In the turmoil before the general election in India, the champions of integrity have given way to exigencies of circumstances. Sonia Gandhi feels that there is no legal barrier for Ashok Chavan to contest elections though he is an accused in the Adarsh case in Maharashtra. Do as the others do, seems to be her principle. BJP has asked B. S. Yedurappa to stand for election. DMK has fielded the much tainted A Raja. From a pragmatic point of view, tainted candidates may taint the parties they are standing for. The fiery idealism of Rahul Gandhi has been doused. He has no objection to an alliance with RJD led by Lalu Prasad Yadav whom he had got expelled from parliament for his fodder scam. UPA II had chosen to hand the telecom portfolio to A Raja despite his involvement in the 2G scam. When he stepped down the second year of the government, parliamentary business was temporarily stalled. But the damage had been done.
Tainted politicians should be boycotted not merely for ethical reasons. The pragmatic aspect is even more relevant. Ashok Chavan says that his electorate will pass the verdict on him. It is a flat contradiction of judicial decision making. Raja won his seat in 2009 by a comfortable margin. But his performance as a minister was very much under the scanner. The past cannot be wished away in politics. The reason tickets are given to tainted politicians is their vote catching ability. Even the association of allegedly tainted persons can cast a shadow over candidates. Take the case of eminent professor Sugato Bose, a Trinamool candidate in the company of Arabool who was accused of murder. The CPI (M) has done well to expel Lakshman Seth who was decidedly guilty of many crimes. The result of sucking in tainted politicians is the undermining of trust in political parties. It may be said that Rahul Gandhi has already stepped back even before his run for a parliamentary seat.