A new strategy may be on the anvil for Indian National Congress to refurbish its image, as fresh charges of corruption seem to devour its leaders.
New Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit is the latest VIP under scanner of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
She has been implicated with the much-flawed Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games held in Delhi in October 2010 in the Audit Report, just placed in Lok Sabha (the Lower House of Indian Parliament).
The Games Organising Committee Chairman Suresh Kalmadi is already in jail.
The Commonwealth Games were meant to showcase India as an emerging global power. Instead, India was highly embarrassed by enormous bungling, construction delays, budget overruns and corruption.
Damning Report
According to the Audit Report, the preparations were highly flawed and there were serious irregularities in bidding and issue of contracts. It castigates the authorities for sleaze, incompetence and missed deadlines.
The initial cost of the Games was estimated at $US 270 million. It blew into a whopping $US 4.1 billion in a period of seven years. The report also drew attention to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for endorsing the appointment of Mr Kalmadi as organising chief.
Sports ministers, former MP and actor Sunil Dutt and after his death, former Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar raised serious objections to his candidature.
Known for her administrative acumen, Ms Diskhit was entrusted with the task of expediting the preparations as the deadline for the Games drew near.
She has now been sucked into controversy.
Ms Dikshit has denied any wrongdoing and said those directly responsible should be taken into account. She is prepared to cooperate with the Parliamentary Committee investigating the report.
Opposition bites
As Parliament prepared to meet, the fragile United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government, with its alliance partners, shuddered at the prospect of a vote count, on a motion on price rise moved by the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The BJP settled for a debate. The Government said all efforts were made to tackle the price rise, bring down inflation and that there was no inherent contradiction between inflation and growth though several harsh steps were needed to tame inflation.
Pranab Mukherjee revels his role as Finance Minister, a post that he held even under the leadership of Indira Gandhi in the 1980s.
Budgetary statements were then couched in socialist phrases and clichés. Those slowly gave way to market forces when PV Narasimha Rao unleashed the economy from isolation after taking over as the Prime Minister in June 1991.
Mr Mukherjee said India’s Gross Domestic Product averaged slightly above 5% in the 1980s, moving up to 6% in the 1990s. The growth is now between 8% and 8.5%.
Amid a good economic environment and a largely positive upbeat among the youth, the Government is now besieged by rampant corruption that is eating into the very portals of the Indian society.
Damaging Scandals
For the past one year, the Congress party has been hit by a series of damaging scandals.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, considered the ‘most honest’, is feeling the heat as the PMO is drawn into questioning.
The first of the mindboggling controversies started with a Consultancy Report that corruption threatened India’s growth. Then came the whistleblowing Wikileaks website on chests of cash allegedly used to buy MPs for a vote of confidence in 2008 and seal a deal with the US to expand civilian nuclear power capability.
The third related to Supreme Court strictures, which forced the Anti-Corruption Vigilance Chief P J Thomas, to resign on corruption charges.
Then there was the imprisonment of Telecommunications Minister, Andimuthu Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, an alliance partner of the UPA government.
Police investigations covered business leaders, political figures and TV bosses.
Mr Raja was charged for selling mobile phone frequency licenses for a fraction of their value resulting in a huge loss of $US 40 billion to the exchequer.
Earlier, Maharashtra Congress Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was forced to quit after investigations revealed that relatives of senior politicians and retired senior army officers helped themselves to plush apartments meant for war widows in Mumbai.
Sonia recuperates
The Congress Party is now desperately trying to remove the dirt smeared on its face but would have to wait for the return of Party President Sonia Gandhi, from the US, where, according to unconfirmed reports, she underwent an operation for skin cancer.
At press time, she was in a New York rest home for recuperation. She may mull over the sagging fortunes of her Party and possibly etch a blue print of action to lift the morale.
She would have time to reflect on the way to deal with the crisis, without damaging the Party’s image, especially since her son Rahul is slated to become the next Prime Minister.
Critics have always taken a swing at her and her political management skills. At times, she depends heavily on party managers to take key decisions.
While strengthening Party cadres, Ms Gandhi may look for more sustaining and clean alliance partners. The Congress may look for alliance with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) supremo Jayalalitha Jayaram, although it is difficult to read the mind of Ms Gandhi in the current context.
NVR Swami is a former political and diplomatic correspondent, covering events in India, Africa and Europe. He lives in Auckland.
