Why NDA- II is a spitting image of UPA II
By B.K. Chum
Has the BJP-led NDA-II become the Congress-led UPA-II within 19 months of coming to power? Perhaps yes, with some degree of variations. The question relates to the performance of the two governments on crucial issues including corruption, economy, reforms, and Parliament’s functioning. Corruption is the favourite money-minting pastime of many of our in-power politicians of all shades. Like the five-year UPA-II rule, which was plagued with mega scams, the 19 months old NDA-II government, particularly some of the BJP’s top leaders, also find themselves entangled in corruption and irregularities cases.
Before we dwell on some cases of alleged corruption during the NDA-II’s rule, it is imperative to recall Modi’s mantra “Na khaunga, na khaane doonga” that he had recited on taking over as prime minister. He has honoured the first part of his commitment as his personal record has so far been clean. But he has failed to implement the second part of his commitment by not only not taking action against his party leaders who have been facing corruption charges but has also been trying to shield some of his loyalists facing allegations of gross irregularities. Such cases have been making media headlines.
After assuming his high office Modi had pursued “silence is golden” strategy on most of the ticklish issues which have been confronting the country. Accordingly, he did not ‘waste time’ in making any comment on the cases like External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje’s alleged involvement in the Lalitgate scam. He also kept mum on the infamous Vyapam scandal that rocked Shivraj Singh Chauhan-led BJP’s Madhya Pradesh government. (In the Vyapam scam some top BJP leaders including cabinet minister Laxmikant Sharma were also involved. Sharma who faced serious charges was released on bail last week. Over 40 witnesses, accused, lawyers, police officials and journalists related to the admission and recruitment scam in the Vyapam scam had lost their lives under mysterious circumstances.)
But Modi adopted a different stand on the charges leveled by BJP’s own Bihar MP and cricketer Kirti Azad about finance minister Arun Jaitley’s alleged involvement in the serious irregularities running into several crores of rupees in the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) that took place during Jaitley’s tenure as DDCA chief between 1999 and 2013. Defending Jaitley Modi said “he has lived his public life with certain principles and will come through with flying colours in the same manner as L.K. Advani did in Hawala case”. (Kirti Azad, who had exposed the DDCA scam but had not named Jaitley, was suspended from BJP for “anti-party activities” prompting him to ask party chief Amit Shah “what anti-party activity have I done?”). But Shah has not so far responded to his query. As usually happens in cases of politicians facing serious charges, Jaitley, instead of specifically answering the charges of irregularities committed in the case, denied them saying they were “baseless and completely wrong”. To use his favourite expression “manufactured cases”, which he has been using in cases involving BJP opponents, his denial can also be termed as “manufactured denial”. Skeptics describe it as a case of guilty conscious.
The DDCA scam which has jolted the ruling brass is likely to deepen dissensions in the saffron party. Shatrughan Sinha has already raised his voice against his party’s attitude on the DDCA issue. The party’s ‘markdarshaks’ (guides) L.K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Yashwant Sinha and Shanta Kumar have also held closed-door meeting to discuss the happenings within their party. Feeling concerned over the goings-on they did not disclose what transpired in the meeting. Some media reports, however, claim that the sidelined leaders may no longer keep silently watching the happenings in the party and may decide to play ‘active role’ as ‘markdakshaks’. If this happens, the saffron party which had to bite the dust in the Bihar Assembly elections and in some state assembly by-elections will be confronted with a serious challenge.
Contrary to his pre-election promises, Modi has not so far been able to implement his reforms agenda to boost India’s economy which instead of getting uplift continues to be stagnant. The performance of the industrial sector has been uninspiring. During the past few months exports have also fallen. Share market is one of the reliable barometers to assess the state of the economy. Optimism about Modi’s becoming prime minister generated during the run-up to the 2014 Parliament elections had given a boost to share prices with Sensex touching an all-time high of 30,000 points. But the government’s failure to implement the promised reforms and the slowdown in the economy during the NDA’s past few months rule have led to a steep fall of 5,000 points in the share price index pushing it down to 25,000 points.
Speaking in Parliament, the BJP leaders blamed the Opposition, particularly the Congress, for the government’s failure to implement the promised reforms. It charged the Congress leadership with disrupting the Parliament’s proceedings which resulted in the virtual washout of the winter session.
The situation reminds one the saying “As you sow, so shall you reap.” During the UPA rule, the BJP had disrupted session after session of Parliament virtually rendering it dysfunctional.
Political parties must realize that if they play partisan games in Parliament it harms the peoples interests and also usually proves counter-productive for them. (IPA Service)