Modi
has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum.
Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he
will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is
above board, says Sheela Bhatt.
Two days back, L K
Advani led the protest in the parliament complex against the appointment
of former judge R A Mehta as the Gujarat lokayukta by Governor Kamla
Beniwal.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has
deployed the Bharatiya Janata Party's top leadership in New Delhi to
argue his case in the political arena but he is doing few things in
Gandhinagar that exposes his vulnerability.
He has written a letter to Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh requesting him to recall the Governor. In a sensational
act, Modi in his letter has made many serious charges against Judge
Mehta. If any court approves Mehta's appointment then Modi will have egg
on his face.
The BJP's contention is that for the first
time, a Governor has acted arbitrarily while appointing the lokayukta
without consulting the government. The BJP is calling it a murder of
democracy. But now the Congress party is claiming that on August 18,
Modi was all set to 'murder' democracy by bringing an ordinance that
would have hurt the ethos behind the office of the lokayukta.
As per the Congress allegations, Modi wanted
Governor Beniwal to sign the ordinance that would have changed the
composition of the panel that appoints the lokyaukta in the state.
According to Arjun Modhawadia, president of the state Congress, "Modi
wanted to bring 'sarkari panel' to appoint the lokayukta. The double
standard of the BJP is shocking."
State Law Minister
Dilip Sanghani was not available for comment. In the Rajya Sabha BJP
leader Arun Jaitely gave a spirited speech against the Manmohan Singh
government's attempt to bring a weak Lokpal bill in which the government
will have a majority say in the panel that would appoint the Lokpal.
The United Progressive Alliance government
is facing the people's ire for trying to control the appointment of the
Lokpal under the proposed act, but now, allegedly, Modi wants to do
exactly same thing.
Modi claims that Governor Beniwal should
have acted on the advice of the government before appointing the
lokayukta. Shaktisinh Gohil, leader of the Opposition in Gujarat, says,
"We have no doubt that the Governor is right in her action. The last
three appointments of the lokayukta were done without the advice of the
government. Why is Modi questioning it this time?"
"Modi, wants to do exactly the opposite of what Jaitley recommends Dr Singh to do in New Delhi," says the Congress leader.
Modhawadia says, "Modi is against Judge
Mehta, who is an independent judge. He wants to appoint a judge who can
be influenced by him."
But the Modi government, allegedly, wants to
drop the chief justice's role in the process and have a role for the
chief minister. The Modi government has neither denied nor confirmed the
allegation.
Here, the significant issue is regarding
following procedures set for the appointment of the lokayukta where Modi
may have a valid point that can be sorted out by the courts. But why is
Modi protesting so much against the violations of procedures only?
"The people of Gujarat are waiting for the
lokayukta to be appointed by the constitutional functionary in
accordance with the law," says lawyer Anand Yagnik. He says, "People
don't want any further delay on account of the political war between
Modi and the Governor."
Currently in Gujarat, the Congress party has
become active and aggressive while Modi is on the defensive. His
supporters are unable to answer why Modi is overreacting for violations
of procedures?
What else is discomforting Modi?
Many of his critics say that thanks to the
Right to Information Act, Modi and his government are facing many
uncomfortable questions for allotting land to industry in Gujarat. One
glance at local newspapers gives an idea that 'corruption cases' of the
Modi government are in news, which was not the case since the last nine
years.
At such a sensitive time, with assembly
elections are just a year away, when the Supreme Court-appointed Special
Investigation Team report on the involvement, if any, of Modi and his
government in the communal riots of 2002 is with the court, when
anti-incumbency has started setting in certain areas of the state and
when Modi is doing everything to improve his image amongst the Muslims,
he is determined to ensure that his political position remains strong to
combat freshly-emerging charges of favours done to his favourite
industrial houses.
His government's only defence against these
charges so far is that the Modi government largesse is much less
compared to what late Chimanbhai Patel-led government gave. Patel had
formed government with the support of the Congress and later he joined
the party.
Modi's critics say the Congress had also
showered favours to attract investments. Then, the 'state favours' given
to attract industrialists in late 1980s and early 1990s had crossed all
limits. That time the allegation was that sum of Rs 50,000 crore was
given as hidden favours in form of tax holidays to a handful of
industrialists. The charges were discussed in the assembly too.
Now the Congress leaders are claiming that,
"In the BJP rule, Gautam Adani, Sudhir Mehta of Torrent and Ratan Tata
have benefited the most."
It's not that only the Congress leaders that
are criticising Modi these days. Bhola Bhai Patel, president of the
Gujarat Sahitya Parishad, also blasted Modi recently.
In an interview to a Surat-based daily, he
said, "The rulers have become kings." Patel, a highly respected writer,
says that in Modi's rule corruption is rampant (Anhi ketlu badhu khavay che). He has accused Modi of behaving like the dictator Napoleon. Patel has accused Modi of suffering from narcissism.
The irony is that the
Modi government wants to blunt the attack on him, for favouring Adani
and Tata, by taking shelter behind Chimanbhai Patel's policy, against
whose corruption people had launched the Navnirman Andolan.
Pressure is slowly building up on the Modi
government to give a convincing reply to the charges of making policy
that favoured industrialists outright.
Gujarat Congress leaders have submitted a
memorandum to President Pratibha Patil on issue of 'corruption by the
government of Gujarat and more particularly, chief minister of Gujarat'
amounting to staggering Rs 1 lakh crore.
Modhwadia and Gohil have alleged that Modi
and his government are indulging in rampant corruption that includes
favouring industrialists by allotting them government properties at a
huge loss to the exchequer, giving favourable business deals to
industrialists and giving valuable land at cheap rates to builders and
industrialists.
Modi has been accused of misuse of power and
corruption running into hundreds of crores of rupees. The details were
procured using the Right to Information Act.
Jainarayan Vyas, spokesman and a senior
minister in the Modi cabinet, refused to comment on the issue saying
that, "he doesn't have a brief on it."
Jagdish Thakkar, Modi's public relations
officer, also said he is unaware of the subject and he speaks only when
he is given a brief.
Modhwadia thinks Modi
is, "liable for criminal acts and deserves to be prosecuted. The state
machinery will not be able to investigate Modi and his offices. It
should be investigated by Central Bureau of Investigation."
Modhwadia regrets that Gujarat, like Karnataka, didn't have a lokayukta for seven years.
He says, "Even the lokayukta will not be
able to function independently because the position of the lokayukta in
Gujarat is by nature of an advisory body which has no power except that
of an inquiry commission."
Modhwadia alleges that some bureaucrats are, "acting as the personal employees of the state ministry."
The list of allegations against Modi submitted to President Patil runs into many pages. Some of the highlights deserve the Modi government's official response.
In the charge-sheet against Modi, the most
prominent allegations are about cheap land allotment, a nationwide
epidemic for various governments.
To avoid giving any official response to the
people and to the newly-appointed lokayukta, Modi voluntarily announced
a commission to inquire into the charges against him. It will be headed
by Judge M B Shah. The only problem with the commission is that it has
no powers as the state lokayukta has.
It's a political move by Mr Clean to save
himself from being tainted. But it's a defensive move by the leader who
is perceived as the strongest leader of the BJP.
The political
strategies available to Modi to combat serious charges of corruption may
not be many. It's more or less accepted that Modi is unlikely to resort
to Hindutva again to counter his political adversaries. In the last two
years, Modi has sent many positive signals to the minorities in
Gujarat. In fact, Hindu groups are complaining that Modi is protecting
cow-slaughters -- a highly sensitive issue in the state.
Modi is ambitiously going ahead to get
minority support and his charisma has not waned, yet. The secular lobby
could not dent his image in spite of providing robust legal challenges.
But the charges of corruption can truly hit
him where it hurts. The Gujarati people inspired even Jaiprakash Narayan
to launch the movement for Sampoorna Kranti in Bihar. Gujaratis have a
history of reacting violently to corruption in governance. Ask the
Congressmen in Gandhinagar. The taint of corruption has been so deep on
them that they have been kept out of power since 1995.
Modi has a real challenge if the allegations
of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his
image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority
that his deals were clean and he is above board.
http://www.rediff.com/news/slide-show/slide-show-1-analysis-why-narendra-modi-is-on-the-defensive/20110902.htm
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