When the BJP won a handsome victory in the 2014 general elections and the ruling Congress was whittled down to a mere 44 seats in the Lok Sabha, it was seen as a punishment to the latter for running a scam-ridden and inefficient government. The perception had grown that the UPA, through its two terms, had become a byword for corruption. Narendra Modi effectively hammered home this point and promised that he would usher in high standards of governance that would have no place for corruption. ‘Na khaunga na khane doonga’ he said.
The message went down to the voters that a new sun was about to dawn, in which corruption, at least in high places, would vanish. The sight of ministers going to jail, a la A. Raja, had damaged the UPA considerably. The shaken public needed some assurance that this would not happen and Modi provided it.
The early days of the Modi government were all about establishing ‘discipline’. Bureaucrats were told to clock in on time, ministers were told to lead simple lives and targets were set for ministries. It was goal-oriented management of the corporate kind, with the additional caveat that no one could be seen becoming too cozy with businessmen. Rumours were floating around about how a minister, sitting in a restaurant with a tycoon, got a call asking him what he was up to, prompting him to get up and leave. These stories did much to buttress the Modi myth, painting him as a no-nonsense administrator who would not tolerate any deviation from his laid down policies.
How distant those days look today. The Lalit Modi scandal has blown the top of all claims of a government that is corruption free. Whichever way the BJP, RSS and the government defend their External Affairs Minister and Rajasthan Chief Minister – and they have been stoutly defending them – there is a stink of malfeasance about the manner in which senior ministers, who ought to have known better, went about helping a man who is wanted in India by the Enforcement Directorate for serious foreign exchange violations.
The entire story is too familiar to all those who have been following it for the past few days but a few aspects need to be re-emphasised.
Firstly, it is wrong to say that there has been no corruption. Corruption is not just about the exchange of money for favours. It is also about the close nexus between those who hold the levers of official machinery and those who are outside and want something from it. Consider what has been revealed so far—Sushma Swaraj went out of her way to help Lalit Modi get official documents so that he could travel from London, where he is currently based, to Portugal, to sign some documents so that his wife could undergo cancer treatment. For this, she bypassed her own ministry but brought in the British High Commissioner to India. At the same time, it is worth noting that her husband Swaraj Kaushal and daughter Bansuri have been Lalit Modi’s counsels for a few years and that Kaushal had asked Lalit to help with a nephew’s admission to a British university. Modi did that by appealing to his friend, British MP Keith Vaz, who meanwhile asked the relevant department of his government to see what they could do to help Modi. See the pattern?
Now imagine another fugitive, wanted in India, trying to get his revoked passport back. Would he be able to access the Indian External Affairs Minister so easily?
In Vasundhara Raje’s case, there is money involved, even if in a roundabout way. Modi is supposed to have invested in a company owned by Raje’s son, buying shares at a staggering 9600 times the face value. At the same time, Modi claims she helped him with his immigration application on the grounds that the Indian government shouldn’t know. She says they are family friends, but since then has kept quiet, unlike Swaraj, who took to Twitter after the story first broke out. Various BJP worthies have defended both, but former Home Secretary, R K Singh, who is now a BJP MP has said that anyone helping a known fugitive is in the wrong; a direct hint towards the two ministers.
In the meantime Mumbai’s own Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria is under a cloud for having met Lalit Modi in London-the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is backing him so far, but for how long?
All these developments have not just brought back Lalit Modi – and the IPL – back into the limelight, but also made a mockery of the non-corrupt claims of the Narendra Modi government. He has remained silent on the issue, but that will not prevent a stain from occurring on his government. At some stage, he and his party will have to take a decision-either defend Swaraj and Raje under all circumstances or let them (or one of them) go.
The Congress has already upped its attacks on the government—looks like Sharad Pawar may join the chorus too. If the opposition unites on it, which it hasn’t, it could spell trouble for many of Modi’s plans to get his bills passed in the House.
What will it be- dogged refusal to give in to the opposition’s pressure or letting Sushma and Raje go till an enquiry is completed and then climbing up the high moral ground? It is a decision Narendra Modi has to take very fast.
