Poonam I Kaushish
If you point one finger at another, four will point back at you. In the heat and fury of electioneering, in all likelihood the Congress Shezada Rahul and his sibling Priyanka forgot this adage. As they unleashed a flurry of allegations against BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narinder Modi over his recently ‘rediscovered’ wife Jashodaben and Snoopgate (spying by Gujarat State agencies on a woman). Only at their peril as Modi let loose a maelstrom of accusations against Congress’s RSVP: Rahul, Sonia, her damaad Robert Vadra and Priyanka. Clearly, the Gandhi Parivar had shot itself in the foot.
Predictably, all hell broke loose with an “hurt and pained” Priyanka taking cudgels for her pati parmeshwar by avering the charges only made her “stronger”. Lest the message was lost on the Hindutva brigade she evoked grandmother Indira who had taught her to be resolute, no matter it failed to cut ice.
How could it. Think. A high-school educated small-time exporter of inexpensive costume jewelry Vadra’s claim to fame came when he married Rajiv-Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka in 1997. In 2007 the 44-year-old with no experience in property development ventured into the real-estate business, under Sky Light Hospitality Private Ltd. with less than Rs 50 lakhs and amassed a large portfolio to Rs 300 crore in 2012.
His modus operandi hit headlines for all the wrong reasons when the media and later AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal exposed Vadra’s alleged “dirty linen”. He accused the country’s first son-in-law of receiving undue favours and wealth from India’s biggest reality firm Delhi-based DLF. And asked Vadra to clarify how his wealth jumped manifold.
Citing from Vadra’s balance sheet, clarifications were sought on how he purchased 7 high end apartments in one of DLF’s Gurgaon properties for a total of a mere Rs 5 crores when each flat alone is worth that, a penthouse valued at Rs 25 crores for a pittance Rs 89 lakhs in 2007 and a hotel in south Delhi for Rs 35 crores, no matter a shop costs more.
More. Why did DLF give Vadra Rs 65 crores as unsecured interest free loans which he invested back in the firm? Why did the Congress Government in Haryana give a 35 acre plot meant for a hospital to DLF for an SEZ? Was it on Vadra’s behest as he too had invested monies and what was the quid-pro-quo?
Alongside, from 2009-12 he bought about over 2,000 acres in Rajasthan for a measly amount thereafter which the ruling Congress State Government announced solar incentives for Vadra’s land. Thus the land value soared ten-fold within three years as State records of land transactions show. Today, the Vasundhra Raje BJP Government has ordered an investigation to determine how much land Vadra bought and whether he had violated any local land laws such as exceeding land-purchase limits
Adding to Sonia’s discomfiture even as Party apparatchiks are defending Vadra’s malfeasance, he continues to be blasé and cocks a snook at the aam aadmi in whose name the Congress seeks votes. Who can forget his infamous posting on Facebook, “Mango people in banana republic?” Translated in English, aam has two meanings: ordinary and mango fruit.
Look at the irony. It is only a banana republic which allows a ‘first family man’ to make money in so little time. Thanks to his right connections due to which he has the right kind of friends.
Understandably, no legal authority has accused Vadra of any wrongdoing. How could it when Sasuma Sonia runs the Sarkar. Remember, when an IAS officer concluded that Vadra “did not own the resources to pay” for the land purchasing from DLF in Haryana and cancelled the allocation, the Congress Government transferred him and concluded that the jawai babu had done nothing wrong.
The moot point is not only whether Vadra has done any thing erroneous but it brought three important issues to the fore. One, if Vadra is a “private citizen” why do Ministers defend him? And so clumsily? Two, as private person why does he enjoy SPG Z+ protection and is among 30 VVIPs who are exempt from frisking at all airports.
Three, it has exposed the hypocrisy of “political maryada”, the unwritten code of honour among our netagan not to rake up crimes of omission and commission of their rivals families. When I asked a senior BJP leader why they hadn’t raised the Vadra issue in Parliament last year, he dismissively asserted, “It’s a non-issue. We don’t cross the lakshman rekha, we don’t rake up dirt about each other and respectively families. Thus, the Vadra scam is a strict no-no”.
All adhering to a “live-and-let-live” policy for fear of mutual destruction. Recall, the Congress deafening silence on Vajpayee’s foster son-in-law of Ranjan Bhattacharya, a case in point. Bluntly, haamare parivar ke liye saat khoon maaf hain.
Alas, as various scams over the years, Bank scam, petrol pumps, CWG, 2G and Coalgate show, the maximum beneficiaries are netas, their relatives and cronies. See how Congress turned the other cheek when Andhra Prince Jaganmohan Reddy minted millions. But as soon as he challenged the Party High Command he became personal-non-grata and his corruption omnipresent.
Add to this is that for are political tribe and their families corruption is taken as part of the perks of office. Ever wonder how our politicians who have never worked a day in their life, start their political innings with a jhola but become multi-millionaires within five years.
The tragedy of India is that we are not able to fight corruption in public life because the people who run the Government are corrupt. The recent declaration of wealth to the Election Commission by candidates shows an increase from 10-fold to 300-time over five years. How?
In sum, it remains to be seen what action the new Government will take, if any at all, against the Gandhi parivar’s Achilles Heel “It will die down post poll, once a new scandal erupts, remember public memory is short,” said a seasoned leader.
Needless to say, for us “mango people” to expect any sort of accountability from our netas betas-betis-damaads is nothing short of a pipe dream. Perhaps the time has come for a codification of this “honour among thieves” so that we are at least spared the mortification of watching elaborate and often brazen cover-ups of corruption by their families.
What next? The aam aadmi is aware that corruption has morphised from behind close doors to open loot. The only way forward is to overhaul political funding by ushering in transparency. As the increase in voting percentage shows many are confident that the people will no longer remain mute spectators post poll.
Will India be lucky and get a game changing government which it desperately wants and needs? One sincerely hopes Probity does not become the oxymoron to the Indian Politicians. Else, we will continue to live in a Banana Republic of mango people!– INFA
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