What does Sushil Modi's corruption allegation against Lalu Yadav's family say about our democracy?
In the last one month, Sushil Kumar Modi, the opposition leader in Bihar Legislative Council, has made several allegations against Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Yadav and his family. Many of the allegations were substantiated by documentary evidence. The nature of charges includes quid pro quo dealings as a railway minister and of allotting ministerial berths to those who gave up land to the Yadav clan.
Sushil Modi alleged that the RJD chief had recommended RJD MP Raghunath Jha’s name to become a minister in UPA-I after he had gifted his three-storied house along with the land in Gopalganj. This land at a costly location was gifted to Prasad’s minister sons Tejaswi Yadav and Tej Pratap Yadav.
A day later, BJP leader Sushil Modi alleged that the RJD chief had taken land at a prime location in Patna along with the construction on it from Kanti Singh for making her a Union minister. He said: “On March 13, 2006, Kanti Singh, her husband Keshav Prasad Singh and son Rishi Kumar in writing gave away 95 decimal land along with three rooms built on it and a deep water boring in the name of Rabri Devi.”
Raghunath Jha's son Ajit asked what the big deal was if his father had gifted land. "We have family relations with Laluji," he said. Kanti Singh said she had given her land so that Lalu's cows could get a home.
Critics say that quid pro quo could be the reason behind Kanti Singh’s spectacular rise in politics. She became MLA for the first time in 1995, an MP in 1996 and was made Union minister.
In any mature democracy, such a charge where ministers get posts in exchange of prime land would have resulted in a massive uproar. But why does such a serious charge not create a ripple in the political discourse of India? The answer lies in the fact that it is an open secret that electoral tickets are sold by various parties.
Selling of tickets by some political parties is, in fact, now the accepted norm. In the last Bihar Assembly election, BJP MP RK Singh alleged that party tickets were sold to criminals. In this case what was surprising was that Singh made this charge while still in the party, whereas it is the norm for politicians who quit a party to make such allegations.
If money changes hands for getting tickets, why not land for getting ministries? This could be the reason that such allegations do not shake up the people, media and even the political class.
Money always plays a very important role in politics. Absconding businessman Vijay Mallya got elected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of the BJP in 2010. He was supported by JD-S and Congress for the first term in 2002. Janata Dal-Secular had been a supporter of Mallya for both terms.
If not for monetary considerations, why else would all of them have supported him? Were they supporting Mallya because of his track record of social work or was he so popular that all of them were forced to send him to Upper House?
The Rajya Sabha elections have become a happy hunting ground for money bags from India and also abroad. One of the favourite destinations for such people is Jharkhand. This tribal-dominated state has sent several deep-pocketed people to the Upper House, despite having no association with the place. Two such people presently representing Jharkhand are Prem Chand Gupta and Parimal Nathwani.
Eminent Congress leader Buta Singh was convicted in the multi-crore Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MPs bribery case. The Delhi High Court set aside the trial court judgment but it was hardly a clean chit. The high court severely indicted the CBI for shoddy investigation. Yet, it didn't deter the Congress from appointing Buta Singh as Governor of Bihar.
The late BJP MP Dilip Singh Judeo was caught on tape saying: "Paisa khuda toh nahi par khuda ki kasam khuda se kam nahi (money may not be god but by God it is no less than god)."
He was a minister in the AB Vajpayee government and had to resign in 2003 in the wake of a sting operation. But that didn't stop the BJP from giving him a Lok Sabha ticket in 2009.
A report by the Centre for Media Studies says nearly Rs 30,000 crore got spent in the 2014 elections. The officially accounted figure for the elections added up to some Rs 7,000-8,000 crore. Part of this yawning gap may have been filled by some or all political parties selling quite a few election tickets.
Does all of this suggest that money is an accepted part and parcel of Indian's political life? And is this not why when allegations were levelled against Lalu Yadav it hardly created a buzz? Well, the sad but true part is that even if not entirely yet, some part of our great democracy certainly seems to be constantly on sale.