Black Money: Is Modi flip-flopping?
In writing a scathing letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who he accused of taking an "ill-advised" stand on the black money issue in the apex court, senior Supreme Court lawyer and former BJP leader Ram Jethmalani may have raised a bigger question - Is it in the DNA of our leaders to flip-flop on issues?
When he tells Jaitley, "you too are like many others who do not want the truth to come out", one is tempted to doubt the intentions of the NDA government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who appears more normal with each passing day - a normal politician who wants to run this country in a normal way shorn of a chalta hai attitude. In short, he is not a messiah, which every political leader becomes at the height of his popularity. Think of Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal or RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, though their constituencies were different in their times: While one dealt with the common man comprising the middle class, the other came from the ranks of the Lohiaites, pandering to the have-nots.
Just a few days ago, Modi's BJP found itself in a precarious position over the Assembly poll results. There was also a sense of déjà vu. The man he defeated in Varanasi to become the undisputed Hindu Hriday Samrat dared him to taste the waters in Delhi. Kejriwal had also faced the same situation after the Delhi Assembly elections last year. When Kejriwal quit the chief minister's post on February 14, there were more questions than answers which he wanted to find through the political sacrifice. But, the nitty-gritty of politics makes you more human and brings you to the earth sooner than you realise.
Like Kejriwal, Modi realised this within 24 hours of his win in Maharashtra. At the one end was "hafta-vasool party" Shiv Sena, while at the other, there was "naturally corrupt party" NCP, led by Sharad Pawar, whom he had pilloried over the legacy of the other Hindu hero, Chhatrapati Shivaji. In BJP's dilemma, you could see the predicament of Kejriwal, who was ideologically opposed to both the Congress and the BJP. But he had to accept the mandate of the people, which he did, only to revert to his original position, because staging dharna was in his DNA. If you are not corrupt, it becomes difficult to lead a team of largely corruptible mentality for long. You get the drift?
The most important criticism of Kejriwal was that he resigned leaving supporters speechless. Being ambitious was a corollary to the nothingness he got after the Delhi fiasco following a stellar show few months earlier. At the national level, his popularity was nothing short of a cult status at some point.
Coming to Modi, it would be foolhardy to expect miracles from him on all fronts. Some of his schemes relating to E-visa (a separate website for this purpose is on the cards) and Doing Business in India (During the launch of the 'Make in India' campaign, Modi had announced that his government would take steps to bring the country's ranking among the top 50.) are out-of-the-box, which say a lot about a prime minister who means business, but there are other issues over which he would need to accommodate the self-seekers.
The Union government, which has been dithering over the black money issue, may force the voter to ask a question Jethmalani is asking - Is Modi another politician? The money that has been stashed away in tax heavens has the capacity to tar all politicians with the same black brush if Modi doesn't act.