Yet another case where history is repeating itself
PremiumNarasimha Rao, who took over after Rajiv Gandhi, was accused of personal corruption and had to wage a lengthy legal struggle post tenure.
History repeats itself, first as tragedy, the second time as farce." This statement by Karl Marx has been pounding in my mind lately. Reason? For the past 66 years, we have witnessed some farce being repeated in Indian politics. The continuous debate over the Adani group, an industrial giant of the country and the world, and its political relations is nothing more than an episode in this never-ending series of farces.
To explain my point, I will take you to 1957. That year, Feroze Gandhi, none other than the son-in-law of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru made allegations in the Lok Sabha that then finance minister T.T. Krishnamachari and finance secretary H.M. Patel were pressuring LIC to invest more than ₹1.5 crore in companies managed by stock market punter Haridas Mundhra. Nehru set up a committee to probe the allegations, led by former chief justice M.C. Chagla. Chagla heard the case and submitted a report in under 24 days. After the report, on 18 February 1958, Krishnamachari was compelled to step down. Mundhra was eventually arrested and sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Six-and-a-half decades on, we are seeing almost identical allegations being made against LIC. LIC did not drown then, and it will not drown now, but its trust has been violated again. It’s the never-ending tragic story of Indian politics.
This is because every prime minister— from Jawaharlal Nehru to Narendra Modi— has faced similar accusations. On 3 October 1977, Indira Gandhi was arrested in Delhi. She was accused of pressuring two companies to purchase 104 jeeps for election campaigning. The second charge was that she abused her position to award a major oil drilling contract to a French company, ignoring lower rival bids. The following day, she was brought before the magistrate, but the CBI was unable to present adequate proof. As a result, she had to be released after 16 hours.
Rajiv Gandhi, Indira’s son, was also targeted. On 24 March 1986, the government of India and the Swedish armaments company AB Bofors signed a ₹1,437 crore contract for the sale of 400 howitzers of 155 mm. According to Swedish Radio on 16 April 1987, bribes were made to defence department personnel and some senior politicians in that arrangement. On 20 April, Rajiv Gandhi stated in Parliament that there was no role for a middleman and that no brokerage was given, yet the scandal continued. Fed up, the government set up a joint parliamentary committee in August 1987. Despite the dissenting view of a member, the committee gave a favourable report to the government. The CBI probe, on the other hand, took a long time. The bribery accusations against Rajiv Gandhi and defence secretary S.K. Bhatnagar were eventually dismissed by the Delhi high court on 5 February 2004. The Swedish police also stated in April 2012 that no evidence was found against Rajiv Gandhi and former MP Amitabh Bachchan.
Narasimha Rao, who took over after Rajiv Gandhi, was accused of personal corruption and had to wage a lengthy legal struggle post tenure. The so-called coffin scam occurred during the tenure of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. During Manmohan Singh’s tenure, his cabinet colleagues had to go to jail.
Let us now look at the current controversy. Politics took a turn in the third week of January after a report by the American short-seller Hindenburg Research against the Adani group of companies. In the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi raised several pointed questions on the alleged link between Adani and the Modi government. It is a different matter that significant parts of the lengthy speech have been expunged from record as the charges were unsubstantiated.
Clearly, Rahul is attempting to corner Prime Minister Modi in this matter. He has done this earlier, too. He raised the allegation of corruption in the Rafale deal before the last general elections. He raised slogans such as “Chowkidar Chor Hai" at his rallies. He got no benefit from this. The BJP demonstrated at the election that people’s trust in Modi has not waned, but rather strengthened for a second term. Now, ahead of the upcoming general elections, the leaders of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) will try to beat this drum as loudly as possible. Will they succeed this time?
Modi appears unaffected, much like a batsman who can play the most difficult of balls with ease. That is why he made no mention of these charges in his speeches in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. He strongly believes he has won the trust of the country’s 1.4 billion people.
If the Opposition, with allegations of corruption against Modi, fails to attain success as expected this time around, Marx’s statement will be seen to be fulfilled once more.
Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. Views are personal.
Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less