Mud appears on Modi’s image of a so far ‘incorruptible, clean leader’
Corruption charges against the high and mighty in politics generally don’t lead to their prosecutions. Most of the cases fall by the wayside before reaching denouement in court.
But people’s courts may not spare political bigwigs who escape the majesty of law. Recent history shows prime ministers have fallen by wayside fighting charges of corruption, even if unproven. Perception sways people in politics. People have brought down seemingly invincible to the ground from high pedestal.
So, there was a strong sense of déjà vu when Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi stood at a public meeting in Mehsana, Gujarat to accuse Prime Minister Narendra Modi of corruption.
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| Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Recent history shows prime ministers have fallen by wayside fighting charges of corruption, even if unproven (Credit: PTI photo) |
Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Sahara group of Subrata Roy had paid Rs 40 crore to Modi during 2013-14 when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. He said the matter came to light when the income tax department raided Sahara offices in 2104.Given the historical experience, one was compelled to think whether the Rs 40-crore bribery allegations against Modi would end in a denouement similar to Rajiv Gandhi?
In his live telecast speech, Rahul read out from papers in front of him. Claiming to quote from I-T documents, he said Rs 2.5 crore was paid to Modi on October 30, 2013, Rs 5 crore on November 12; Rs 2.5 crore on November 27; Rs 5 crore on November 29; Rs 5 crore on December 6; Rs 5 crore on December 19; Rs 5 crore on January 13, 2014; Rs 5 crore on January 28; and Rs 5 crore on February 14, 2014.
Having threatened with an “earthquake” in Parliament if he were “allowed to speak” and having claimed to have proof of “personal corruption” against Modi over a week ago, Rahul did indeed cause tremors at the Mehsana meeting.
He didn’t say anything new as the cases related to Sahara and Birla payments are already in public domain, pending in the Supreme Court. So where was the tremor?
The tremor, however, could indeed be felt in the unprecedented manner in which the allegations of corruption were hurled directly and publicly at Prime Minister Modi. Never before has a leader of opposition has stood in public to name a serving prime minister of being a recipient of specific sums of money on specific dates.
The BJP has talked about culpability of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh in various cases of corruption. But nobody accused Dr Singh of having received such and such amount of money and on such and such dates.
Rajiv Gandhi as prime minster came under cloud when the Bofors scandal broke out. But at no point did VP Singh directly accuse or name Rajiv Gandhi himself as a recipient of the kickback. Indira Gandhi as prime minister was charged by the opposition to be heading governments mired in corruption. But she was never publicly named as a recipient of bribes.
Rajiv Gandhi’s successor PV Narasimha Rao was convicted in corruption cases and later acquitted. Stock market broker Harshad Mehta, who gained notoriety as the Big Bull, claimed he had paid Rs 1 crore in a suitcase at the prime minister’s then 7, Race Course Road (now, 7, Lok Kalyan Marg) residence.
Rao government was embroiled in much bigger cases of corruption than what Harshad Mehta had alleged. He faced trials, got convicted and was finally absolved. Rao lost the 1996 elections despite having transformed the country through paradigm-shifting structural reforms in the economy. Yet, his electoral loss was the result of his much diminished image on account of the slew of corruption cases in which he got embroiled.
No prime minister could manage to emerge unscathed once their image was tainted with the indelible ink of involvement in one or more corruption scandal/s. Indira Gandhi faced the people’s wrath after she defended corruption as a global phenomenon. She faced two of the biggest protest movements against corruption — in Gujarat and Bihar.
However, personally she wasn’t accused of any major corruption scandal. The charges of electoral corruption against her that led to her conviction by the Allahabad High Court were minor. What mattered was people’s perception that she was trying to suppress campaign against corruption led by late Jayaprakash Narayan.
Likewise corruption charges against Rajiv Gandhi were not proved in court. But in the wake of VP Singh’s campaign against payment of bribery in the Bofors gun purchase, people got convinced of the government’s wrongdoing. Rajiv lost the 1989 election.
Modi’s own campaign in 2014 was built around allegations of corruptions against the UPA. He owes his resounding victory to people’s perception that Manmohan Singh’s government was mired in corruption. Modi has been confronted with various allegations of acts of omission and commission as chief minister of Gujarat. Corruption wasn’t among them. His clean image has been the BJP’s trump card.
What has changed since then is that it’s the very image of Modi as a clean leader that’s now under attack. None of the past prime ministers had corruption charges proved against them. But none could survive the storm created by perception that they were corrupt.
The Supreme Court is seized of the case in which charges of alleged payment of money to Modi by Sahara and Birla groups have been made. The court is set to examine further evidence in support of allegations submitted by lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
Allegations of corruption against Modi will continue in public until the court dismisses the case. Rahul Gandhi and opposition parties will continue to raise the issue in public. They will try to create a perception that Modi is no different: that Modi is not infallible as far as personal corruption is concerned.
Modi has mocked Rahul Gandhi’s talk of “earthquake” in Varanasi today. He doesn’t have to fight any earthquake because there is none. But Modi should worry about perception gaining ground that he too has feet of clay.