Congress’s corruption Raj

November 14, 2010 12:31:54 PM

The Pioneer Edit Desk

Sacking Chavan or Kalmadi a mere ruse

The Congress has clearly painted itself into a corner over the issue of corruption in the UPA Government and in Maharashtra where the party is in power with Mr Sharad Pawar’s NCP. When the involvement of Chief Minister Ashok Chavan in the Adarsh Cooperative Housing scam — in which prime property belonging to the defence forces was grabbed for building a block of exclusive apartments by violating every possible rule and law — was exposed, the Congress’s top leaders were understandably stunned. They could not have expected such damning evidence of senior party leaders being caught with their hands in the till; worse, the disclosures came within weeks of the scandalous loot of public money in the guise of organising the Commonwealth Games becoming public knowledge. Earlier, the Congress had desperately sought to gloss over the corrupt ways of a senior Minister in the Union Cabinet affiliated to the DMK, a major ally of the party. But its efforts to pretend that Mr A Raja had committed no wrong in what has come to be known as the ‘2G scandal’ have come to naught: The party which leads the UPA itself stands denuded of probity and integrity; it cannot be expected to cover up for others. True, the Congress has tried to cut its losses by issuing marching orders to Mr Chavan whose name shall now feature on Maharashtra’s rather long list of former Chief Ministers, but in the popular perception this ‘disciplinary’ action is too little, too late. After all, it’s not Mr Chavan alone who was involved in the Adarsh scam but a large number of Congress leaders in Maharashtra. Similarly, little will be achieved by the Congress in sacking Mr Suresh Kalmadi, chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, from his post as parliamentary party secretary. Once again, he alone is not to blame for the ‘Great CWG Robbery’ which took place under the watch of the Congress Government in Delhi headed by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. If the Congress had been sincere about purging the party of corrupt leaders, then it would have acted against others too. The sacking of Mr Kalmadi is no more than a ruse, a ploy to distract attention from the party’s failure — critics would say reluctance — to punish those who are to blame for the shame and ignominy heaped on India for their brazen misappropriation of taxpayers’ money.

We will no doubt see the Congress feigning hurt innocence; the party will accuse the Opposition of levelling baseless allegations to soil its pristine image. But that’s unlikely to carry conviction. Whenever the Congress has come to power, its leaders have resorted to every possible trick to feather their nests. The story of the Congress and the saga of corruption in India are part of the same narrative of declining ethics and vanishing probity. It is this cynical attitude that ensures corrupt Ministers affiliated to the Congress’s partners remain untouched despite overwhelming evidence against them. It is this criminal indifference that makes a Prime Minister whose publicists do not tire of projecting him as a man of impeccable integrity hostage to the misdeeds of his Cabinet colleagues. And it is this abuse of power to protect corrupt individuals that has led to the exoneration of crooks like Ottavio Quattrocci. India, which is seen as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, deserves far better than a party which sees nothing wrong with public money being diverted to private accounts. Probity must be restored to public life.

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