Vyapam, Lalitgate scandals reveal a Modi govt that is far more brazen than corrupt UPANews Today 9 july 2015

It's not surprising that that the BJP has chosen to brazen out the serious charges of impropriety and corruption both at the Centre and in the states, rather than subjecting itself to the test of high standards that it swore by, because it's indeed a party with a difference.
There are no two ways about the fact that the Congress-led UPA was steeped in corruption and impropriety. However, what was encouraging was that the party didn't resist public pressure for too long or deflect attention through mealy-mouthed spokespersons or malicious cyber squads.
Every time they came under attack, the UPA ministers were asked to resign and prove their innocence. Not that the Congress didn't try to save them, but the party didn't brazen it out. Every single person who was alleged of corruption or impropriety during the UPA ultimately resigned.
Compare it with the BJP, the party with a difference that promised good governance and zero-tolerance to corruption. Despite clear evidence of misuse of office, explicit conflict of interest and even pecuniary benefits, the party chose to justify and protect Sushma Swaraj and Vasundhara Raje in Lalit-gate.
No amount of proof was good enough for the BJP to concede political misdemeanour because the party had decided not to give in to public scrutiny. Citing legalese, the party tried to pull the wool over the eyes of its opponents and the media.
Its stand was no different on the allegations against Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde (corruption), Union minister Smriti Irani (fake education claims), and Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Kiren Rijju (abuse of power). And the most shocking was the Vyapam scam which has metamorphosed into a killer epidemic under Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Until Tuesday, the party was not even open to external scrutiny. even as people connected with the scam died like flies.
The same brazenness of mis-governance was also seen in the appointments of Sangh ideologues with dubious credentials to key public institutions, the latest being a small-time actor with a laughable portfolio heading the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. FTII students as well as the film fraternity across the country felt slighted, outraged and are up in arms, but the party doesn't care.
The UPA took a decade to decay, but the BJP is showing signs of a deeper malaise in its first year itself. However, it doesn't want a diagnosis and treatment. It's not benign denial, but an undemocratic defiance.
This brazenness is what makes the BJP different from the Congress, not its commitment to transparency and corruption-free governance.

Comments