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| Vendetta in the genes | | |
- By Balbir K. Punj
Is vendetta programmed in the Congress’ DNA? The party is being vindictive against its political rivals and other personae non gratae. The latest victim is Maneka Gandhi, the other "bahu" of the Indira Gandhi household who was thrown out of the sacred precincts by her mother-in-law at midnight with the contemptuous words that she was not of the social standing of the great Nehrus.
Now move to the era of the second Mrs Gandhi — the reigning deity of the present dispensation. The government machinery has been cranked into action to find out (even if a microscope is to be used) the wrongdoing in the few paltry sums the ministry of social affairs had granted when Maneka was the minister years ago. In fact, all these impugned grants were probed earlier and found faultless. Now the powers that be are pressurising the CBI to fix her somehow or the other. Maneka Gandhi is not the only victim. Another intensive target for the Congress and the Left parties is Arun Shourie. He is known to be one of the most transparent persons in politics, a recognised scholar, campaigner for clean government and a persistent critic of the control-permit raj. But the Congress would not forget that as editor of the Indian Express, it was Shourie who had dug up the dirt on the Bofors deal — a newspaper revelation that finally undermined Rajiv Gandhi’s credibility and led to his defeat in the 1989 elections.
The attempt to pin down Shourie comes after a series of steps taken by the present government to rescue some critical figures in the Bofors deal. The Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi was allowed to leave the country even as the CBI was after his millions stashed in Swiss banks and had tracked their entry and exit routes. The Italian’s escape came when the Congress was in power at the Centre. Now that the party is back again in power, the government has quietly let him take his money stashed in a London bank. His London accounts were "defrozen" after the Indian government told the British authorities that it had no objection to the defreezing.
The persecution of Shourie is because of the disinvestments made during the time he was NDA’s disinvestment minister. The CAG picking holes in the process of disinvestment has come in handy for the government. The attack in each case is on the alleged underselling. Take the case of Balco. The allegation is that the Rs 521 crores paid for 51% of the then government-owned Balco in 2001, is a case of underselling.
This has been dramatised by the UPA government’s decision to return the cheque for Rs 1,098 crores sent by the present strategic partners of the company for the rest of the 49% on which they hold the right of first purchase. In a sort of reverse argument, the government is saying to the strategic partners, Sterlite, that when you yourself say that the 49% of the company is valued at Rs 1,098 crores, the purchase price of Rs 521 crores you paid in 2001 for the 51% of the shares is certainly undervaluation.
The government overlooks the fact that a once loss making unit has been since turned around by the new owners. While the labour unions in 2001 had prevented the new owners from taking charge through a month-long strike, there is now a five-year wage agreement with an immediate 20% increase in wages. The government’s tax realisation from it has gone up by 240%. The improved health of the unit is reflected in the Sterlite offer of almost double the earlier price for a smaller share.
The UPA government’s prejudice against Shourie stands fully exposed. The Union finance ministry in a note to the CAG on the nine disinvestments that the CAG had objected to, has vindicated each one of them. The note has been sent by the present government as late as May 2006 and approved by the present finance minister.
The path to disinvestment is no doubt full of potholes. In fact, for any politician it is better to close his eyes to the enormous drain that the public sector is causing in most cases. Shourie dared to get into these deep and dangerous waters, mainly because he is not a run-of-the-mill politician. He is an intellectual with deep convictions.
It is exactly the pettifogging of the system that we discern in the CAG report that scares the bureaucracy from taking bold decisions. All government officials are keen to retire without attracting any adverse remarks from the CAG. If the officer takes an initiative and gets things done, he would be charged with bypassing procedures. If he sticks to procedures, he would escape from black marks but would get nothing done. Most officers choose the latter alternative.
This perpetuates the "do-nothing" culture in government. In the circumstances, the onus of taking bold decisions falls on the political leadership. The NDA government had taken such risks in several cases like the decision to demonstrate India’s nuclear capacity, the decision to waive the licence fees of private telecom companies in favour of revenue sharing. Today the telecom de-monopolisation completed by the NDA government has created a win-win situation both for the public and for the government’s revenues.
Ministers might report to 10, Janpath that they have let loose the dogs of war against Shourie, the fearless crusader for transparent government, but in the process they will be closing all avenues for pursuing any process of disinvestment or bold decisions pregnant with long term implications. Perhaps under pressure from his party boss and the Left, Dr Manmohan Singh has to act against his own better judgment.
The process of disinvestment has come to a standstill under the UPA government though proceeds to the government kitty from this disinvestment stand in the budget proposals. The Prime Minister had publicly declared that government would sell off a portion of its holdings of Bhel. He had to backtrack following opposition from the Left. Dr Singh had also announced disinvestment of the Neyveli mines but had to roll back that decision when the DMK kicked up a row supporting the workers who opposed the sale. In trying to get at Arun Shourie, whom a part of the government has declared totally innocent, the UPA regime has revealed the open secret about who calls the shots in the present dispensation. It is definitely not Dr Manmohan Singh.
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