Editorial : Rules of Dynastic Corruption

Decades after the famous confession of Rajiv Gandhi that for every rupee spent by the government, only 17 paise reaches its intended recipients, things have only gotten worse. The main reason perhaps is he did not elaborate the systemic nature involved in it. The AugustaWestland Chopper deal has added some more garbage to the scandalous history of corruption under the Congress regime. A major controversy has erupted over some “Signora Gandhi”, whose name was mentioned in the Italian court”s verdict along with prominent Congress leaders on AgustaWestland VVIP chopper scam. The
judgement says that there was “reasonable belief that corruption took place” in the 2010 VVIP helicopter deal and the former Indian Air Force chief SP Tyagi was involved, which is a more grave concern. But an armed forces personnel cannot do it alone, so the
allegation that ‘a bribe of Rs 125 crore was given to Indian politicians’ is the real systemic issue, which needs to be addressed.
Surprisingly, nobody is denying the corruption but nor ready to take the responsibility. More discussion is about political mudslinging going on in the Parliament and media. Congress party and its leadership, instead of arguing against the allegations of corruption,
they are more interested in saving the family with
conventionally laid down rules .
The first rule of this undemocratic political culture is nurtured within the Congress is ‘Family cannot go wrong’. Regrettably, the nature of grand old party is such that it cannot remain together without the family. So whenever there are charges against the Family, the first move is to ‘save the family’. In democratic form of government neither the individual nor the party but the will of the people is supreme. People overwhelmingly rejected the Congress precisely due to inability to come clean on the corruption charges. Instead of learning from the lessons taught, Congress is more interested in showing confidence in protecting the leadership.
The second rule of such dynastic mindset is ‘Find the Scapegoat’. Is it a coincidence that the links of all major corruption charges lead to Italy, with which even the ‘sacred’ Congress leadership has some relation? The British middleman Michel Christian has allegedly paid money for the deal on behalf of Finmeccanica. If the deal had taken place under the UPA regime, some people are certainly responsible for it. If the mindset is corrupt then the easiest way is to find the easy targets who can be sacrificed for following the rule one. What is happening in Ishrat Jahan case with P Chidambaram is classic example of the same. Stalwarts like Natwar Singh can throw more light on this tendency.
If both the rules do not work then the third rule is followed in combination with the first two. Raise the divisive issue to divert attention from the allegations, blame nationalists for everything happening around and regroup opportunist forces to attain the power. From Shah Bano to Samjhauta Blast the same
strategies were employed to misguide the nation. Otherwise also, convenient co-travellers like intolerant brigade and human rights watchers are there to pitch the right voice at the right time. Whether the Congress will be successful in employing these time tested rules is a million dollar question.
The crucial issue is pertaining to ‘we, as a nation’. Dr Ambedkar warned against the single party
despotism. Congress added a one family domination to it. We need a vibrant national level opposition with strong public credentials. If Congress really wants to stay relevant in politics, then perhaps it should sincerely introspect as a party and come up with new rules in tune with the changing Bharat.
@PrafullaKetkar