What Kapil Sibal said yesterday in Raja’s defence is utterly specious and devoid of credibility. What he said might be technically arguable, because a lawyer of his stature is not likely to be wrong there, but the type of politics and governance the Congress is displaying is despicable for more reasons than one.
One, when it is a fact that Raja gave only one hour or so for submitting bids that required filling longish documents and submitting drafts, what does it show other than blatant favouritism by twisting procedures? Is it not an impropriety to predate a press release so that only your men know of the bidding? Does any amount of argument that Raja had not been asked against first-come-first-served by PMO or that NDA ministers also followed the same procedure make the loot pardonable? Does any amount of corruption that people in NDA government might have indulged in [that is what Kapil Sibal, Manish Tiwari, Jayanti Natrajan and other Congress spokespersons harp on on television] make Raja’s decisions right?
What Sibal is saying is that Raja murdered an innocent because NDA beat up an innocent too, and that’s why Raja did no wrong.
Two, why are we hankering on presumptive vs substantive loss to the exchequer and the correctness of CAG calculations? Do these matters of detail take away the sting out of the massive crime and breach of public trust that have been committed?
Is the Congress trying to say that Raja murdered the innocent with only four stabs but the opposition and CAG are saying that he stabbed the guy ten times, so Raja did no wrong?
Three. The more the Congress tries to argue in favour of Raja’s actions, the more it makes light of the impropriety most of the political masters in India indulge in. In a Minister or public authority’s role you are not a lawyer or a businessman; in fact you should not even act as a party-politician when you are taking a public decision. You are there to make right policies, implement them rightly and take actions only with people’s good in mind. You should be ready to sacrifice personal gains for the general public good. You should, by your conduct, lead the bureaucracy under you and those who follow you otherwise. Do any of you politicians remember the oath you took at the time of taking charge as a Minister?
Four. For the sake of parliamentary functioning, Congress is supposed to take the leadership role. By joining issues instead of extending its hand, it will further alienate the opposition. Will it gain by doing so? Will the country gain? Will the democracy gain? The sole responsibility for letting parliament run smoothly rests with the ruling party, like the running of a household traditionally rests with the father. If the houses do not run smoothly, dear Manmohan, Sonia, Sibal and your likes, you are to blame, not the opposition.
A party that tries to search for facts and issues to browbeat the opposition, instead of introspecting, saying sorry, taking corrective action and compensating with better governance is a morally sick party. Prudence too says, such a party will not prosper politically in the long run.
India News Today maintains its earlier stand on 2G scam, because happenings of late are only proving it right. Do see our earlier posts:
Parliament logjam
Overscamming NDA: Sonia style
High time you resign, Sardarji
Sonia, Rahul, Manmohan, your words sound hollow
Shame on you, Raja... more shame on you, Manmohan
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