Ideological fault-lines of Team Anna
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
The attack on Prashant Bhushan, apparently because of his support for a plebiscite in Kashmir, shows up some of the fault-lines within the Anna Hazare movement.
Ironically, the attack occurred on a day when the Congress’ Digvijaya Singh was producing letters which he said revealed a link between the RSS and the Anna movement. But the people who attacked Bhushan held views that most people would regard as right wing and indeed, at least one of the attackers was shown to have a Sangh Parivar background.
Almost from the time the Anna Hazare movement took off, there has been an inherent contradiction within its leadership. Kiran Bedi is the Sangh Parivar’s ideal woman. She herself is open in her admiration of LK Advani. Arvind Kejriwal says he is apolitical but is certainly not left wing or overly hostile to the BJP. Prashant Bhushan, on the other hand, is a self-confessed socialist of sorts. He has supported Arundhati Roy, defends Maoists and Naxalites, is deeply suspicious of business and capitalism and is seen as a sympathiser by many Kashmiri separatists including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
These contradictions have surfaced before. For instance, while Arundhati Roy has been openly critical of the Anna movement, accusing it of being a World Bank-Western power front, she has stuck to attacking Arvind Kejriwal while reiterating her support for Prashant Bhushan. I don’t know what Arundhati Roy makes of the hang-’em-high, right-wing style of Kiran Bedi but I would be surprised if she found it anything other than objectionable.
It was inevitable, therefore, that at some stage, these contradictions would spill out into the open. Bhushan’s views on Kashmir are no secret. In fact, after he was attacked, the Mirwaiz went on television to explain how Bhushan had often visited the Valley and understood the Hurriyat’s point of view. But it took a single act of violence to make these views centre-stage. Until Bhushan was assaulted, most of his admirers all over the country saw him only as an anti-corruption crusader. They had no idea of his pro-Maoist, pro-plebiscite background.
You could argue that it does not matter what views the Hazare movement’s leaders hold. After all, as long as they agree on the need for a strong Lokpal who will investigate corruption, how is it relevant whether they support Maoists, separatists or the Sangh Parivar?
The problem with this position is that the Hazare movement now seeks to go beyond its initial limited agenda. While campaigning against the Congress in Hisar – a shrewd strategy as the Congress candidate was considered a sure loser anyway – Kejriwal told journalists that it was wrong to claim that the Anna camp was now entering politics. “We have always been in politics,” he asserted. “But we are not in party politics.”
Fair enough. But supporting one draft of a Bill does not make for a compelling political platform. It is legitimate to say, as Kejriwal does, that the Anna camp does not support any political party but it is not convincing to say that its agenda does not go beyond its draft of the Lokpal Bill. When you join politics in a country like India, you must expect the electorate to judge you on the basis of your views on a variety of issues. And if your movement has leaders who admire the BJP along with those who advocate a plebiscite in Kashmir, then it is clear that there is little ideological cohesion within your movement. You may get away for a couple of months or so, by going on and on about your version of a draft Bill but in the long run, people will expect to know what else you stand for.
There are parallels for this dilemma. In the 1970s, when Jayaprakash Narayan launched his movement for Total Revolution he enlisted the support of such fiery Socialists as George Fernandes while simultaneously welcoming the RSS. Eventually, the JP movement turned into the Janata Party, which took power in 1977. At first, the party seemed united by its hatred for Indira Gandhi and the Congress. But as this issue faded, the contradictions came to the fore. In less than a year, Janata was at war within itself and the RSS was in the centre of the battle. (Eventually, when the party broke up, it was over the issue of ‘dual membership’ of Janata and the RSS.)
Or take another parallel. In 1988, when VP Singh launched his Jan Morcha amidst widespread middle-class support, he welcomed both the Left and the RSS. Asked about the contradiction, VP Singh retorted that his sole agenda was to fight corruption. “When your house is on fire,” he said, “you do not ask anybody who comes with a bucket of water for proof of identity.” When this folksy wisdom failed to convince, VP Singh added that politics was the art of managing contradictions.
It worked – for a time. When the Congress lost the election in 1989, no party got anything like a majority. So, VP Singh became Prime Minister with the support of both the Left and the BJP (there was no other way to make up the numbers required for a parliamentary majority). This bizarre arrangement lasted for less than a year. The BJP re-launched its Ayodhya agitation, LK Advani went on a Rath Yatra, the Left objected and VP Singh’s government collapsed.
In a sense, history is now being repeated. Whenever Indian politics has seen the emergence of a single-issue (usually corruption), anti-Congress force the middle class and the media have ignored the inherent contradictions within that force arguing that they don’t really matter. That is precisely what we are doing again. Perhaps Prashant Bhushan is pro-Maoist. Perhaps Kiran Bedi has a soft spot for the BJP. Perhaps the RSS did help organise the Anna movement’s rallies. But, we ask: how does it matter? After all, corruption is the only issue that counts.
History tells us otherwise. It does matter. No single-issue movement can hold together. Eventually, its contradictions will become too strong to be managed.
As long as the Hazare movement’s mission was limited to getting the Lokpal Bill through Parliament, the political contradictions seemed less crucial. But now that the movement seeks to become a larger political force, the fault-lines seem more glaring. And the dangers are more apparent.
As the cliché goes, those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.
Team Anna in Hisar: Wrong cause, wrong election, wrong rhetoric
Courtesy: Network18
Lakshmi Chaudhry Oct 13, 2011
Team Anna’s decision to jump into the fray in the Hisar by-election is a mistake, period. And not for the usual reasons. It matters less if their stance strengthens the BJP, or if they are perceived as its allies. Nor is there anything wrong with a civil society group getting involved in electoral politics. The problem is that the leaders of the movement seem to have lost sight of their cause, which is fighting corruption – not the Congress party. And in doing so, they have chosen the wrong battle at the wrong place at the wrong time.
And here are three reasons why:
One, wrong cause. Anna Hazare went on a fast in August for an excellent reason. The proposed UPA Lokpal bill was a mockery of the very intent of the legislation, and the government clearly had no intention of meeting Anna’s demand that the bill be proposed and passed in the monsoon session. The deadline ran out and he headed to Ram Lila.
But the reasoning for this confrontation in Hisar is murky, to say the least. Anna wants the government to pass the Lokpal bill during the winter Parliamentary session, which will begin in November. The government can hardly be in violation of a deadline that has not yet arrived. So why punish the Congress for breaches of faith yet to be committed? Demands not yet rejected?
“Do not vote for Congress during the Hisar by-poll as we are yet to receive a letter of support from the party supporting the passage of the Jan Lokpal Bill in Parliament,” says Hazare. Kejriwal even specifies that nothing less than a letter from Sonia Gandhi will do. So therecent letter from the Prime Minister of India clearly won’t do because he doesn’t count for Team Anna.
Now Arvind Kejriwal is saying, “If the Congress passes the Jan Lokpal Bill tomorrow, we will immediately withdraw our campaign.” Down we go the slippery slope of unreasonable demands…
There’s been much talk about “sending a message” but the only message here is that Team Anna is itching for any excuse for a fight with the ruling party. Perhaps because it keeps them in the spotlight and maintains the momentum gathered from the August fast. This is more a PR battle — or more likely vendetta — than a just war.
Two, wrong election. Hisar may seem like an obvious choice given Kejriwal’s local roots. But it was likely also chosen for another more dubious reason: Hisar also promises an easy win. The Congress party candidate is an underdog in the fight, and is unlikely to win – with or without Anna’s intervention. But by expediently relabeling the election as a “referendum on the Lokpal bill” – and rallying voters against a man already slated to lose — Team Anna is well-positioned to take credit for his defeat, and make it a symbol of popular will.
Nice idea except Raj Prakash is the cleanest and the least wealthy of the three candidates in the fray. To offer aid and comfort – even by default — to the likes of Ajay Singh Chautala and Kuldeep Bishnoi is hardly the way to promote the anti-corruption cause. Chautala has two pending cases of corruption, cheating and criminal conspiracy against him. And Bishnoi faces a case for attempted murder. Both are fabulously rich heirs of political dynasties with no apparent source of income.
“After all, these elected Congress candidates with a clean image will follow only the party high command’s whip and not listen to their conscience,” rebuts Anna when presented with such inconvenient facts. Kejriwal’s comeback is equally unconvincing: “We never said that Chautala or Bishnoi is better than anyone else. If Chautala is facing charges, there is all the more reason for us to fight for the Jan Lokpal Bill so that anyone who indulges in corruption, irrespective of whosoever he may be, is punished promptly for his misdeeds.” Yes, let’s aid and abet the election of criminals so we can punish them later.
Besides, criminal-politicians are hardly more likely to support the Lokpal bill, party whip or not. (Not that there is any guarantee the BJP or other opposition parties will issue any such whip) And it certainly seems odd to remain silent about Bishnoi and Chautala, while Kejriwal and Sisodia campaign against Prakash with misleading slogans like “Congress ke haath, Bhrashtachaar ke saath (Congress’ palm — it’s election symbol — with corruption),” “Ab toh spasht hain, Congress party bhrasht hain (It’s clear now, Congress is corrupt).” Not quite, at least not in this case.
Besides, they could have chosen one of the other bye-elections that offer choice targets like the one in Khadakwasala in Anna’s home state, Maharashtra. Congress-supported Harshada, the wife of deceased Ramesh Wanjale, is the ultimate political fat cat with a notorious affection for gold. Even without Anna’s benediction, BJP leader Gopinath Munde has been eagerly invoking his name: “Anna has asked people not to vote for the Congress as it is corrupt. His men are whole-heatedly campaigning against the party in Hisar (Haryana). So you as voters have to listen to Anna and vote against the corrupt Congress-NCP alliance in this by-poll.”
But Khadakwasala does pose one tiny little problem: Harshada is expected to win. And that certainly won’t send the “right message.”
Three, wrong rhetoric. During the long summer of protest, Team Anna displayed its most impressive and lethal asset: message discipline. The tone was measured as was the language. And they were blessed with opponents suffering from an acute case of verbal diarrhoea. But this time around, they seem determined to match the likes of Digvijay Singh, word for ill-advised word.
For starters, Team Anna is no longer railing against the system but against one single political party. Deny it as they may, the proof is in the pudding, as in quotes from Arvind Kejriwal like these: “We do not have ill will against the Congress. But if you Congresswallas do not pass the Jan Lokpal Bill, we will destroy the very foundation of the Congress in the country.”
Then there is the alarming shift to emotional blackmail in their speeches. The appeal is not to people’s outrage against corruption this time around, but their personal loyalty to Anna. “You will have to inflict a historic defeat on the Congress. If you defeat the party, this will be Anna’s victory,” Kejriwal told the gathering. At the end of another meeting, he upped the ante further: “Each one of your votes will act as a life breath for Anna. This government wants Anna to die. You can save his life with every vote of yours.”
But the worst of the lot is this:
He (Anna) has told me that if the Congress doesn’t pass the Jan Lokpal Bill in the winter session, he will go on another hunger strike. Anna’s life is in your hands. Each vote you cast against the Congress is like a breath for Anna-ji. I am not saying vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party either. There are 40 candidates, vote for any of them except the Congress. If you vote for the Congress, it will be desh-droh.
Elections are the life blood of a democracy. To use them as a tool of political opportunism is unwise and unseemly. But to label the free exercise of a citizen’s vote for the party of his/her choice as an act of treachery is unforgivable. And it is a clear sign of a movement that is losing its direction and its head.
EXCLUSIF: MISS QUOTE INTERVIEWS ANNA HAZARE.
By Sanjay Jha
( Miss Quote arrived from New York Times to interview Anna Hazare at his village Ralegan Siddhi.. A visibly disturbed character with a conspicuous black shining moustache varnished with Vaseline hung around Anna , providing a protective fencing. This is what transpired during an eventful, er rather dramatic afternoon ).
Miss Quote : Thank you for this exclusive, Mr Anna Hazard !
Black Mustache ( fuming and fretting) : You don’t pronounce it like “ Anna” in Anna Kournikova. It is UN-Nah! Like United Nations—NO! And his surname is Hazard but ending with an e.
Miss Quote looked nonplussed. Dazed. Exhausted. Perhaps sleep-deficit. She suddenly passed out.
After some Aquafina was sprinkled gently on her face, she got up with remarkable speed.
Anna Hazare: That was fast! Don’t vote for the Congress!
Miss Quote ( slowly recovering ) : In fact, I was going to ask you about that, er, um, er, um, fast. Your famous fast! Can I call you Mr AH, please ? Its easier for me than AN-NA or whatever! P-L-E-A-S-E!
Anna Hazare: But A and H must be separate. Not as Ah! — just the opposite of ouch! Ok?
Anna looked at the Black Mustache, as if making a plaintive request. Black Mustache reluctantly agreed, but his tempestuous state was perceptible. He seemed indignant, and sweared silently under his breath. He had six mobile phones in various locations on his torso, but then as if by divine intervention they all rang simultaneously.
Black Mustache ( gesturing all to be in pin-drop silence) : Ok, I will do one- on- ones with all of you simultaneously tomorrow at 1 pm, so that you have enough time to prepare teasers, trailers, promos, brand tie-ups, scrollers and breaking news, of course. And technically, it is an exclusive as I will look deep and long into your cameras for 22 seconds and pretend to nod my head at 13 rpm.
Miss Quote noticed that Black Mustache returned with a big broad smile revealing a perfectly white-washed teeth . His earlier tortured countenance was replaced by a serene smile. She even thought he might give her one of his celebrated exclusives. Those interviews had more than a ripple effect.
Miss Quote: How do you manage to fast for so long, Mr AH ?
Miss Quote gingerly unpacked her McDonald’s triple- decker cheeseburger packed from JFK , a 1 litre coke can , double French fries and Oreo-Choco-shake. She looked at Hazare as if he was an object of scientific curiosity.
Anna Hazare: Well, before I answer any of your questions, please don’t vote for the Congress!
Miss Quote: Mr Anna?
Black Mustache ( irritated) : Un-Nah! And as Anna said, don’t vote for the Congress.
Miss Quote: In my country, we never vote for the Congress, rest assured.
Both Anna and Black Mustache grinned from one ear to the far-end of the other.
Miss Quote: Mr Un-Nah , political analysts say your movement is like our Tea Party?
Anna Hazare: No tea-party, Madam ! Only buttermilk , and that too, only after dinner. Gives good digestion.
Miss Quote : Sure thingie! Are there differences between your two lieutenants, Mr Kejriwal and Mr Bhushan?? The drift is that there is a rift.
Anna Hazare: Its called deference, madam, not difference.
Black Mustache and Prashant Bhushan ( who appeared from under some books) together: Read our lips. We have no differences other than 23 clauses of the Lok Pal bill, media handling, strategy, Anna’s calorie consumption and NGO inclusion in the bill. We are left and right, so on average we are at one center point. And by the way, we are not lieutenants, we are generals. We always march ahead, left, right, left, right left…….
Miss Quote: What about Sibal and Chidambaram? Are they stumbling blocks?
Anna Hazare: Chiddu is too arrogant. Thinks he is lecturing at Advanced Management Program of Harvard . And Sibal, he is a zero-loss proposition as far as we are concerned. Also I don’t like that he smiles as if he knows everything that I am thinking. Like a mind-reader.
But lawyers do say the truth sometimes, butted in Prashant Bhushan.
Black Mustache gave him a dirty look. Bhushan went back to reading How to Buy Government Land at Least Prices.
Miss Quote: How did you know Mr Kejriwal??
Anna Hazare: See, Arvind did not make it to the IAS. So he chose to start IAC. So I supported him.
Miss Quote ( not entirely convinced): Ummmm, sounds logical.
Miss Quote surreptitiously noticed from the corner of her eye that five bespectacled people were hanging precariously from different branches of a big tree , each with a camera in one hand and a note pad in the other.
Miss Quote ( pointing to the shaking branches) : What’s going on? Who are they?
Anna Hazare: They are news reporters looking for new angles to give our clichéd story a different slant. They are hackneyed , pun intended. Ha! Ha!
Even as he laughed one of the reporters slipped from one branch but was saved by a rival TV channel in the branch below.
Anna Hazare: We even make the media into one big family.
At this point, the rival media reporter casually dropped the falling reporter flat onto the ground below. No injury was reported.
Anna Hazare : Good intentions , but yet a perfect klutz. .
Suddenly there was a flutter and a young man looking like Shah Rukh Khan in Devdas was brought to the central courtyard by two sturdy young men.
Anna Hazare: Go ahead with the SOP.
Miss Quote : What’s happening?
Anna Hazare: He is a drunkard. His flesh was willing, but unfortunately so was the spirit.
Miss Quote : So? Is there a prohibition against having a good time?
Anna Hazare: He will get six whiplashes and then he will be hung upside down from Parliament.
Miss Coat: Parliament?
Anna Hazare: That “ peepal ” tree that you see there is called Parliament. Only Team Anna is above it .
Miss Quote ( looking impressed) : People tree called Parliament. So symbolic, so appropriate. That’s a master-stroke.
Miss Quote : And what about your RSS connections as alleged by Digvijay Singh? They apparently fed everyone at the Ram Lila grounds.
Black Mustache: Come on, even you get RSS feeds , doesn’t everyone get them? Just check your laptop, on any browser. RSS feeds all. Also us.
Miss Quote: So will the anti-corruption bill be passed by Jan ?
Anna Hazare: Who is Jan?
Black Mustache: Jan? No way !
Miss Coat: Isn’t it Jan Look Pal??
Black Mustache again seemed to be boiling over.
Black Mustache ( angrily) : Vote against the Congress.
Miss Quote: Who has the best chance of being Lok Pal according to you, Sir??
Anna Hazare ( ponders deeply) : Salman Khan it seems is doing some serious yoga, meditation and kick boxing in Ireland for that position. After Dabbang and Bodyguard, the people of India see him as a paragon of virtue. A personification of honesty. A platform of—-
Enough, said Black Mustache looking miffed.
Anna Hazare ( ignoring Black Mustache for a change) : Shah Rukh Khan this Diwali says he is protector against evil. It is inspirational, reformative. He also has a chance. But what goes against him is that he is calling himself Ravan.
Black Mustache ( muttering angrily) : Vote against the Congress! Wipe them out! Make them naked ! I will make Congress do a Poonam Pandey.
Anna Hazare to Black Mustache: Control yourself ! Control! Every time you want to do a Poonam Pandey to Congress, you lose control of your…… faculties.
Miss Quote : So Mr Anna, this is your Arab Spring!
Anna Hazare ( shaking his head in disbelief): No no, not at all, madam! You are in India, madam. This is an Indian autumn.
Miss Quote : What about LK Advani doing a rath yatra against corruption?
Black Mustache: Advani Ji is against black money. That is not corruption. It is a different agenda.
Anna Hazare: Miss Quote , you are naïve. Advani is actually just doing a promotion of Toyota’s Diwali offer for their new “green” SUV. It’s a secular campaign.
Miss Quote : Any one you trust in Congress? At least one person?
Anna Hazare ( smiles): Vilas Rao.
Miss Quote: Who is this Villas Row? A builder?
Anna Hazare : Well, almost. But let’s talk about it later.
OB vans could be now seen blocking the highway till three miles before the village boundaries began.
Miss Quote: Aren’t you all stubborn?
Black Mustache: The Congress needs to know; our way or the subway on the highway. No compromises. We don’t want to ever caught in a compromising position.
Suddenly a bald-headed spiritual looking character entered the room, effusive and confident, humming Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin. It was actor Anupam Kher.
Miss Quote ( wondering) : Who are you?
Kher: Me? You don’t know? You don’t know me???
Kher started to laugh like a maniac under a spell . Then he slowly lifted his shirt, and on his ballooning paunch was tattooed I AM ANNA.
Kher ( as if in a trance) : I AM ANNA. ANNA IS ME. ANNA IS INDIA! INDIA IS…….
Miss Quote Coat ( bewildered, stunned, shocked looking at Anna Hazare ): Then who are you?
She fainted.
Telling the wrong story
Courtesy: Times of India, Oct 6, 2011
DIPANKAR GUPTA
Nothing else explains why it lets Narendra Modi tom-tom development when it should have been the Congress banging the drums. The economic achievements of governments before Modi’s read like an award citation, but too much secularism has since led the Congress astray. Instead of showcasing its past performance to regain Gujarat, it is obsessed with nailing Modi as a communalist-in-chief. Naturally, it is not getting anywhere fast.
Look also at the good memories the Congress is erasing.
In 1991, a full 10 years before Modi arrived, as many as 17,940 out of 18,028 villages were already electrified. The Ukai plant, which uses washed coal to generate power, was also pre-Modi as was the asphalting of 87.5% of Gujarat roads. In 1980-81, Gujarat’s share in manufacturing at the national level was only 16.29%, but by 2000-01 it rose to an impressive 28.71%. Not surprising then that between 1994-2001, well before Modi, Gujarat’s state domestic product grew at 10%-13%, way higher than the all-India average.
Since 1980, Gujarat has been India’s poster state. Modi had nothing to do with the world’s largest ship-breaking yard coming up in Bhavnagar, nor with the setting up of the Ambani refinery in Jamnagar. Well before Modi, Gujarat accounted for 45% of India’s petroleum products, roughly 18% of the country’s cargo handling, 23% of our total requirement for crude oil and 30% of our natural gas needs from offshore basins.
In addition, Gujarat, since the 1990s, produces as much as 78% of the country’s salt, 98% of soda ash and 26% of India’s pharmaceutical products. Because of chief minister Chimanbhai Patel’s intervention in 1993, port traffic in this state jumped from a mere 3.18 million tonnes in 1981 to 86.17 million tonnes in 2001. In the same period, Gujarat’s share of national port traffic increased from 45.36% to above 76% and has stayed there ever since. Modi’s decade has not made that percentage grow.
During the eventful 1990s, Gujarat successfully augmented 35% of its power generation capacity. It also closed down five major loss-making public sector units, initiating instead a variety of public-private partnerships. In fact, an early short-lived BJP government under Keshubhai Patel in 1995-96 did some good work too. In particular, he was instrumental in setting up Gujarat’s Industrial Development Board, but Modi has blanked him out from public memory as well.
If Gujarat’s agriculture is prospering today, it is because the state has begun to receive Sardar Sarovar waters from 2002. Once again, Modi had little to do with the inauguration of this project, but he was at the right place at the right time to take the credit for it. If there was ever a person who reaped what somebody else had sown, then that is Modi.
Gujarat also is not alone in posting agricultural growth rates above the national average; even backward Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh handsomely beat the all-India figure. Finally, it is not as if Gujarat is overall the richest state either; Haryana, Punjab, Maharashtra and Kerala are all much better off, primarily because they have lower rural poverty rates.
At the same time, to round off this number, it must be acknowledged Gujarat was never poor. True, it was a lowly eighth in terms of prosperity in 1960, but it has been at number three since 1990 and continues to hold that spot. Modi may not have self-started Gujarat’s development, but he certainly kept the engine running.
In line with this, Modi should be credited for taking a few initiatives of his own. For example, while Gujarat’s villages were all lit, it is also a fact that the state’s electricity board was bankrupt in 2002. Loans were arranged to overcome this shortfall and power thefts too were curtailed by police monitoring. Gujarat also did well in making the central government’s ‘Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan’ work, especially in connection with the girl child. Yet, the percentage fall in Gujarat’s infant mortality and poverty rates are well below the national average.
It is not as if Gujarat’s pre-2001 achievements are hard to dredge out of history. But by keeping silent about its successful past, the Congress has added body to Modi’s presence. This enables him to keep his people in line by telling them he is about to get angry, but that should not disorient the opposition. Now that Gujarat’s economy is all grown up and good-looking, the Congress should admit its responsibility and submit to a paternity test. What is there to hide?
Hefty anti-saffron helpings, on their own, will not do. With a stomach full of that stuff, the Congress can hardly catch up with Modi. In fact, Jawaharlal Nehru taught us that secularism does not win elections, development does. Why then is the Congress doing its best to come second-best by gagging its record of the 1990s? In politics, as in sports, winning is not everything, it is the only thing.
Most recently, Mukesh Ambani praised Narendra Modi for putting Gujarat on the world map. He seems to have forgotten that his father, and Reliance, prospered in Gujarat well before Modi properly entered politics. On the other hand, there is much wisdom in the old Sicilian proverb that we keep our friends close, but our enemies even closer.
In which case, is Mukesh close or closer to Modi?
The writer is former professor, JNU.
THE MYTHOLOGY OF A 1.76 CRORE LOSS
THE MYTHOLOGY OF A 176,000 CRORE LOSS
By Sanjay Jha
On Tehelka and www.HamaraCongress.com
( The apparent difference is just a measly Rs 173,355 crores between the earlier inflated allegations of financial loss in 2G scam and the new figure in circulation of Rs 2645 crores . How come such a gargantuan ruse was pulled over our naked eyes by CAG ??? The extraordinary manipulation of a mythical loss).
In Washington they say that even a dog refuses to be a man’s best friend. The poor canine sniffs trouble interspersed all around him. Conspiracy theories, palace intrigue and internecine feuds are considered commonplace and customary conditions in most political capitals of the world. Delhi is no exception. There is always something uncannily sinister in the dark corridors of power; its stealthy political one-upmanship accentuated by the imperceptible influence of corporate rivalries, raw media power, lobbyists and odd assortment of power-brokers.
Last week in Delhi someone told me in deadly earnest what has been often rumored that the Sangh Parivaar has insidiously infiltrated into key organs of our democratic institutions. I am not making any innuendos, but the CAG’s remarkable promptitude in publicly pronouncing the 2G scam numbers at a mind-boggling 1.76 lakh crore indeed raises more than mere suspicious eyebrows especially now that it is known that RP Singh , Director-General ( audit , post and telecommunications) had a comparatively pygmy-like figure of Rs 2645 crores ascribed to the supposed policy contraventions. According to Singh, the only missing factor was overlooking cost escalation on account of inflation-indexing. But the 2G report almost threatened the very existence of a democratically elected government, led to the rise of extreme extra-constitutional forces on an anti-corruption crusade , besides systematically decimating a beleaguered coalition at the helm. We are talking serious business here. CAG chief Vinod Rai needs to explain the exaggerated 80 times multiple that he assiduously postulated as damages, when his own principal investigator had a contrary opinion.
To understand the 2 G scam though , we need to sub-divide the core issues in the imbroglio:
1) Presumptive loss is a notional figure where financial impact is measured on certain assumptions. The fundamental aspect therefore is the reasonableness, validity and foreseeable actuality of those assumptions. If the assumptions themselves are seriously flawed, the figures may be grossly exaggerated making the entire debate ridiculously skewed.
2) To understand the erroneousness of CAG’s estimations, we have to go back to the basics on which this monstrous mythical figure of 176,000 crores made its formidable debut. Even companies like Swan and Unitech that got the spectrum at arguably cheaper prices, issued fresh shares to foreign buyers to create a joint venture as opposed to earning capital gains on promoter equity dilution. Thus, the respective companies gained fresh equity capital for company operations/expansion as opposed to private profiteering, even if the promoter stake naturally fell corresponding to value of fresh equity offerings. But were these transactional financial deals good enough to be construed as potential market value of 2 G spectrum ? The answer is NO, and has been further explained below. Of course, it can be alleged that the companies benefited from the unusually high valuations giving them undue competitive advantage.
3) By the same criteria, how can S Tel’s offer for a pan-Indian license also be a benchmark for evaluating the loss ( it was also subsequently withdrawn) . These are corporate decisions based on company’s assessment of the telecom market, their global footprint, shareholder value projections and capital capacity. Sure, it is market forces at play but it has the major drawback of adopting a transactional approach, as it is prone to the subjective judgment of just a few corporate entities that may have no practical universal application. Let us take an example; supposing I volunteer to purchase property from the GOI at some ridiculously exorbitant rate, can that become an acceptable “ benchmark” for other similar investors??? I may have made a grievous miscalculation or been highly bullish, or had ulterior motives; should other genuine investors pay a hefty price for it??
4) I am flabbergasted as to how a crucial element of telecom valuations was casually camouflaged ; 2G and 3 G are vastly different technology platforms. With faster downloads, broadband wireless, video streaming, mobile TV, e-banking happening on handheld instruments, 3G is a technological leap, like a mammoth metamorphosis. 3G is for India’s young urban middle class consuming mobile on the move; a high-value premium service for a niche affluent consumer . With mobile expansion slowing down, telecom operators see higher per user revenue realization from 3G , hence the successful auction war for it. Can we compare the brute power of BMW SUV with that of a Nano just because they are both four-wheelers??? The CAG argument is not just seriously blemished , it defies elementary common-sense expected of a first-year commerce student.
5) Thus, the estimation of loss itself has taken several forms simply because it is subject to myriad interpretations based on subjective assumptions. An auction reflects price-discovery, the market sentiment at a given point of time which can drastically change overnight. That’s why the CBI has got its own version of Rs 30985 crores ; it tells you the absence of an acceptable common determinant for projecting profits/ losses on 2G spectrum sale, and that too, with retrospective effect.
6) The problem as usual lay in the outlandish execution by the former Telecom Minister Raja which clearly appeared disputable . But the policy per se could not be faulted. Incidentally, the first come first served policy was consistent with the GOI’s objective of increasing tele-density . Raising large public revenues can easily contravene the key objective of affordable access of mobile services for the common man, as telecom operators would pass the higher cost to unsuspecting consumers. .You cannot decouple the two innately conflicting objectives. That in short is the simplest explanation for the telecom scam. A fine balancing act on a slippery tight-rope was always going to be difficult exacerbated by the fact that telecom pricing was in an evolving market with no historical precedence.
7) Ideally, Raja should have arrived at a “ fair price” taking into account multiple factors when he issued those controversial 122 licenses. Even the cost index inflation was inadequate. Ideally, one should have considered the growth in telecom business/users ( the number of users had increased to 280 million in 2008), falling tariff rate, cost of capital, extent of investment, employment opportunities, projected profitability, and unexplored market potential. The truth is that spectrum pricing/ allocation is a complex math as it is an intangible asset with significant hidden monetary value. Governments usually lack the financial engineering skills needed for litigation free fund raising. Giving the telecom minister a virtual license ( pun intended) to determine pricing was always a risky proposition.
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8) I think the core focus should be on whether there was a willful criminal conspiracy to manipulate regulations to defraud the exchequer to favor select parties. Because the fact is that whether it was Rs 176000 or Rs 2645 crores it is still not small change. But why did Vinod Rai’s CAG office leak the report before it reached Parliament ? Who authorized it? To use the same argument of the BJP on cash for votes,, who was the real beneficiary of the CAG fissures ? That is where the real story lies. Why was an obstructionist attitude demonstrated towards one of its own key investigators? The BJP may have chuckled with sadistic delight at Kapil Sibal’s zero-loss proposition, but as of now it is Sibal who is perhaps having the last laugh.
The CAG it seems applied too much lotion to a notion to keep it in motion and hurl it into a commotion. It’s not over yet.
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
By Sanjay Jha
On TEHELKA http://www.tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws270911shape.asp
The acronym BCCI has been the subject of several dubious, colorful descriptions, from the Board of Control and Control of India to Bullies of Chaotic Cricket in India. It is an exhaustive laundry-list, encapsulating creative outbursts of angry souls disillusioned by the mandarins or mavericks who run the mammoth and still burgeoning cricket industry . It could also be called the Board of Cartoon Characters of India going by their recent utterances.
N Srinivasan , the recently crowned king of this glittering empire and his redoubtable nemesis Lalit Modi, the erstwhile IPL boss-man, actually have a lot in common. They both have corporate backgrounds, which perhaps accentuates their bitter animosity. They both know smart doublespeak, financial complexities, crafty skullduggery and are artful dodgers behind nebulous laws. That’s how they have engineered their classical enduring conflict over the past year and a half, since the IPL scam became breakfast news. If they are not shadow-boxing using pliant proxies, they are usually landing punches at each other with the professionalism of a true pugilist. In the days and weeks ahead, this fight has the potential of overshadowing Raging Bull. Watch this space with unflagging concentration.
Srinivasan , of course, cannot be blamed for lacking serendipity. Despite the dangling Damocles sword ( A C Muthiah’s Supreme Court case against him) hanging dangerously over his head, Srinivasan has with the intrepidity of a brave-heart taken charge as President of BCCI. If the SC verdict goes against him, BCCI will have no choice but to seek replacement .But Srinivasan’s confidence of a pleasant, palatable outcome from the SC talks of a man who has streaks of sanguine faith in his judicial case. Confidence never hurts. But over-confidence can.
You have to hand it to Srinivasan, although. When asked about the conflict of interest on account of his ownership of IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings ( CSK) Srinivasan’s deadpan straight-bat response was so impeccable that even Sachin Tendulkar would have felt inspired by that charitable tutorial lesson. “I don’t own it,” he said. “ A company does called India Cements. And I only have a stake in it”. Sure, Mr Srinivasan! But he is no ordinary shareholder. His stake along with that of his family is a staggering 25.18% as of March 31st 2011 going by financial reports. Besides being from the promoter-family, he is also the Managing Director for Christ’s sake! I have not heard of a more flimsy fraudulent defense camouflaged as a legal argument before. That is an audacious bluff, like the Greg Chappell inspired underarm.
And incidentally, if this gargantuan indirect stake is even magnanimously accepted for diversionary entertainment, shouldn’t Srinivasan have then taken on Modi when he made such a hullabaloo over Shashi Tharoor’s distant-indirect stake through Sunanda Pushkar in the Kochi IPL franchise that had not even taken off? Is that not blatant double- standards, Mr Srinivasan? Why did he maintain such a magnificent silence then? .
In case of CSK, there was a surreptitious tweak in the form of a constitutional amendment done by the BCCI in September 2008 to facilitate the purchase by India Cements. Ethical??? Did that not have a premeditated objective of a sneaky “ facilitation”? And Kris Srikanth continues to be India’s chief selector cum brand ambassador of CSK. MS Dhoni needs to be careful. At some point, Sourav Ganguly got a swollen head owing to his assumed propinquity to Jagmohan Dalmiya. It led to avoidable , trying circumstances for the Prince. Having a god-father in the BCCI system is pregnant with potholes ; for the essentially level- headed Dhoni, that is a red flag.
Srinivasan’s handling of the ICC awards function in London recently should give cricket lovers sleepless nights. The man has an Amazonian ego. He says the invitation came to him directly, but not to the Indian team. Thus, to ridicule the ICC, Srinivasan was willing to let the Indian cricketers become sacrificial goats, get negative publicity, and even allow his own skipper to miss receiving the Fair- play trophy. Now that tells you a lot about the man at the helm of affairs, when all it probably took to make sure the Indians did not stand out like a sore thumb was one phone call, and a gentle request. Such a balloon -sized halo spells serious trouble.
Rajiv Shukla taking over as IPL commissioner was being speculated fairly early, but it comes with its baggage of anxieties for the Congress-UPA combine. Euphemistically, Shukla is there for his “ resourcefulness”, which in India means he will use his personal “ contacts”, subtle back-door maneuvering, pulling ropes, threads or strings as the case might be, to get the rather circuitous alleged financial irregularities of IPL sorted out. Shukla has the affable, disarming ability of a seasoned campaigner; he is soft-spoken, and an imperturbable trouble-shooter. Shukla possesses the knack of anticipating the direction of the wind even before it originates. But even for the canny Minister of Parliamentary Affairs the IPL might prove more challenging than having breakfast with an anaconda. IPL has grave smudgy accusations facing it, as long a list as the injury-plagued in the Indian cricket team, and the last thing the UPA needs right now is a Minister who seems to be fortifying a stigmatized, scam-scarred institution. Shukla will either pull off a dramatic rescue act like Tarzan of the hapless Jane, or he will ensure that both the IPL and his party is quickly entrenched in quicksand.
For Sports Minister Ajay Maken though this is the perfect time to go lock, stock and two smoking barrels for the courageous act; take the BCCI head-on for its contumacious refusal to come under the RTI Act. BCCI’s reluctance reveals that Srinivasan and Co are apprehensive about any disturbance to their cozy, cocooned club. Outsiders will be prosecuted, imprisoned and whip-lashed for making exasperating intrusions. But that is precisely what the doctor’s ordered.
I have been a bitter critic of Lalit Modi’s whimsical ways of running IPL; he met his predictable Waterloo. In Srinivasan we may have a less flamboyant and fickle chief, but one equally determined to cement his own questionable decisions and create a private club. Like allowing Mumbai Indians to have five overseas players for the Champions League which is against the ‘ rules’. Tricky times ahead indeed. The early signs are ominous.
Expect a busy cricket winter season, and plenty of frosty drama off-it. Harbhajan Singh has a doosra, but the BCCI may have a teesra up its sleeve.
( Sanjay Jha is Founder, CricketNext.com. He can be reached at Sanjay_ Jha@DaleCarnegie.com)
CONTROVERSIALLY INDEED!
By Sanjay Jha
If you happen to be a young and unknown Pakistani pace bowler who has just taken the wicket of Rahul Dravid, one of the world’s most accomplished batsmen, you can feel a 100,000 pairs of eyes boring into you while a deafening roar pours out of 100,000 throats as their hero , Sachin Tendulkar, walks in. But if you knock off his stumps with your very first delivery to him, your ears meet with a deafening and almost eerie silence .
The above paragraph is not my own written description of that spell-binding moment at Eden Gardens in 1999, but an extract from Shoaib Akhtar’s Chapter 1 itself from his just launched book appropriately titled Controversially Yours. He has evidently hit the hot buttons.
All those who saw Akhtar’s deathly demolition of two of India’s greatest ever know that it is the stuff of repeated YouTube viewing. You could literally hear the Pakistani players in exuberant chatter amidst unbridled celebrations mid-field as the Calcutta crowd stunned beyond the pale of their contemplations fell into pin-drop silence. Adds Akhtar “ I did it, I thought, I did it, as I pressed my forehead to the ground in gratitude”.
That to me , paradoxically enough, is actually Akhtar’s tribute to the greatness of Dravid and Tendulkar, his most heroic haul, given its august, apposite place in his book in the first page itself. Surely we cannot grudge him his extraordinary moment of destructive bowling. His comment though about the match-winning capabilities of Dravid-Tendulkar, and the latter’s squeamishness when facing him have raised a hornet’s nest.
I was looking forward to a real exciting animated exchange at the Cricket Club of India on Sunday evening between the inimitable firecracker Akhtar, the incendiary irrepressible fast-bowler, also called in cricket folklore as the Rawalpindi Express. The mercurial Akhtar has clearly raised a lot of dust on the tracks in India going by the dramatic last-minute cancellation of the event with leading political parties going fervently berserk to claim credit for “preventing the sullying of the image of the God of cricket”—Sachin Tendulkar. Frankly, it is grotesque and contemptible. The God, alas, added fuel to fire by apparently making a rather haughty, terse statement; “ It is beneath my dignity to respond to Shoaib’s book”. That is exactly the kind of persuasive provocation the Shiv Sena and the NCP needed to get into their own slugfest to score brownie points.
As usual, we come across as petty, parochial and pedestrian. Akhtar is entitled to his opinions, no matter how outrageous or deliberately instigating. In this case, it was neither, just a plain-speaking competitor voicing his personal opinion. Until the remarkable turnaround in the Chennai Test against England, Sachin was being roundly castigated even by his most ardent adulators as a one-trick pony, one who flattered to deceive, almost invariably failing in getting us to the finish mile. Dravid was comparatively a more reliable bulwark. Around the time of the great Indian resuscitation from 2008-2011 ( till the disastrous England tour), India virtually never set a foot wrong. That was also the time when Pakistan stood ostracized from world cricket, post its own internal disturbances and the terrorist attacks of 26/11, and perhaps never saw a resolute resurrected Tendulkar rediscover an insatiable appetite. To a great extent, that explains Akhtar’s wayward miscalculation on the match-winning abilities of Dravid and Tendulkar.
But in our bizarre bull-headedness , we should not miss in Controversially Yours what is obviously the archetypal tale of most Pakistani cricketers; the story of living in abject penury, frequently physically thrashed for inane reasons by disciplinarian family members, of getting drenched in rain when the roof of the house collapses and that headstrong dream to somehow make it. In case of Akhtar, the urge to also just keep running. There is an earthy sincerity somewhere, and the courage and modesty to acknowledge his fallibilities. And yet Akhtar has clocked the fastest delivery ever at 100.2 mph which he proudly parades on his broad sleeves.
I have so far read just the first two chapters, but like Andre Agassi’s OPEN, it makes for compelling reading, simply because unlike several others such as Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif etc for whom cricket is a tragic tale of lost dreams and unfulfilled potential , Akhtar survived the internecine politics of a checkered Pakistan cricket administration and the dark world of match-fixing. Besides, some embarrassing nocturnal scandals.
“Controversies have hovered around me since the day I was born. Take my name for instance. In Arabic, it means the one who brings people together, but it can also mean the one who separates”. I will recommend , dear reader, that we go with the former interpretation.
THE HORSE-TRADERS
THE HORSE- TRADERS
By Sanjay Jha
On TEHELKA http://tehelka.com/story_main50.asp?filename=Ws190911A_good.asp
And www.HamaraCongress.com
( If indeed the BJP did orchestrate the cash-for-votes scam , did it not effectively contaminate India’s reputation for their own political resuscitation? Should we casually ignore the damage to Brand India )?
There is a wafer-thin fine distinction between audacity and temerity. The latter imbibes a bit more of chutzpah and cunning. Thus, there was ample temerity on exhibition when the octogenarian BJP leader LK Advani made his bombastic declaration in Parliament : Arrest me if you can! That vociferous outburst pregnant with implied piousness was actually a calculated ploy to divert attention from the central issue; that BJP had orchestrated a sting operation to entrap some MP’s during the Lok Sabha vote on the controversial nuclear bill on July 22nd 2008. While former BJP media adviser Sudheendra Kulkarni is being seen as the “genius mastermind” behind that uninspiring hackneyed plot, the truth is that such a Bollywood-like convoluted stratagem would have certainly needed some senior gentleman’s benedictions. That’s where Mr Advani comes in. Either Advani is sandbagging serious impending embarrassment or positioning himself as the usual self-righteous martyr for a larger cause. With the UPA battling a smorgasbord of financial irregularities from coalition partners , Advani hopes to cleverly checkmate them with his solitary pawn alone. Either way, like Narendra Modi’s highly trumpeted fast happening alongside for communal harmony , it reflects that BJP is consumed by schadenfreude, as UPA battles rising inflation, frequent terrorist attacks, unresolved scams and a troubled neighborhood. The BJP’s mantra seems to be to manipulate susceptible public opinion through their classic cocktail; high media attention and aggressive solemnity .The success of the Anna Hazare experiment is seeing immediate replication. Not surprising.
The cash for votes scam was undoubtedly a man-made calamity, revealing low levels of artificial intelligence. For one, the only way a sting operation would have carried authenticity was if BJP had showed MP’s from parties other than their own being financially seduced. Offering your own MP’s as the bait seemed a rather trite effort, like a home production manufactured by the Salman Khan family. Now whether MP’s were up for sale at a premium or discount only further investigation will establish, but there are obviously gaping holes. For instance, how did this hard cash get into the hands of Ashok Argal, Faggan Kulaste and Mahaveer Bhagora, the three BJP MP’s who stood as the human ATM’s in parliament ? What was the source? Where did the BJP functionaries accumulate the Rs 1 crore cash from unless it is irrefutably established that it was from other sources? That is a lot of money for a political party to keep in such liquid form. And if indeed there are innumerable bank accounts that were simultaneously utilized, the nexus would be even easier to prove. That simple straight-forward investigation of the money trail will nail the real culprits. I am assuming it should not be a complicated process.
But it took Mr Advani all of three years to miraculously re-discover enlightenment. Earlier, he had completely lapsed into amnesiac daze on the Kandahar hijacking. Clearly, Mr Advani knew the Lok Sabha TV cameras were capturing his excruciating predicament as he ensured prime time occupancy on TV channels. In sports, we often say, attack is the best form of defense. In case of Mr Advani, it was also the most apposite method of deflection. I am flabbergasted as to why the BJP under a rightfully indignant Advani did not take to the streets if they felt the KC Deo parliamentary committee report was either half-baked, which willfully soft-pedaled UPA’s attempt at buy-outs or appeared to be stonewalling further probe. BJP’s deafening silence for such a considerable period is baffling, because with the TV channel that was supposed to be a co-conspirator in the sting operation developing cold feet , perhaps they realized that they were skating on thin ice. The “ big impact” statement that they hoped to make on July 22nd itself had boomeranged. Yet, truth should have been vigorously pursued, right?
That Amar Singh is a celebrated foxy wheeler-dealer was hardly unknown even to the pigeons in 4, Feroze Shah Road. I suspect the grand booby-trap of the BJP was actually fairly elementary; one, who would be the perceived beneficiary of horse-trading? Obviously, the UPA. That would in one swift stroke consign the Congress-led coalition to the dust-bin. Secondly, given Amar Singh’s seedy reputation, few would raise eyebrows if Singh was seen as the man selling grease paint, given Samajwadi Party’s belated recognition of India’s energy deficiencies. Armed with these two straightforward brain-waves, apparently, Sudheendra Kilkarni displayed that much lauded “ statecraft” that BJP leaders often accuse the UPA of being woefully inadequate of. Fairly infantile tricks, actually.
The BJP went hammer and tongs behind a Wikileaks cable that insinuated that the Congress was attempting a “ stuffed suit-case strategy” to purchase MP’s. This was not just horse-trading, but stable-swapping. But it will be preposterous to take a leaked diplomat’s post-dinner ruminations to be damning legal evidence. In that case, the BJP stands thoroughly exposed itself as the cables also indicated that if it returned to power in 2009 elections, BJP would actually endorse the nuclear bill; the no-confidence motion was thus nothing more than a pure political stunt shorn of both ideology or India’s own self-interest .That is not just bad politics, but abysmal statesmanship from a leading national political party. Time for a chintan-baithak, perhaps??
It appalls me as to how we have such a short-memory that after just three years of that sordid display in Parliament we have completely overlooked how that event damaged India’s reputation in front of a stunned global audience ? The critical question is; did the BJP shame the nation’s stature for their own political resurrection? Should we allow political parties the right to abuse our democratic institutions for their own nefarious objectives, their own self-promotion? If indeed, the sting operation was just a deviously-planned conspiracy to defame UPA, aren’t the leaders of BJP guilty of eroding their country’s honor, the same nation that they had gone ballistic over for India Shining just five years earlier ? Are we missing the woods for the trees here all over again?
Before he embarks on his anti-corruption crusade, Mr Advani needs to look the nation in the eye and the man in the mirror, and address some simple-truths. Charity like the chariot usually begins at home.
( Sanjay Jha is Co-Founder, HamaraCongress.com. He can be reached at Sanjay_ Jha @DaleCarnegie.com ).
THE DEATH OF GANDHISM
THE DEATH OF GANDHISM
By Sanjay Jha
On Tehelka; http://tinyurl.com/42usmf6
And www.HamaraCongress.com
At 5.15 pm on January 30th 1948 Mahatma Gandhi was shot thrice by Nathuram Godse at point-blank range. In the years that have followed his tragic assassination, the Father of the Nation as he is appropriately called , has influenced the world at an unprecedented magnitude making Gandhism a philosophy of life. Non-violence, peaceful protest, silent resolution, indomitable resolve to stand for truth in any circumstance , all practiced with noticeable humility capture the Mahatma’s quintessential credo. Even Hollywood was inspired to make a biopic that was to sweep the Oscar awards and make Ben Kingsley an iconic global face of peace. Back at home, Munnabhai became the most charming rogue character, a benign, benevolent, buffoon with a heart of gold. Gandhigiri became the latest buzzword in town. Over the past few months in general, and in the last two weeks in particular, the Mahatma’s name and legacy has circulated with extravagant abandon, revealing both a flawed comprehension of history, and more worryingly, a distorted assessment of its future.
One of the most memorable reminiscences of Gandhi is at the time of the Kolkata communal riots of 1947 which had reached disturbing levels of incendiary madness. Raging flames towered into the twilight sky, a reminder of the horrific debris of human flesh incinerated below. Gandhi went on a fast, his most formidable weapon of remonstrance. His body was fragile, frail and vulnerable to exacting pressures . But within days the bloody carnage had come to a dramatic halt, the conflagration had ceased. The leaders of different communities assured Gandhi that they would not just halt the brutal slaughter , but would do their best to ensure it does not recur. Gandhi’s moral unflagging determination had become a binder. Once again.
When I saw the two young children from the Dalit and Muslim community offering coconut water and honey to Anna Hazare to break his fast , to be honest, I cringed . To borrow from Salman Rushdie, it was the “chutnification” of the carnival. An overwhelming sense of repugnance and indignation engulfed me. It was a craftily manufactured TV moment , meant to manipulate India’s vulnerable sensibilities. It was insufferably crass, a synthetic attempt to mollify two communities that have felt frightened of Ram Lila’s evident stridencies. India was being reduced to the ultimate farce, the symbolic gestures were straight out of a Bollywood script from the 1980s; when a patriotic song played in the background and Rajesh Khanna ( in Apna Desh) would help a blind Muslim man cross the road, a poor beggar and her child would get coconut juice, he would stop a Sikh and a Christian from fighting next to their religious abodes even as he stopped a safari-suited businessman from pawing lasciviously at a young girl. These were stock-in-trade formula winners. Poverty, communal harmony, social conduct , petty crime were all addressed in one three-minute Kishore Kumar number. The events at Ram Lila over 12 days of relentless media coverage was akin to an extended shoot on raw stock from the 1980s.
The orchestrated imagery; a tiny man pitted against the formidable State, juxtaposed against a giant-sized Gandhi image in the backdrop was assiduously created. Of course, the anti-corruption bandwagon will attract serpentine queues. It is a legitimate, justified cause but the expectation that the Jan Lok Pal Bill itself ought to pass by August 30th was preposterous. Frankly, the entire country is universally committed to creating a viable enduring anti-corruption institutional framework. Of course, the devil is in the details, ergo, it requires careful scrutiny, not cursory approbation. And therefore time. The ramifications of a flawed Lok Pal bill can seriously obstruct functioning of our democratic institutions. Thus, there was something immoral about the whole charade; its planned media strategy manifested its intrinsic character; manipulate the urban middle-class audience which adores interminable conflicts like in the soap-operas. Thus, provocative speeches implored the resurrection of our hidden moral fibers while insinuating that the entire political class were treacherous. What seemed initially like a genuine attempt to hasten a watershed legislation , was now reduced to petty one-upmanship accentuated by questionable political overtones. Interestingly, Team Anna maintained an eloquent silence on the perfidious ways of Big Business and private funding of NGO’s.
Microphones changed hands with monotonous regularity, and the sound bytes were meticulously worded . There was a rather arrogant assumption behind the entire jamboree; the public of India will gleefully consume the drama with unalloyed exhilaration given the emotive context. It is this presumptuousness that India should be worried about. Rest assured, Team Anna will find it difficult to survive even relative anonymity any longer, consumed by the vicissitudes of narcissism. Expect more road-shows.
There are many who say Anna Hazare was mischievously exploited behind what quickly transformed into a political ploy, with the Sangh Parivaar playing back-street boys. But honest to God, I think we are being naïve here. Hazare did eulogize Narendra Modi, despite the much-delayed Lok Ayukta and Genocide 2002. To believe that Hazare was an innocent bystander to the nefarious goings-on around him is to devalue his political cunning. His repeated humiliation of the government and the Prime Minister was in poor taste, but we treated it as the petulant ranting of a crabby man on an empty stomach , but should we? Wasn’t the fast a calculated act of egotistical strength- showing? The pre-recorded messages, the well-timed public speeches, the gloating You Tube Tihar jail video et al smacked of over-desperation; clearly Anna Hazare knew what he was doing. Or he was being ingeniously influenced by his close comrades. Or both.
There are many who will argue that it is perfectly legitimate to exploit the whole multi-media ( TV, print, internet, social media, radio, website, events) networked world to popularize your cause, that maybe even Gandhi would have done that. But Gandhi never let the cause be overtaken ;in fact, the people of India were his medium, message and his messengers. His central doctrine dictated events, but in the case of Team Anna, including Hazare himself, the message was subsidiary, the perfect timing of events took precedence. Thus, the self-proclaimed “second independence struggle’ the Gandhi topi now rebranded as I Am Anna, were marketing tactics that would appeal to business schools desperate for easy research material . Hazare’s message blurred by the end, and the calibrated anti-establishment hostility seemed tiresome. In fact, by the time Anna called the government the “ black British” one suspected the end of the fast was near. But because it all came from this “ Gandhian” instead of getting roundly rebuked for petty utterances , Hazare received tumultuous applause. Perhaps it helped that the Mahatma is hardly known by today’s demographic dividend. Thus, there was no moral consternation when some branded Hazare as the modern Mahatma. I thought India will strongly repudiate that. Arundhati Roy was not off the point when she said that the one and only original would have gone to a public hospital instead of a private one after his fast.
Gandhi died 22 minutes after he was shot at 5.37 pm, 63 years ago. So did Gandhism.
( The author is Co-Founder, HamaraCongress.com. He can be reached at Sanjay_ Jha @DaleCarnegie.com )
KILL BILL? NOT REALLY!
KILL BILL ? NOT REALLY!
By Sanjay Jha
( How could they miss the “ public sector”, albeit it may come under the Prevention of Corruption Act ? Why does the JLP want to entrap the poor salmon’s first while the Big White sharks are quietly let loose? And shouldn’t the Lok Pal be implemented in a phased manner ?).
Everyone carried a dismal hang-dog expression. It was as if we were at the receiving end of a devastating Armageddon. As if India’s credit rating was being correctly calculated to be of the lowest default grade by Standard & Poor. As oppressive dark clouds gathered, insanity ballooned as if imitating the Bollywood parody Peepli Live, virtually paralyzing our thriving democratic institutions. Frenzied media coverage, Bollywood drop-outs resurrecting themselves with rehearsed vehemence , sadhus/swamis/sevaks serenading an organized crowd cheering in boisterous revelry , even rumoredly snake-charmers spinning their reptiles, it was truly the theatre of the absurd. Or the concert for the confused. Amidst them sat a 74 year old man who despite fasting for over ten days to force an anti-corruption legislation packed a pugilistic punch. Team Anna Hazare wanted immediate implementation of their Jan Lok Pal Bill, dialogue, discussion and debate be damned. A single-bullet remedy for our woeful underhand ways was their perceived panacea. . It was bizarre. Democracy had scrapped an abysmal low. Amidst the madness, everyone forgot, that barring negotiable technical points, it was definitely a historical anti-corruption legislation being vigorously pursued by the government itself. But by then objectivity had flown quietly out of the window.
The real purpose behind that great reality TV carnival, however, never took center-stage. No one discussed what the stumbling bottlenecks were; confabulations remained at the pedestrian level. Irrational obstinacy overtook core common-sense. Clearly, there was this desperate intent to take credit for the landmark Lok Pal bill by Team Anna, hence pressure tactics and ridiculously exacting deadlines. It also made for entertainment for many.
It is an excruciatingly challenging exercise to review the various Bills in a short synopsis , but my principal belief is preventing corruption before it takes place is a better alternative to policing them post-the damage done. .
1) Lok Pal should not be levying jail sentences or imposing fines ; its operating bandwidth should be restricted to investigation and prosecution only. The quantum of punishment must be handled by a parallel judicial body or special courts designated for the purpose. India cannot risk a dictatorial structure, unshackled by parliamentary oversight where the writ of the Lok Pal is unchallenged. . Hence, the constitutional status to Lok Pal as suggested by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi needs serious concurrent assessment for future amendment, irrespective of the Bill being passed in the coming months.
2) The independence of the judiciary is a sacrosanct pillar for an effective democracy. For all it’s recent problems, we need to preserve its consecrated character. Nothing in life needs to be on an irreversible downhill slide. The Judicial Accountability and Standards Bill ought to address several issues ( currently approved by the Standing Committee). The Lok Pal should have no jurisdiction over the judiciary’s functioning. In fact, the Lok Pal must be investigated for its own misbehavior and financial impropriety by the Supreme Court. In effect, the Supreme Court and the judiciary must retain its independence.
3) Grievance-handling mechanism is like a mammoth customer service operation, driven by innumerable transactions. Ration cards, pension payments, passport renewals etc require administrative reforms rather than a super infrastructure of surreptitious policing ;instead we need to simplify processes and improve efficiencies which makes a massive Inspector Raj redundant. Two classic examples where modern technology has dramatically increased public service standards is Income-Tax e-filing, and railway reservations. Automation’s impact on transparency is immediate. When people fail, you make systemic changes to improve performance. Anxiety-enhancement boomerangs, and can be terribly demoralizing. UID which is now being initiated will make cash transfers seamless, obliterating corruption in one swift stroke. Aruna Roy’s suggestion for a separate mechanism for handling commonplace citizen complaints makes good sense.
4) One of the best ways of reducing corruption amongst civil servants would be to rationalize productivity norms through better staff recruitment and management ; for instance, over a defined five-year plan period, gradually reduce the staff size by 50% and increase their salaries by 100%. It will be an onerous task for the Lok Pal to manage the massive-numbers at the lower level of civil servants. It is again recommended that to ensure effective results this category should be part of Phase II. “Spectacular corruption” always happens at the top of the pyramid ( senior Class A category) and this focus will reduce gigantic frauds. Hence, the Lok Pal Bill has serious merit here, contrary to popular public discourse. I suggest implement the Lok Pal in a three-phased plan, with the top of the pyramid being the first priority.
The problem with the Jan Lok Pal bill is it’s obsession with concentrated power, not the supremacy of transparency. The fundamental approach is flawed; it assumes that the solution to corruption lies in creating a fear-inspiring intimidating machinery. The answer actually lies in less red tape, better training, rigorous transparency and human resource engagement . We need to empower the low-level civil servants for the long-term, not the Lok Pal.
5) The CBI must continue to come under the Ministry of Home Affairs but alternatively it could be brought under the RTI Act, but be completely independent of the Lok Pal.
6) Asset stripping, planned destruction of business potential to suit rival private sector beneficiaries and under-hand dealing of public sector undertakings ( PSU’s) has been completely overlooked. The tragic demise of Air India, the under-performing ITDC hotels, VSNL sell-off, step-motherly treatment to BSNL are classic examples. PSU’s possess massive infrastructure/land/technology/funds that can be stealthily swindled. This must be brought under the Lok Pal. The Non-Performing Assets of PSU banks are a staggering size , mostly generous loans to unscrupulous corporates, which are finally a drain on the public exchequer. How come the great proponents of Jan Lok Pal Bill forgot such a basic item? The explanation that PSU’s come under the PCA is not reassuring, as PSU’s run on for a profit model, with several being publicly listed and possessing huge market capitalization. Perhaps they require a different kind of supervisory control.
7) We receive over USD 2.5 billion in foreign funds inflow into NGO’s on an annual basis. Not all of them are paragons of virtue. This needs to be tightly regulated, given the rampaging corruption levels prevalent. All NGO’s , including those privately-funded need to be compulsorily registered and must come under the purview of the Lok Pal.
8) It is important to provide legal recourse to those bureaucrats alleged to be corrupt as they get a permanent stigma, and it hampers their future career prospects, even if ultimately absolved. To ensure that, we should minimize frivolous complaints by imposing a fine of Rs 100,000/- and 3 months imprisonment. But a lot needs to be done to improve the protection of whistleblowers ; a separate bill as envisaged by Aruna Roy seems a credible option.
9) The Prime Minister is India’s real supreme authority who takes critical decisions in times of grave internal disturbances and external aggressions. Bringing him under the Lok Pal will enormously reduce his political stature, with the latter seen as his Big Brother. In any case, a corrupt PM can be tried under the Prevention of Corruption Act . The Lok Pal Bill has an apposite solution; let the Lok Pal investigate the PM after he demits office, which he would have to if prima facie evidence is found against him. The definition of “ corruption” as many have suggested, can be widened to include various forms of kickback.
10) MP’s must declare their ownership in equity shares/ presence of close relatives on Boards of companies and any other “direct/indirect interest” through financial engagement . If found to be lobbying ( as was seen in the Radia tapes) they should be immediately suspended pending final investigations. This could come under the Lok Pal.
11) The Selection Committee should have a maximum of 7 people: 3 from the ruling establishment, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court , a retired Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Leader of Opposition and an eminent citizen . The Search Committee could be appointed by the Selection Committee as recommended in the Lok Pal Bill.
12) The idea of having a Lok Ayukta in every state as recommended in the Jan Lok Pal, a similar structure at a different scale for states makes sound sense. But what about the Lok Ayukta’s already in existence?
13)) Tapping of phones: This sensitive power must remain with the Home Ministry and not with the Lok Pal which should maintain a detailed document if required in court of law to explain reasons for authorization of phone tapping.
14) As Raghuram Rajan writes in his celebrated book Fault Lines; “ proximity to the government is an enormous source of profitability in India , and is reflected in the huge disparities of wealth that are emerging. Land, natural resources, and government contracts or licenses—are the predominant sources of wealth for India’s billionaires”. All large corporations acquiring “ public assets” such as land, water, mines, oil reserves, forests, and those in public-private partnerships must be brought under the Lok Pal. The corporate sector has so far dodged public scrutiny using sophisticated subterfuge, corporate lobbying, accounting jugglery and PR. We need to create a level-playing field. Also, these corporate entities must come under the RTI Act. The violating companies must be barred from raising funds from public for equity/debt/loans and financial institutions for a period of 10 years besides facing criminal and pecuniary liabilities.
15) In government departments/ PSU’s what we need to do is to scrap the age-old tender contract system with a more transparent electronic RFP with a built-in-ROI model that measures not just cost savings, but the qualitative aspects of a vendor’s proposals. This will ensure transparency, and minimize corruption.
I believe the orchestrated effort to paint the government-sponsored Lok Pal Bill ersatz was a tactical strategy to keep the hoi polloi confounded. A hyperventilating media was overtly captious , carping away at everything the GOI said , even as Anna’s team led a multimedia sock and awe operation. It took a gutsy grass-roots politician like Sharad Yadav to finally call a spade a spade.
I have a fundamental problem with the sweeping generalization of Jan Lok Pal Bill that corruption rages only in the government sector. And all public servants are egregiously debauched. And instead of focusing on large-scale corruption of Big Business-politics nexus where the real moolah changes hands, the Bill only chased small change . Misplaced priorities, perhaps! The priority here should be those at the peak of the pyramid, and not the ones carrying those sand-buckets. .
