Politics in India has been so much denigrated that it has become a topic of contempt. Both the Congress and the BJP, the two main parties, are responsible for it. They have come to the level of hurling abuses at one another, much to the exasperation of the people.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singhs offer to appear before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been of little use. When both the right and the left parties have united, which is a rarity, and have stuck to the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the 2G spectrum scandal, the PAC offer by the ruling Congress seems to limit the scope of investigation. The opposition wants to go into the policy of allotment of 2G spectrum relating to mobiles and lay down guidelines for the future. By denying the JPC, the Congress is behaving as if it has something to hide.
There is no doubt that the BJP was the first to throw the gauntlet at the Congress by stalling parliament. At that time the allegation of corruption was confined to the Commonwealth Games but then the party expanded the charge when the 2G spectrum scam came to light through the report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, estimating the loss of nearly Rs 1.75 thousand crore.
The Congress was rattled and retaliated by attacking the BJP by name, even though the demand for the JPC was made by most opposition parties. The Congress leaders also introduced in the attack the charge of communalism against the BJP, a stigma which the party has not been able to wash away.
In turn, the BJP went berserk and criticised not only the Congress-led government but also the Prime Minister who refused to join issue till then. Yet when more details of the 2G spectrum scam came to light, the government had to force Telecommunication minister A Raja to resign. This only whetted the BJPs appetite.
Dr Manmohan Singh became the BJPs target. This has, no doubt, made headlines but the BJP has attacked the institution of Prime Minister, the highest executive under the constitution. However tempting it is to be in the news, the PM should have been treated with respect because everyone knows that Dr Manmohan Singhs credibility is beyond doubt.
Yet the general perception is that the entire system is rotten and all politicians are corrupt. The Prime Minister must realise that he has lost the most. The impression has gone around that he does not take any action against the corrupt although he knows who they are. This conception is wrong but he should do something to remove it.
The Congress has changed the gear to switch over to communalism from corruption. The RSS, the mentor of the BJP, is a sitting duck. Congress Secretary-General Digvijay Singh even politicised the 26/11 attack on Mumbai by revealing that he received a telephone call from Hemant Karkare, the police officer who died in the attack that his life was in danger. Karkare had probed into the Malegaon blast and had found the hand of Hindu terrorists. Although the RSS had denounced the charge, a vague kind of feeling has started that there may well be Hindu terrorists.
Amidst all this came the disclosure by WikiLeaks that Rahul Gandhi had told US Ambassador Timothy J Roemer at Delhi about the possibility of Hindu radical groups springing up in reaction to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Rahul also pointed out that the Hindu radicals were more dangerous for the country than some support for the LeT from a section of Indian Muslims. The BJP was so angry that it even called Rahul Gandhi anti-national.
Sonia Gandhi came to the rescue of her impulsive son and changed his expression into condemnation of terrorism by the majority or the minority. To take the fight right into the parivar ranks, the Congress plenary session held a few days ago asked the government to find out the connection between Hindu terrorists and the RSS, something necessary but should not have been tagged with the attack on corruption.
It is too early to say how the drama that the Congress and the BJP are staging before the cynical public would end. But one thing is sure that the people would like to defeat both the parties in the general election, still three years away. Whether this murky atmosphere affects Indias reputation abroad or not is as relevant as is the feeling of an average Indian who feels humiliated and small. And how does he express himself when elections have become a game of the rich?
To have a level-playing field, the electoral reforms should be effected so that money does not count much. But both the parties do not want to even hear about any reforms in the electoral system. They know that they alone can afford the expense because a candidate standing for the Lok Sabha seat spends somewhere near Rs 10 crore. From where does a clean, deserving person get that kind of money? Either he becomes part of the racket or he loses the election.
The worst is the Rajya Sabha which, thanks to the Supreme Court, has become a house of money bags, racketeers or those whom the party leaders fancy. The Supreme Court judgment has even endorsed the abolition of secret ballot. Believe it or not, it was a unanimous judgment.
The fear expressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the future of parliamentary system has gained ground only because the real representatives of the electorate cannot make it to the house, either at the Centre or in the states. But his remark was because of the standoff in parliament. India has experienced the stalling of the house by the opposition parties for three weeks, earlier it was for two weeks by the Congress. The nation can take the boycotts in its stride provided it has the confidence that the representatives in parliament or the legislatures have come through their work and credibility and not through money.
The writer is a senior Indian journalist.