What’s happening Mister Prime Minister? Looks like you want to go on with every blooper of your government without any remorse let alone taking any action that would demonstrate your resolve to root out corruption – it seems that your optimism stems from an old fact that we Indians have very short memory and therefore, you are so encouraged to look away each time a skeleton tumbles down from your cabinet!
The first noticeable skeleton that tumbled down from your cabinet was that of the 2G scam that implicated your cabinet minister of telecom whom you defended to begin with but then eventually gave up when defending any further would have meant hara-kiri for UPA2. If that wasn’t enough, you appointed a new cabinet minister for telecom who came out with a statement that there was no 2G scam and it was all a fertile imagination of the CAG! But then, your own CBI contradicted it stating there was indeed a 2G scam. The bloopers did not stop there and after a few more half-skeletons that fell off of your cabinet (Kalmadi, Adarsh et al), came Anna’s Jan lokpal movement and there too your cabinet continued to maintain the envious track record of bloopers galore and the result was that you and your cabinet were made to eat humble pie albeit after much damage had been done to you and your government’s credibility. And, we thought now you and your cabinet must’ve learnt the lesson! But alas, that was not to be and skeletons continue to tumble out of your cabinet and the recent public sparring between two of your cabinet ministers shows that your cabinet is not just creaking but is in tatters and will fall apart unless an overhaul is done rather quickly. This time around the matter is much more serious than ever before – these are two senior cabinet ministers at war – it is the PM Vs the PC this time – no, it is not you at war with your cabinet colleague, it is Pranab Mukherjee Vs Palaniappan Chidambaram! Actually, it is not really the fight between PM and PC that is of any consequence as was and is made out to by the media and then the photo op of kiss and make up that was staged for the public by PM and PC! What was and is of consequence is that PC told you Mister Prime Minister (when he was the finance minister in January 2008) to close the chapter of sale 2G licenses at dirt-cheap prices, which the previous telecom minister (Raja) had so brazenly conducted when PC could have easily overturned Raja's decision! And this is what PM’s ministry highlighted in a note to PM’s office – heck no, it was not your ministry writing a note to your office – it is Pranab Mukherjee’s ministry’s note to your office of March 2011! PM’s ministry had written a note to the PMO stating that had PC taken timely action, thousands of crores that were swindled could have been averted! These correspondences between PC and PM with the PM and PMO points towards either of the following:
1. You were resigned to the fact that thousands of crores may have been swindled, which is why you did not bat an eyelid when PC wrote the letter back in Jan 2008 to forget about the possible scam and you actually went with his judgment to forgive and forget the matter.
2. PC was incompetent as the Finance Minister in 2008 and could not prevent loss to the exchequer, which he was in the know (evident from his letter to you) when clearly he could have prevented it easily but chose for some stupid reason not do so.
3. PC was involved with Raja to push through the sale of 2G licenses at throwaway prices for some benefit to himself and therefore he casually but purposefully wrote to you asking to treat the matter as closed!
From the possibilities above, I would look at the second and third possibilities first – the second possibility looks very unlikely knowing well that PC is a very well read and competent person with Harvard degree under his belt and therefore his incompetence is very difficult to digest. Therefore, third option is the most likely reason and yet you and all of media decided to ignore this and focus on the matter as a fight between PM and PC, well deflecting the main issue! Kudos to you!! However, your luck may run out here as the matter is under Supreme Court’s consideration just as are all matters relating to governance in your tenure as PM – be it the 2G scam, the CVC appointment (rather the mis-appointment!), the black money issue et al that you and your government decided to not act upon, this time too looks like SC shall decide and set in motion the appropriate action (I am deliberately not using the word judgment here as off late the judiciary is increasingly doing what the executive should be doing!). Whilst, from options 2 and 3, it is evident that regardless of which between the two it was, PC is unfit of the position he is holding currently in your cabinet.
Now then coming to the first option in the end, this one looks like an obvious as you have always given the impression of helplessness to all things going wrong around you – first (during Raja’s action) it was the compulsion of coalition and now with PC, I wonder what you will call it if the SC decides to act against PC?
What will be the compulsion this time for not having acted in 2008 and then again in 2011, Mister Prime Minister? Or would you still come up with a new story and rest your hope again on India's propensity to forget?
And, will this comedy go on?
I think not – for your discomfort, change agents such as Anna are taking root that would not let you push your optimism too far. Anna’s movement has put you and your government on notice – please pass the Jan Lokpal or be ready to get Jan boot in the next election and the curtain raiser of this bitter pill will be evident to you hopefully in the by-elections taking place in Hisar in a few days.
This is one comedy we do not want to see any further!
