Arindam Chaudhuri Analyses Why BJP should not and cannot afford to give up the demand for a JPC Probe

Rs. 1,76,000 crores and counting! The scam is the biggest in the country ever – or rather, the sum total of all the other scams (that have been exposed) put together, multiplied by two and more! If not a joint parliamentary committee probe now, then when? A great democracy is one with a thriving opposition. After the last elections, I had raised a question. Is this the end of the road for the BJP for long? It looked so. BJP was stuck on its Hindutva mantra, while the Congress promised youth, which looked progressive and could connect with the masses better! After all, the Hindus themselves are so coexistential that they don’t like any communal stress in their lives. But then, complacency is the mother of all failures. And failure is the mother of all successes! Congress did two big blunders. Firstly, in a haste to promote Rahul Gandhi as its future leader – and in its fear that charismatic speakers like Jyotiradiya or Sachin Pilot or Milind Deora may overshadow the son – the Congress started destroying its biggest trump card, the youth factor, which had made it look so bright. The Congress saw to it that none of them had the courage to hog any limelight or be in any platform of importance; so much so that the public has virtually forgotten Congress’ youth brigade. And the truth is whatever the slavish media in India writes (it praises every rare semi-meaningful word that Rahul says as if it’s straight from Julius Ceaser). Rahul Gandhi, unfortunately, is still not good enough to single-handedly lead the Congress yet. Like they have done with Dr. Manmohan Singh, the Congress could have made best use of Rahul as the silent guy, while the other better speakers managed the party.

The second mistake is perhaps bigger and more dangerous. Protecting a dynasty may ruin a party but abetting corruption ruins the nation. The Congress ruined its Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh’s personal image of crystal clear integrity by entering into a series of mega scams. A majority of population in India, being illiterate, doesn’t understand policies much; but they understand ‘chori’. I believe a conspiracy by V. P. Singh created a wave in India which made him the Prime Minister from a nobody, thanks only to an allegation of corruption that he could make the public believe in. Rajiv was a man of definite personal integrity and was highly progressive and had started an anti-corruption drive in India against Indian businessmen. V.P. Singh was a friend of the industry, being a past commerce minister, and catching the moment, he made the Bofors allegation. Rajiv – a man of great progressive thoughts, great charisma and a Gandhi who had earlier swept the elections on a massive sympathy wave – lost the elections. I would say for no reason but a wave around corruption that the masses were falsely made to believe. Rajiv Gandhi, I believe, was personally not corrupt (for party funds, even the most honest politician depends on sources; and Rajiv might have depended on a single alternative instead of a number of Indian businessmen). But can I say the same about the current Congress? Well, only a joker can. Everyone else knows what’s happening in the Congress. Yes, there is a Manmohan Singh who is clean. But he sits atop a pile of corrupt people. CWG, Adarsh, 2G, it goes on... personal wealth creation at its best; and wealth being