It is not a coincidence that the arrival of Subramanian Swamy into the Rajya Sabha and the BJP’s sharpened attack on the Congress’s first family over the AgustaWestland scam have happened at the same time
The elevation of the brilliant and rapier-sharp Subramanian Swamy into the Rajya Sabha, represents the beginning of the end for the erstwhile touch-me-not ‘first and last’ family of the Congress. Swamy has come in with the personal backing of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, that of BJP party president Amit Shah, and the top brass of the RSS. Further, Subramanian Swamy, a top-notch economist, capable of taking bold steps, may also soon be offered the Finance portfolio. This new innings for Swamy may also harbinger an economic policy course-correction. He is noted for advocating the abolition of income tax, paid only by a miniscule proportion of the overall population, mainly from the salaried middle class. Swamy, if he becomes Finance Minister, is expected to move much faster with other second-generation reforms, long awaited by the international investment community, as well.
The timidity on this front thus far may have been due, in part, to resistance from vested interests and pressure groups, including trade unions. But at the same time, it is undeniable that the Government has failed to elicit cooperation from the Congress, however gingerly it was handled. If Swamy takes over the Finance Ministry, the Congress will not figure in his calculations.
Swamy, therefore, lost no time in calling out the new Government stance. He sallied forth in his very first address in the upper House, in repeating allegations from a recent Italian court judgement against ‘Signora Gandhi’, possibly being the principal bribe-taker in the AgustaWestland scandal. This was, as usual, broadcast live to the nation, before being expunged from the parliamentary record, for not following laid-down procedures by naming people not present in the House.
The re-emergence of parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy also puts paid to his jealous and discomfited detractors within the BJP fold, some of whom are allegedly sympathetic to the Congress high command. The determined, supremely confident, and energetic Swamy, has now thrown down the gauntlet. But the Congress is floundering, having admitted bribes were taken. Not being able to match Swamy in reasoned debate, the party continued its practice of necessitating adjournments through chaos.
This has been the established Rahul Gandhi strategy in Parliament since 2014, justified as a tit-for-tat retaliation for the BJP during the UPA years. But, this unimaginative and reactionary tactic is suffering now from the law of diminishing returns, both in Parliament and in the public perception.
Oddly enough, legislative bills, if not the most important ones, are getting passed, despite Congress obduracy. Meanwhile, the public is growing increasingly unsympathetic. Not allowing Parliament to function is not only proving counter-productive, it is also isolating Congress within the opposition ranks. Whether Swamy succeeds in putting Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in jail via his private effort on the National Herald scandal, remains to be seen. But he has already done considerable damage to the inviolate image of the Nehru-Gandhis.
And now, with Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar’s backing, will the various investigative agencies and arms of the Government succeed in prosecuting Sonia Gandhi for AgustaWestland as wellIJ Investigations are on in right earnest — only for the first time, after the UPA tried to bury the scam. Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi were both released on bail in the National Herald case. The prima facie evidence of wrongdoing has been established.
In the AgustaWestland matter, a mounting body of circumstantial evidence is beginning to pile up, with more people in the know coming forward and speaking up, now that the political dispensation has changed. Crucial missing files, saved from possible evidence-destroying arson, have been recovered, and the foreign missions are also on the job. The Government is serious about getting to the bottom of this.
Meanwhile, at 10, Janpath, it is taking the thick skin of a threatened one-horned Indian rhino to carry on. It takes hard-boiled pretence at composure to attempt deflection using high falutin talk of democracy, the Constitution, intolerance, character assassination, lies, innuendo, and political vendetta. Wiggle on the hook as they might, the Nehru-Gandhis have lost a great deal of credibility. The courts may be a while before they grind to a verdict, ranging in depth and duration from the district courts, up through the high courts, all the way to the Supreme Court.
The lesser fry, such as the bureaucrats, Armed Forces personnel, who have received proportionately small amounts as bribe,when put under intense scrutiny, will probably provide much of the incriminating evidence on the ‘main beneficiaries’. The various shadowy middlemen in the AgustaWestland deal, Europeans and Indians alike, some who have been close to the Nehru-Gandhis for long, may also think it opportune to spill the beans.
But, the voters, participating in ongoing and impending State Assembly elections; they who threw out the late Rajiv Gandhi after Bofors, will not let Sonia Gandhi, son Rahul, daughter Priyanka Vadra and son-in-law Robert Vadra, back into power. The Congress coteries and courtiers may try to brazen it out, telling themselves they will be back in the saddle, come 2019. It seems increasingly unlikely that the Congress will be the principal party in any anti-BJP coalition.
After the election results in Assam and Kerala come out later this month, the Congress may find itself with next to no State left. In West Bengal, even if its alliance comes out on top, it won’t be the Congress that benefit as much as the communists will.
Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi’s harried proclamations of innocence, and not being ‘afraid’ are being belied by her body language. This is showing immense strain, in Parliament, in political speeches, media comments and out on the street. How can the Nehru-Gandhis win the perception battle now, even amongst neutrals, when the torrent of bribery and corruption stories regarding them never seems to let upIJ So much so, there is no pronouncement from them these days that is not bracketed along with corruption allegations, to complete the context.
One can march on camera for 10 minutes in the noon-day sun, without breaking a sweat, and even court arrest along with an 82 year old former Prime Minister, ostensibly for ‘democracy’ But bored TV anchors and guests are shaking their heads at the charade, with one keeping an empty chair for missing Congress spokespersons. And out in cyberspace, there is much jeering, and lampooning social media commentary on the Congress.