Chavan, involved in Adarsh society scam, and Suresh Kalmadi, courted controversies for immense irregularities in organizing CWG. Why is the reason that the government finished its job in tokenistic action against Kalmadi?
Given the lax stand of the Centre on corruption, there seems to be no merit in the PM’s decision that all Cabinet ministers will have to make their assets public. It is worrisome that neither effective system nor political will power to bulldoze corruption is on the horizon. Corruption has taken enormity as politicians and bureaucrats have developed bonding with industrialists, who have sole aim to grab money. As number of people having business background is increasing in Rajniti, the political system is turning into a money minting institution instead of serving the nation. Soaring corruption at the high pedestal of political and bureaucratic affairs does not only hit the credibility of India but also compel aam admi to buy the idea that the highly placed corrupt elements wouldn’t be booked. With a string of scams surfacing day after day, the Central government appears to be very casual in dealing with corruption in the system.

(An original copy of the article published in Hindi on Nov 21, 2010 translated by the English Editorial)