26 May 2005

Unexplored Side Of The PM

Got the link to this article from a friend. It is passionately written. The gist is:
The dismissal of the Bihar assembly is staggering. While the PM pretends to be the sole repository of rectitude in public life, he has put power and self above honour and honesty by defending tainted ministers and by the Bihar action. The Bihar dissolution was taken on the basis of a report by Buta Singh - the master fixer himself. The PM is to blame because the Bihar governor transferred two upright officers. And all that bull about 'pressures of coalition politics' is completely so. And the Left are a bunch of no-gooders. And finally, the PM has lost his moral high ground.
The dismissal of the Bihar assembly is staggering only for people with short memories - which includes me I'm afraid. But to those with a better memory it should not be. Because there have been previous instances. One of them is here. Same cast though the roles of all the actors are completely reversed. The denouement of the drama is here. The aurora borealis may be an constant source of wonder, but probably not staggering on a daily basis, to residents of the northern regions.

The writer is a bit too harsh on the PM. I definitely would not accuse him of lust of power . That may be just me though. And about Buta Singh - the fact that he did it (horse-trading) once should be a good qualification. You need to be a thief (even an ex- would do I guess) to catch a thief!

More seriously, there is the issue of tainted ministers and corruption and criminilisation of politics. It needs at least one political party to set the benchmark here. I used to think the "party with a difference" would indeed be different. The recent hounding of Tehelka convinced me otherwise. And, more recently, the same party was willing to take the support of two jailbirds to form the government in Bihar. What does that tell us about our political situation as of now?

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