Gully Gully Mey Shor Hai...

Gully Gully Mey Shor Hai…

The elevation of the brilliant and rapier-sharp Subramanian Swamy into the Rajya Sabha, represents the beginning of the end for the erstwhile touch-me-not ‘first and last’ family of  Congress.

Swamy has come in with the personal backing of prime minister Narendra Modi, that of BJP party president Amit Shah, and the top brass of the RSS.

Further, Subramanian Swamy, a top-notch economist, capable of taking bold steps, may also soon be offered the finance portfolio. This new innings for Swamy may also harbinger an economic policy course-correction. He is noted for advocating the abolition of income tax, paid only by a miniscule proportion of the overall population, mainly from the salaried middle class.  

Swamy, if he becomes FM, is expected to move much faster with other second-generation reforms, long awaited by the international investment community, as well.

The timidity on this front thus far may have been due, in part, to resistance from vested interests and pressure groups including trade unions. But, at the same time, it is undeniable that the government has failed to elicit cooperation from Congress, however gingerly it was handled. If Swamy takes over the finance ministry, Congress will not figure in his calculations.

Swamy therefore lost no time in calling out the new government stance. He sallied forth in his very first address in the upper house, in repeating allegations from a recent Italian court judgement  against ‘Signora Gandhi’, being the principal bribe-taker in the AgustaWestland scandal.

This was, as usual, broadcast live to the nation, before being expunged from the parliamentary record, for not following laid-down procedure on naming people not present in the house.

The re-emergence of parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy also puts paid to his jealous and discomfited detractors within the BJP fold, some of whom are allegedly sympathetic to the Congress high command.

The determined, supremely confident, and energetic Swamy, has now thrown down the gauntlet. But Congress is floundering, having admitted bribes were taken. Not being able to match Swamy in reasoned debate, Congress continued its practice of running to the well of the house, and making a noise, necessitating adjournments.

 This has been the established Rahul Gandhi strategy in parliament since 2014, justified as a tit-for-tat retaliation for BJP during the UPA years. But, this unimaginative and reactionary tactic, is suffering now from the law of diminishing returns, both in parliament, and in public perception.

Oddly enough, legislative bills, if not the most important ones, are getting passed, despite Congress obduracy. Meanwhile, the public is growing increasingly unsympathetic. Not allowing parliament to function is not only proving counter-productive, it is also isolating Congress within the opposition.

Whether Swamy succeeds in putting Sonia and Rahul Gandhi in jail via his private effort on the National Herald scandal, remains to be seen. But it has already done considerable damage to the inviolate image of the Gandhis.

 And now, with defence minister Manohar Parrikar’s backing, will the various investigative agencies and arms of government succeed in prosecuting Sonia Gandhi for AgustaWestland as well?  Investigations are on in right earnest, only for the first time, after UPA tried to bury the scam.

Rahul and Sonia Gandhi were both arrested and released on bail in the National Herald case. The prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has therefore been established.  

In the AgustaWestland matter, a mounting body of circumstantial evidence is beginning to pile up, with more people in the know coming forward and speaking up, now that the political dispensation has changed.  

Crucial missing files, saved from possible evidence-destroying arson, have been recovered, and the foreign missions are also on the job via the MEA. The government is serious about getting to the bottom of this, and hard at work to find proof that will stand up in court.

Meanwhile, at 10, Janpath, it is taking the thick skin of a threatened one-horned Indian rhino to carry on. It takes hard-boiled pretence at composure to attempt deflection  using high falutin’ talk of democracy, the constitution, intolerance, character assassination, lies, innuendo, and political vendetta .

Wiggle on the hook as they might, the Gandhis have lost a great deal of credibility. The courts may be a while before they grind to a verdict, ranging in depth and duration from the district courts, up through the high courts, all the way to the supreme court.  

The lesser fry, such as the bureaucrats, armed forces personnel, who have received proportionately small amounts as bribe, when put under intense scrutiny, will probably provide much of the incriminating evidence on the ‘main beneficiaries’.

The various shadowy middlemen in the AgustaWestland deal, Europeans and Indians alike, some who have been close to the Gandhis for long, may also think it opportune to spill the beans on them now.

But, the voters, participating in ongoing and impending state assembly elections; they who threw out the late Rajiv Gandhi after Bofors, will not let Sonia Gandhi, son Rahul, daughter Priyanka and son-in-law Robert, back into power.

The Congress coteries and courtiers may try to brazen it out, telling themselves they will soon be back in the saddle, come 2019. However, it seems increasingly unlikely that Congress will be the principal party in any anti-BJP coalition.

After the election results in Assam and Kerala come out later this month, Congress may find itself with next to no states left. In West Bengal, even if their alliance comes out on top, it won’t be Congress that benefits as much as the communists will.

Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi’s harried proclamations of innocence, and not being ‘afraid’ are being belied by her body language. This is showing immense strain, in parliament, in political speeches, media comments and out on the street.

How can the Gandhis win the perception battle now, even amongst neutrals, when the torrent of bribery and corruption stories regarding them never seems to let up?

So much so, there is no pronouncement from them these days that is not bracketed along with corruption allegations, to complete the context.

A persistent story, from years ago, keeps reappearing. It names Sonia Gandhi the 3^rd richest politician in the world, with a fortune counted in many billions of dollars.  

So sure, one can march on camera for 10 minutes in the noon-day sun, without breaking a sweat, and even court arrest along with an 82 year old former prime minister, ostensibly for ‘democracy’.

But bored TV anchors and guests are shaking their heads at the charade, with one keeping an empty chair for missing Congress spokespersons.  And out in cyberspace, there is much jeering, lampooning social media commentary, name-calling the Gandhis without mercy or let-up.

For: The Pioneer

(1,097 words)

May 9^th, 2016

Gautam Mukherjee