Col J P Singh, Retd
I know fully that a Prime Minister alone cannot eliminate corruption from the society even if he stands up and shouts aloud. Still I feel that if the Chief Executive is honest, effective and serious about corruption, it can be checked. By keeping eyes, ears and mouth shut against corruption while heading UPA II, Dr Singh has abetted this menace which has now grown alarming. It is no pleasure for me to attack a Prime Minister and that too Dr Manmohan Singh who is respected world over for his economic acumen. Alas the things have come to such a pass that probing questions are becoming unavoidable. Being a good human being is not enough unless that goodness flows and benefits the society. The worst, and I hope untrue, is the inference from Coalgate cover up plan that Dr Singh lacks the courage of conviction, loves to be Prime Minister and will even stake his reputation to cling to the chair. He ignored the misgivings of his colleagues and subordinates. But that is not expected of the honest leader of the nation. Even a common man must stand up and fight the corruption, leave aside the PM, his cabinet and other top functionaries under him. Thus the sordid saga of UPA II comes under close scrutiny of the common man and I and you are one of them.
If President of a Services Selection Board was to write a report on Dr Singh, his pen picture would read, “highly intelligent, honest, faithful and likeable person but lacks moral courage and acumen to handle serious and complex problems”. The events of the past few months do show that for all his abilities, he does lack the moral courage and effective leadership traits. Three months back nation was enthused when Rahul Gandhi dithered and he opted for the third term because since then he had been operating from a moral high ground and gaining in reputation despite scams, parting allies and opposition attacks. By intelligently passing the blame to the coalition & opposition for all the ills, he managed to carry the day. Riding on the wave of honesty, he allowed unprecedented corruption and clever cover up plans to hold on to the chair hoping that his unblemished image and corrupt friends & allies will carry him to UPA III. The bluff has been exposed. Recent fall from such a height when Ashwani Kumar was seen erasing the Coalgate trail to 7 Race Course Road, is that much more shattering. On whose behest was Ashwani erasing this blood trail is an unavoidable question. Coalgate and Railgate have shattered his personal credibility. His govt faces worst of the embarrassment. How innocent betrayal of the nation! Even his admirers want him to resign. Like Sachin, Dr Singh has proved to be a bad Captain though an outstanding player.
BJP lost the confidence of people in Karnataka on the issues of corruption. Corruption kills and arrogance ensures deep burial. It was true of BJP and Yaddyurappa in Karnataka. BJP’s demise started with the loot of Ballery Coal Mines. Indian voter is unforgiving. Similarly UPA’s fall has started with the Coalgate. The game is the same, only the pitch has changed. UPA II will go down in the history for allowing unprecedented scams and loot of natural resources, be it spectrum, mines, agriculture land, irrigation water, CWG, infrastructure projects, appointments / promotions, loan waivers and defence deals, to name a few. While the BJP is rising across the country slowly, the Congress is falling rapidly. Gains of Karnataka were instantly neutralized by the latest scams. While Dr Singh’s reputation is falling incrementally, Narendra Modi’s acceptability may grow steeply if people draw parallels. Indian voter has more patience than the political temperament would suggest but he can’t be taken for granted. Karnataka voters did not vote for a Chief Minister as such because Congress had not declared any. They voted for a change. It will not matter who will be the next PM when India goes for polls in the next general election. What the change is inevitable.
In 2008 rumors were afloat that Manmohan Singh might resign if he did not get the 2008 nuclear deal through in the Parliament. Sympathetic voices were raised saying that the nuclear deal was not worth sacrificing a gentleman politician. Incidentally, the magic deal was not even spoken of as an election issue in 2009 despite which Manmohan Singh bounced back. Nation went with his past reputation. But the Coalgate and its cover up has torn him apart. Today the past lies lie exposed. Unprecedented scandals and scams and the way they have been handled or not handled by Dr Singh is not just a monumental tragedy but betrayal of faith of poor and innocent people of India who voted this govt to power. Hence many questions are targeted against Dr Singh today which nation never asked before. It is not only about Ashwani Kumar & Pawan Kumar Bansal because they are not worth dwelling on after they have been ripped apart by the media. It is time to scrutinise entire sordid saga of Manmohan Singh regime. Scared of expose, he allowed an indiscreet review of CBI’s confidential status report to get allegations against him deleted so that he could uphold the moral high ground in the CBI probe. But it backfired when the impropriety was noticed by the Apex court. It leaves us wondering if there are any gentlemen in politics. His culpability, if any, needs to be fully probed and made public.
In an attempt to retain power at any cost Congress has destroyed / weakened every democratic institution. CBI is caged. Judges and investigators are given lucrative jobs on retirement. A Prime Minister who has seen lakhs of crores worth scams taking place under his nose is being defended by the same Congress party which swears by zero tolerance of corruption inside the Parliament. Once the truth comes out, Congress brazens it out arrogantly. Media too projects Dr Singh as honest and incorruptible person. Media kept giving him merit certificates till the CBI and the Supreme Court finally burst the bubble in Coalgate on the basis of true and false affidavits. Instead of showing guts to accept responsibility, Congress has shown the audacity to challenge the Supreme Court and blame BJP of greater corruption.
Today incurable corruption, violence, mis-governance, money laundering, electoral malpractices and various other ills in the society, all come from the fountainhead called Congress. It is also the party where its President has to be a Gandhi. A party which does not respect democracy at home, cannot respect democracy in India. That is not the end. Caning of non violent protesters, giving colour to terrorism, accepting separatism, demoralizing army, paramilitary & police forces, weak foreign policy, inflation, unemployment, violations of LoC and LAC, appeasing enemies of the state are some of the other failings of the govt under Dr Singh. Never before the nation has seen such a sordid saga of misrule. Hence its continuation is seen as detrimental to the development of India.
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