In our political lexicon, being “clean” does not mean that one is not corrupt in an institutional sense (What’s That C-Word Now?, Nov 22); it just means that the moolah goes directly into the party coffers and is not diverted into one’s own pocket. Political parties need money, lots of it, to contest elections, preserve their governments, bring down others’ governments, conduct jamborees and so on. No prizes for guessing how political parties raise funds. If we are serious about eradicating corruption, we need a thorough reform of the way political parties raise funds; audit accounts regularly and make them public. The problem is, who is going to bell the cat? Till an alternative model is found, politicians, bureaucrats and vested interests will be merrily making money, the media will have a gala time covering scams, people will get entertained without having to pay any tax for it, and poverty alleviation will remain a dream.
D.L. Narayan, Visakhapatnam
Assuming that normally only the small fry gets sacrificed, the scale of corruption must be totally amazing.
Abhishek Agrawal, Mumbai
The “notional loss” of Rs 1,70,000 crore to the government in the 2G spectrum case is being highlighted as the biggest scam that has been unearthed in India till now. But there have been monster-range corruption cases in Andhra Pradesh when Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy was the chief minister under UPA. The Bayyaram iron ore scam was one of the biggest to have been unearthed after his death. YSR gradually gave away ownership of these mines to his brother-in-law, ‘Brother’ Anil Kumar, the owner of Rakshana Steels. Just the iron in these mines is estimated to be worth Rs 13,00,000 cr (yes, 13 lakh crore), five times more than the 2G spectrum loss. In addition, there is another 16 per cent of bauxite in the red mud (48 per cent iron ore + 16 per cent aluminium ore). And aluminium is Rs 130 a kg. Not just this, YSR’s media baron son Jaganmohan (he too wants to become the CM!) owns a cement industry which has shown a 34 times (3,450 per cent) increase in its net worth.
Padmabhushan Reddy, Hyderabad
The level of the 2G scam is too big to have been pulled off by one minister or individual. All involved in the decision-making should be suspended/fired. And the law which allows the original telecom vendor who got the licences to sell it at a higher premium to the other should also be amended.
Nicky Kumar, Aurora, US
Corruption is not a Congress-BJP issue, it is a universal problem. And at least Sonia Gandhi is now seen to be taking action against the likes of Kalmadi, Chavan and A. Raja. The BJP regimes in Karnataka and Jharkhand carry on brazenly, with their unique blend of corruption and governance. Nor is the Left, as your story seems to suggest, free of taint. Who can forget the infamous lottery and Lavalin kickback scams in Kerala or the Vedic Village and other land-related controversies in Bengal? Your correspondent glibly refers to Nitish Kumar, Naveen Patnaik and Narendra Modi as ‘clean’ leaders. Look only at Nitish’s tainted candidates and the cag reports on Bihar for a reality check. The bjd too is allegedly involved in massive mining scams while the Gujarat svc is filled with corruption complaints. We need fast-track courts for corruption. Anyone accused of heinous crimes must not be allowed to hold public posts unless they are given a special certificate from the judiciary. Solutions do not end with resignations. We must educate the masses about RTI.
Arvind Kurian Abraham, Kottayam
Unfortunately in our country, mere resignation or removal from power absolves a person of all sins and there’s no talk of actual punishment. Nor is any attempt made to recover the wealth he or she may have looted. The result: these shameless, thick-skinned, irresponsible people make all the money they can while they are in power and live happily ever after even when forced to quit.
S.P. Sharma, Mumbai
Poor Ashok Chavan, instead of being the stereotypical damaad and sponging on his in-laws, he helps them out by arranging a few small flats and loses his job. Yediyurappa arranges a small piece of land for his kids so they can earn their keep and is called corrupt. Raja, instead of being a yesman for the PM, actually used his mind and was proactive. He even eased the burden on the finance and law ministries by not involving them and now has been hounded out of the cabinet for his pains. Truly, there is no justice.
Cdr A. Visvanathan, Chennai
What’s this condescending tone while referring to parties like the DMK? Regional satraps have only cloned the Congress model on a smaller scale. Corruption, nepotism, separatism, deification of leaders, whatever the ills that plague our political system, the Congress, or more specifically the Nehru-Gandhi family, is the root cause.
Sudharshan, Chennai
Criminal prosecution against one of its own ministers? Don’t bet on that happening. The Congress will at most agree to do that against pvn, albeit posthumously!
K. Suresh, Bangalore
Why is this government always being forced rather than choosing to act against corruption?
Rahul Mudholkar, Pune
We need to break this malicious, malevolent habit that has become almost second nature to Indians. Only proper political and civil governance systems with checks and balances can correct this centuries-long addiction with corruption that Indians have.
Harikumar, Coventry, UK
Nothing is going to happen to these people because they are not tribals like Madhu Koda.
Surya Sharma, Calcutta
What’s really worrying us is the politician’s attempt to deprecate the institutions of democracy in this country. When the law minister states that an indictment by the cag is no indicator of a minister’s wrongdoing, what standing does that institution have as an independent body? Now a person whose integrity is seriously in question has been appointed as cvc.
R.K. Sudan, Jammu
The Congress is now passing through a plimsol line. It’ll be a miracle if it can bring a holistic paradigm change in its policies and preferences, not just in rhetoric, so that the last man in the queue too benefits.
S.P. Sharma, Samastipur
When you punish the bribe taker, the bribe payer also must be punished.
C.K. Subramaniam, Mumbai
To cleanse India of the filth of corruption, we need more than a sacking here and a transfer there.
K.S. Jayatheertha, Bangalore
The DMK and Raja cannot have been the only beneficiaries of the 2G scam. The Congress must have got its share or Raja would have been dumped a long time back.
Sandeep Sahu, Bhubaneswar
This was one of the major issues in Tamil Nadu in the last Lok Sabha elections but the UPA still did well. What can we expect from an electorate corrupted by freebies by the DMK? The national media has taken a lot more time to find out that the DMK regime is much more corrupt than Amma’s.
G. Vijayaraghavan, on e-mail
Corruption in the political arena, though condemnable, is a complete laugh if compared to the various ‘commissions of inquiry’, instituted to investigate the massacre of innocents during organised communal riots.
Ramon Terence, on e-mail
