Friday, April 29, 2011

BJP and Left as corrupt as Congress.....

There’s a feeling amongst many people that the Congress is the most corrupt party. Actually, that’s not a correct fact. All political parties are corrupt; some like the BJP more than we think them to be. A few interesting reports in the papers over the last few weeks have brought out this point quite clearly. Shows that the BJP’s hopes of benefitting from Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement are ill-founded.

The first story is about the CWG scam now starting to encircle the BJP as well. The CVC’s Chief Technical Examiner (CTE) has indicted the MCD for several projects undertaken by it for the CWG. The MCD is ruled by the BJP. Charges include intentionally delaying projects so that prices could be jacked up in “national interest”, poor quality of work etc.

The second report is in today’s papers and quotes a Center for Media Studies (CMS) study which shows that the aam aadmi feels that corruption has actually come down over the last 5 years. Only 28% of the rural aam aadmi had to pay bribes to get work done (in the areas of Public Distribution System, school education, hospitals and water supply) v/s 56% five years back. However, states where giving bribes remains high are Chhatisgarh (BJP), Bihar (Janata Dal and BJP alliance), Kerala (Left Front) and Maharashtra (Congress). If these numbers reflect the “reality” on date, then the following ones represent the “perception of corruption”: Chattisgarh (66% feel bribes need to be paid....BJP ruled), Bihar (Janata Dal – BJP alliance), Kerala (59%....Left Front), Rajasthan (54%....Congress) and UP (49%.....BSP). An even distribution across political parties!

The last report I am relying on appeared in the Economic Times of April 17th. An ET-Synovate study listed the top 13 “most corruption prone” states. Starting with the most corrupt, the list includes

1) UP (BSP)
2) Uttarakhand (BJP)
3) Bihar (Janata Dal – BJP),
4) Jharkhand (BJP)
5) Delhi (Congress)
6) MP (BJP)
7) Maharashtra (Congress)
8) Karnataka (BJP)
9) West Bengal (Left)
10) Tamilnadu (DMK – Congress)
11) Punjab (Shiromani Akali Dal)
12) Haryana (Congress)
13) Gujarat (BJP)

This list shows that out of the 13 states, BJP figured in five, Congress in four and the rest were single-state parties. Another way to look at this is that the Congress was named in four out of its 12 ruled states (33%), the BJP in five out of its 7 (71%), and the rest were ruled in the single state that they ruled in (100%). The Congress actually comes out the most clean amongst the corrupt!

This is a very strong indictment against the BJP. The party has been trying to take advantage of the strong sentiments against corruption that have pervaded the urban middle class. With the help of mainstream media (which, as a friend pointed out.....tends to be anti-establishment since it does not depend on government advertising for survival), the BJP has been trying to ride a wave of anger against the UPA government at the Center. The media has been helping the BJP by putting a protective veil on the affairs of the party in Karnataka. However, the above reports are quite damning for the party..... five out of its seven states feature in the most corruption prone states. What would explain this? Actually, it’s not that difficult to understand. In order to fight elections, and to continue with its political activities, any party needs lots of funds. Since funds are almost never acquired legally, parties resort to all sorts of devious methods......Since the BJP does not rule at the Centre, it makes up by exploiting the states where it rules. In contrast, the Congress rules at the Center....hence is less dependent on its state units.

Which brings me to the point I have been making all through. That corruption exists for various reasons. One of the main reasons is that the process of elections gives requires political parties to spend a lot of money. The proponents of the Lokpal Bill don’t seem to have understood this. They seem to believe (a little naively) that setting up a body called the Lokpal (forget how it will harm our democracy) will solve all the problems. To solve the problem, we don’t need more laws; we need to address the core issues that I have highlighted earlier: election funding; better salaries to MPs and babus; making the CBI and CVC independent like the Election Commission is (while still staying under Parliament); and most importantly, reducing the size of the government (getting out of businesses where it adds little or no value).....

The real truth is that the BJP and the media are beating down the wrong path. If they think they will succeed in their propaganda, I think they are mistaken. The media (TV channels, newspapers) are already taking a beating in terms of reducing viewership and readership. The BJP will also take a beating in the next round of elections. Unless it develops a more robust positioning for itself. It failed with the Hindutva plank....it will fail again with the anti-corruption plank as well.

10 comments:

  1. Interesting news. The same has been reproduced in my blog newsarticlesbengaluru.blogspot.com . Due credit has been given.

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  2. No problems Prasanna! BTW, I totally agree that the BJP government should not be removed from power on the basis of Article 356....that would be a blatant abuse of power by the Center

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  3. corruption in a state or country can best be evaluated the rise in cost of living over the past few years.inflation/corruption have always spiked during congress government and not during any other time.why?today a scam involving anything less than Rs 10000 lakhs is not worth mentioning in the news papers.you dont push the blame on your coalition partner and act innocent.can you logically believe lakhs of crores of rupees have been robbed without the governments knowledge.in a democractic country why does congress always encourage and thrive on NEPOTISM.why?

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  4. @Anonymous....I am sorry but I disagree with you. Your stats are wrong. Please answer the question: What is the "scam" in 2G? There is only Rs 200 crores in the DB Realty-Kalaignar TV matter. There is nothing against Unitech. Nothing yet against Reliance or Videocon. The stake sale that Unitech did to Telenor at a valuation of Rs 6000 odd crore is sited as an example of corruption. This is a plain lie. The money came into the company. If people cannot understand this, that doesn't make their lie a truth. People confuse policy issues with corruption. The government chose to sell 2G cheap. Because its a "basic public good". We wouldn't have had the 750 million (OK 500 million) subs if the pricing had been any higher. For you and me, its a only a question of pricing. For the underprivileged, its a question of upliftment. That's what 2G game them. Likewise the government subsidizes diesel, kerosene and LPG. You mean this is corruption? Or is it a policy initiative. Please don't get taken in by media rhetoric. And you think the inflation is a result of our domestic policies? Partly yes, but only partly. It's mostly because of international financial condition. I am sorry, you have your facts all wrong my friend....

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    1. Excellent, Mr.Panday. You are an asset to our nation. Thanks for fighting for the right and bringing truth to the public. What you told about Media is 100% correct.

      Now a days, people are mixing policy matters with corruption. CAG is telling theoretical things also. 175000 crore loss on telecom scam is such a one. CAG did good work, but such inflated comments like 175000 crore gave some people energy to malign Dr.Man Mohan Singh Govt.
      What you told about Media also is correct. They also work incorrectly nowadays.

      Your work appreciated. May God bless you to bring truth to the people. I have got a friend, who thinks for the nation. Best wishes.

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  5. dear pandeyji,how can we blame international financial condition?my current stats are i must accept media fed.so as per you media is totally wrong.but sir why is it that corruption rises its ugly head to its peak only when congress government is ruling.why is it that inflation rises only congress is ruling.i am but a lay man who know only the fact that thing get costly when congress government is ruling.crime rate increases when congress is ruling.i might be wrong but please dont take me as a BJP fan as well i only say they are the lesser devil and hence the better devil.

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    1. Dear Anonymous, When we talk about inflation, why we are not saying about how much the income of middle class increased. How much fold our opportunities increased. Of course this is a very bad time. This is a recession like the one of 1930s. While fighting such recession, inflation will go out of control. Govt is doing as far as it can. Dr.Singh is capable for it. Be confident.
      Very difficult time world wide and it may take some 6 more years to get out of the crisis. Let serious citizens support govt like in a war situation.
      JAI HIND.

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  6. @Anonymous - What you say is factually untrue. That's all that I would like to point out. This round of corruption charges are hugely exaggerated. If the 2G scam was shown as Rs 200 crores and CWG at Rs 20 crores, do you think it would have come to the papers? And would you then have had this perception? The media has raised a bogey here....

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  7. Good pandey ji.
    But Indian public never use mind before thinking & protesting.

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