Public opinion has been speedily softening up against the high-profile minister in the matter of corruption charges — first raised by BJP MP Kirti Azad and followed up by AAP leaders, especially Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
Public opinion has been speedily softening up against the high-profile minister in the matter of corruption charges — first raised by BJP MP Kirti Azad and followed up by AAP leaders, especially Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal
Top BJP leader and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has begun to look increasingly vulnerable in the Delhi cricket affair in the wake of the high-voltage activity that has come to surround the case. Remarkably, nothing has been found against him so far, although there are claims and counter-claims. But therein lies the irony.
Public opinion has been speedily softening up against the high-profile minister in the matter of corruption charges — first raised by BJP MP Kirti Azad and followed up with gusto by AAP leaders, especially Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal — for two reasons.
First, the BJP as a party seems to be obstructive when there is talk of an impartial inquiry, although such an investigation may actually clear Mr Jaitley — who is not anyone’s idea of a corrupt politician steeped in nepotism — at least at the level of personal culpability, though he may have to carry the cross of constructive responsibility.
BJP president Amit Shah has gone to the extraordinary extent of suspending Mr Azad from the party’s primary membership, although the cricketer-turned politician has been pointing fingers at the DDCA (Delhi & District Cricket Association) during Mr Jaitley’s long 13-year tenure as its chief, and demanding a thorough probe in the matter. The disciplining was done without a show-cause notice. This smacks of unbridled use of power without any sense of accountability.
The sudden crackdown on the three-time Bihar MP after the BJP came to power at the Centre, and never before, looks fishy to observers. To firewall Mr Jaitley, a cornerstone of the government, the easiest way was to adopt a straightforward course to hold a proper, credible inquiry since the persistent allegation had come from within the BJP.
Second, and perhaps the more telling one, is why public perception seems to be slowly getting divided on Mr Jaitley, although no inquiry has been held, is that the BJP’s stock has been falling steadily since Narendra Modi almost single-handedly brought the party to power a year-and-a-half ago.
There are fewer people who believe the government and its top leaders today than a year ago. The expression achche din has become something of a joke. Those who have delivered the joke have surrendered their credibility. This is why when an open challenge comes against the Union finance ministry from a ruling party MP, the former finds himself at a disadvantage.
In the over-centralised set-up which the Modi dispensation has turned out to be, the triad of the PM, his finance minister, and his hand-picked party chief, are widely seen to be the repository of core power within the system, with others being out in the cold, basically.
In spite of the ruling party’s severe setbacks since the BJP came to office, the Prime Minister, although not unscathed, has been discounted less than his other prominent colleagues. But the triad arrangement he has put in place has received a crippling shock.
The drubbing in the Assembly election in Delhi — about India’s richest state per capita — at the beginning of 2015, and the electoral humiliation in Bihar — the country’s poorest state in per capita income terms — at the end of the year, has destroyed Mr Shah’s authority in the party (while taking a toll of Mr Modi’s, who had taken personal charge of the poll campaign in both states). The whiff of corruption in Delhi cricket is denting Mr Jaitley’s image and authority. This is a shaky situation to be in for those who mastermind the constellation of power in the BJP regime.
A below-par electoral performance in the next state election, coming up in just a few months, will leave Mr Shah with few defences, and his action against Mr Azad, who has taken on Mr Jaitley, will cease to have any meaning. That is likely to put the finance minister under greater pressure than at present.
After the terrible Bihar defeat, the wise old men of the BJP, led by L.K. Advani, had spoken of the “emasculation” of the BJP under the current dispensation. Another electoral setback, and the prospect of a push-back that the finance minister may receive, could cause a little stampede in party circles, not just the BJP in Parliament. How this will impact the PM and his relationship with the RSS-BJP’s controller in the final analysis is blurred, but not wholly unforeseeable.
In the first instance, it seems more than likely that the backward thinking cabal that the Hindu supremacists represent, would seek to overwhelm the PM, who could begin to feel marooned, and undermine the elected authority.
If the economy had performed creditably, Mr Modi, were he inclined, could have fought off extra-constitutional pressures. But at this stage, the outlook is distinctly hazy.
