People's Democracy

BEFORE the sun sets every day, a new scam of this Vajpayee government is exposed. There has never been a government in independent India that has been rocked by so many scandals and scams. A new one erupts before the gravity and import of the earlier one can be properly assessed. The scams that have surfaced in the recent weeks must be viewed in the background of the long list that has come up since Mr. Vajpayee assumed the office of the Prime Minister. The scams in the defense deals exposed by the tehelka, the coffin scam, and numerous others in the defense purchases that were exposed subsequently, the provision of the Mauritius route for loot by the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) which was indicted by the Delhi High Court and many others. On top of all these has now come the mega petro scam. This has now been followed by the land scam where numerous RSS outfits have been offered land, gratis or at a nominal value. It is not only the central government, but many BJP-led state governments that have indulged in such gross nepotism and loot. Both the former urban development minister Jagmohan and the present incumbent Anant Kumar are guilty of such largesse.

Not to be left behind, the present BJP president Venkaiah Naidu has also stood up to be counted as being qualified to hold the post. Such has become the BJP's tradition, following Bangaru Laxman's ignominious exit after accepting wads of currency notes in the tehelka exposure, that the BJP president can only be qualified to hold the office if he has to his credit (sic) such "virtues" of high level corruption. It has now been exposed that the BJP president illegally, misusing his then office, grabbed over 40 acres of agricultural land in the name of his close relatives. This land was meant to be distributed among the landless belonging to the SC and ST communities in Andhra Pradesh. Despite a detailed public exposure, the BJP's trusted ally, the TDP state government in Andhra Pradesh has refused to accede the demand of ordering an enquiry so far.

Amidst such massive degeneration comes the sordid story of the alleged involvement of another leading light and a cabinet minister in the murder of a journalist three years ago. He is reportedly using the term `DNA' more often than NDA these days. Irrespective of the merit of these allegations, the fact remains that this Vajpayee government has lost its moral credibility completely. They are showing themselves every day as a set of individuals who will be prepared even to sell their own mothers if they can make some money.

More than a tragedy, it is a shame that this comes from a party which misled sections of the Indian people at one time claiming to be a party with a difference. They had once claimed that on their spotless white kurta, even a small drop of ink will stand out. Hence, they claimed that they shall provide governance of a nature unparalleled in Indian democracy that would be unstained by any corruption. In the event, however, it has turned out that the Vajpayee government dons a completely black kurta on which no mark can be seen. And, since the marks cannot be seen, they assume they can merrily continue to loot the country and the people.

This comes from a party that once claimed to rid this country of bhook (hunger), bhay (fear) and bhrashtachar (corruption). On all three counts, the situation is worse than ever before.

This comes from a government which once claimed to have a chehara (face), chal (conduct), charitra (character) and chintan (thinking) as being distinctly different from all other political parties in the country. Over the years, the country and the people have seen through these tall claims and have understood that such slogan-mongering is only a cover that camouflages its actual fascistic character and its immoral conduct.

Mr. Vajpayee & Co. should realise that the country and the people have seen through such double-speak. Their depths of immorality to which they can stoop clearly have no limits. In the interests of India and its people, the earlier this government is forced to quit office, the better.