I have always found it intriguing that every time the topic of Sonia's alleged corruptions crops up, it is either muted, in hushed whispers or quickly swept under the carpet. How is it that in a country where women, especially amongst the senior citizens and in political circles, are treated like second class citizens, the most powerful person in the country is a woman. A woman of a foreign race at that! A woman who has not gone to the trouble of learning the national language and has to read out her Hindi speeches written in English (or Italian?)!
I also find it alarming that the Indian media which, only of late, has started pouncing on every scam under the sun with admirable fervour, never hurls a single accusation at “Sonia-ji”. Curiously, all the conspiracy theories against her and “her” government are largely floated from the state of Tamil Nadu, which is of course the epicenter of the largest scam ever. Yet, in the media when Dr. Subramanian Swamy’s accusations against Raja and the DMK have held water till date, his accusations against Sonia Gandhi are never mentioned. Is the holler created in the southern most region of the country too far to be heard in the capital state? Or is it that these sources lack the credibility to ruffle the feathers of the heavy-weights in Delhi. Read Swaminathan Gurumurthy’s very compelling article, almost a tirade, (
http://expressbuzz.com/biography/zero-tolerance-secret-billions/236261.html) against her in a surprisingly meager forum such as the New Indian Express (or am I incorrect in my assumption). Even a fairly open minded person, such as myself, would find it difficult not to be taken in by the accusations and arguments put forward. It could well be that Ms Gandhi finds it beneath her to respond to such outrageous accusations, especially against writers who have political affiliations with the opposition, but her silence is certainly damning.
Surprisingly, the opposition, who have been presented with a golden opportunity to wrest back power in wake of the season of scams, have been woefully impotent in taking advantage of this situation. Rather than propagating the more than convincing accusations leveled by the Gurumurthy’s and the Swaminathan’s amongst the comman-man they repeatedly chant their demand for a Joint Parliamentary committee (JPC) over the existing Public Account Committee (PAC), which incidentally is led by a BJP man. It is beyond my understanding, their reasons for demanding a JPC probe and the congress’ reluctance in accepting it, given that neither committee have prosecutorial powers. If the congress are planning to pussy-foot the issue with a PAC they are equally capable of doing so with a JPC (Read:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/jpc-or-pac---the-argument-continues/articleshow/7156598.cms). The congress’ sole argument against the charges hurled by the BJP have been that the BJP are no virginal outfit themselves pointing at Yedyurappa’s nefarious land-and-attention-grabbing activities in Karnataka. Rather than looking at the bigger picture and to immediately suspend Yedyurappa, the BJP have only weakened their own stance by their own inaction. Why the BJP target only Dr. Manmohan Singh for his inaction rather than Sonia Gandhi, who EVERYONE knows calls the shots is as surprising as it is cowardly.
So what is it about Ms. Gandhi that makes everyone, in the congress and even in the opposition, croon over her. I find myself coming up with some pretty outrageous theories but theries that need to be floated out there nonetheless -
· Is she the kind of person who commands respect even among the most staunch of male chauvinists and is she indeed the brilliant political mind that she is purported to be?
· Does she have some kind of leverage over most of the congress leaders which force them to begrudgingly respect her in public
· Are the titillating conspiracies of her connection with the KGB and the Italian Mafia true, who have put her in such a unique position of power?
· Or is it the simple reason that in a country which has always been obsessed with fair skin, her presiding over the most powerful body in India has only to do with the colour of her skin?
The congress, credit to them, have brilliantly masterminded their damage control by instating Kapil Sibal as the Telecom Minister. Mr. Sibal’s mastery of side-stepping the 2G spectrum issue with such aplomb is nothing short of a case study in Public Relations. As if it wasn’t difficult enough to look at Barkha Dutt in a different light in wake of the Radia tapes, her rather feeble interview with Kapil Sibal, where she was reduced to a gushing school girl was neither the stinging interview it was supposed to be nor did it serve any purpose other than to showcase Mr. Sibal’s skills as a brilliant advocate. It also reeked of having been orchestrated, which is not a stretch given the recent revelations against Ms. Dutt.
This entire episode also clearly illustrates the CBI’s reluctance /inability / impotence / incompetence in dealing with issues related to the country’s top brass. After their extraordinary bungling of the Aarushi case, it is difficult to even imagine them handling an investigation the magnitude of the 1.76L Crore 2G spectrum scam or the much smaller 80,000 Crore CWG scam. The only thing that one can be sure of is that the guilty will go unpunished. The recent closure of the Bofors case only cements the realization that these cases will drag on till all traces of their memory and evidence has vanished. The Indian public should indeed by proud of their indifference to the cost of the exchequer, or for that matter, their indifference when it comes to any political issue, major or minor. Instead of being livid with with an unspeakable rage at such blatant acts of debauchery, we simply resign ourselves to the fact that "these things happen (only in India)". That, is why, we will always be on the cusp of being a developed nation, but never (ever) quite reaching there.
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