It is a given that all good partymen will rush to the aid of the First Family when its honour is under attack. So when the pesky duo of Arvind Kejriwal and Prashan Bhushan made bold to draw attention to the maze of business dealings between real estate giant DLF and Robert Vadra, the entire Congress came out to bat for Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law. From party functionaries to A-list Ministers, the defence mounted on behalf of Mr. Vadra was robust, though there is nothing on record to suggest the Congress chief herself solicited this support. Law and Justice Minister Salman Khurshid called the charges “preposterous and stupid,” even as he threatened to teach Messrs Kejriwal and Bhushan a lesson or two — “in the law”. Another minister wanted to know if Mr. Vadra’s family connections meant that he ought to be put out to starve. In rushing to form a protective cordon around the family, Congress leaders realised that if not demolished with the force of a sledgehammer the allegation of impropriety could cause incalculable long-term harm to 10, Janpath and, by extension, the party. And yet, for all the outrage of its shouting brigade, the Congress has not really managed to shed light on why DLF helped invest in Mr. Vadra's businesses — relying on sound and fury to make its point when what was required was a clear and cogent explanation.
The Congress’s resort to obfuscation is at least understandable. But what explains the Bharatiya Janata Party’s refusal to grab a first-rate opportunity handed to it on a platter? BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad’s initial reaction was that the party will seek an independent probe into what he described as Mr. Vadra’s “wheeling-dealing.” But BJP president Nitin Gadkari quickly disabused Mr. Prasad of the fanciful notion, saying there was no real evidence in the case. Having himself been at the receiving end of allegations concerning an irrigation project in Maharashtra, the BJP chief obviously knows better than to throw stones from a glass house. Remarkably, Mr. Gadkari admitted to knowing that the Vadra papers had been in circulation. The principal Opposition’s biggest problem is that its own blotted record on corruption has left it with no face to fight the Congress on the issue. The BJP destabilised the previous session of Parliament over Coalgate only to find the scam attaching itself to some key party figures. The unfortunate truth is that a lot of the political noise on graft today is just that — noise. The Congress resolutely ignored the coincidental rise of Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya during the National Democratic Alliance’s six years in office. Perhaps the favour is now being returned.
Keywords: Arvind Kejriwal, Prashan Bhushan, Robert Vadra, Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra DLF link, Robert Vadra business, Nitin Gadkari
Dear Sir,
Like Mark Anthony you started off criticizing the congress and eventually you were up to your old game of BJP bashing.
Hold a mirror yourselves and ask yourself, if The Hindu too is not a Helping hand for the congress.
As with all manufactured products like medicines etc. there is expiry date for all scams-be they of the ruling party or the opposition parties. The date is some day in 2014.The intervening time from now is in fact too long for us to forget the scams and vote. That is how the largest democracy works. God save the nation!
As regards corruption, all political people who had made big money sail in the same boat with only its dimension varying with Congress forging far far ahead in the race by virtue of being in power for too long with none (leaving aside fledgeling Kejriwal & co.) as yet in sight to effectively challenge it.Some time back I quoted in these columns what the late Congress leader K.Kamaraj had said of the Dravidian political parties in the 70s:- Coconut husks soaking in one and the same pond(Orae kuttaiyile oorina mattai).This sagely saying applies more to the present day ruling and opposition parties as there is not much to choose between them. One will not be surprised if we the voters again plump for Congress and its allies in 2014!
If vadra is not corrupt, then why netas & spokesperson of congress
standing in queue are advocating in favour of Vadra, and trying to
show Mrs. Sonia Gandhi the degree of loyalty with her by such
advocates, it is rediculous to imagine. Mr. Vadra should himself come
before the media and rebut the allegation boldly. The countrymen are
astonished to watch the illogical demolition of charges against Mr.
Vadra and since all the party members and most of their kith and kins
are involved in quid-pro-quo game plan, none of the partymen are
attacking the issue belligerently as because "Jiske Ghar Shishe Ke
Hote Hain Wo Doosron Ke Ghar Patthar Nahi Pheka Karte". We have to be
more than alert and rise to the occassion to combat the prevailing
deep routed demon of corruption to make India a shining nation.
Sons-in-law seem to have a knack of causing embarrassment to their parents-in-law! Feroz Ghandhi Congress MP and son-in-law of Prime Minister Pt.Nehru gave some anxious moments to Pt.Nehru which culminated in TTK's exit from the Union cabinet in Mundhra affair.Again, son-in-law Vadra by his business deals is causing embarrassment to his mother-in-law Mrs.Gandhi.Is this what history repeating itself?
Vociferous opposition of the claims by government will not suffice, a meaningful explanation does.
Even powerful editors of powerful magazines are scared of the Congress. They have stated as much on TV.
Corruption in its various manifestations is several shades of grey.
Relatively one shade appears darker / lighter than the other. The fact
however remains that all are in fact corrupt. The one who out-shouts and
bamboozles all opposition appears brighter for a second and the viewer
thinks that it is OK.
High time the shades of grey in Indian politics be replaced by a clean
slate. All hands be raised in support of Arvind Kejriwal.
Congress, BJP two sides of the same coin - EQUALLY CORRUPT - less
said about Gadkari the better. Even the media has not covered itself
with glory
It's a shame that a bunch of Congress ministers came out and started attacking Arvind Kejriwal and Prashannt Bhushan when a person who is not even a member of the congress party was questioned on this ethics and illegal business transactions.
Is Mr.Vadra not an adult to defend his allegations in the court of law. Why are these synchopants out there defending a man who has amassed lots of wealth with no real businesses to show. BJP should be embarrased that more skeletons from their closet are falling out preventing them from doing the duties of main opposition. It's sheer irony that Indians stand in long lines and large number under scorching sun and rains to vote for these criminals.
All the more reason we need Arvind Kejriwal's IAC to succeed.
Let us all defend it and join with it en masse.
Ramesh.
It was shocking to see the Law Minister of the country defending an
extraordinary citizen, much before any one involved in the questioned
deal brought out a clarification, and threatening a fledgling new
party, that he will teach them a lesson. Later, in another TV
interview, when the anchor put him a question if he is stating that
the transactions in this particular case were absolutely above board,
he was hesitant to defend as categorically. All the government
defenders are obfuscating every TV debate since then, by wasting time,
digressing, picking up other quarrel etc. I am an aam aadmi. I can see
lots of obfuscation is happening. I can't get all details of every
situation. I go by perceptions of what I hear and what I experience in
real life. I think the government lost its credibility 110%. What
appears a serious case is apparently nothing for the government. They
may choose to ignore the allegation. I suspect it may be true. My
opportunity is the next election.
Congress has mastered the art of creating sensational news that will
obfuscate the earlier ones. 2G was replaced by Coalgate which in turn
was overshadowed by FDI. Now before that can die down, Robert Vadra has
surfaced and the entire cabinet (sans the PM, as yet) seems to rise as
one to defend the son-in-law. The story of drawing a bigger line to
make the previous line smaller without touching it!! Bravo
"The BJP destabilised the previous session of Parliament over
Coalgate only to find the scam attaching itself to some key party
figures. The unfortunate truth is that a lot of the political noise on
graft today is just that — noise." - This article.
Amen.. well said.
Aam Aadmi is wondering as to who will sort out the "signal" from all
this excessive "noise", for graft and corruption is all pervasive in
Indian Society & Politics..?
Excellent editorial! We have given more than 65 years to Congress and
BJP. Let's give Kejriwal a chance. And see what comes of it .
your argument 'I'll scartch your back and you mine' is well applicable to media and the media houses including The Hindu are clever enough not to throw stones when they are living in glass houses.
How else, can you explain so many scams happening in this country. If we had a impartial media, the corrupt parties would be really scared. But that is not the case. It is media that need to introspect if they are doing their job...
Yes Sir ! It is both puzzling and amusing to find so many Union Ministers, right from Stock Exchange Chidambaram, rushing to back up Mr. Vadara. If, as they claim, Mr. Vadra is a private individual and there is a law of the land, etc, why should an army of Union ministers rush to the press throwing their weight behind this particular individual. They seem to be following the tracks of the eminent builder ! On the other side, as you have rightly observed, BJP is fighting shy of taking up this issue, for reasons secretly known only to them. Politics is really a murky affair and among all this muck, Mr. Kejriwal seems to be rising high.
Why are you calling it as first family ? First family is used for President ?
Your editorial has put the isssue in the right perspective.The entire
congress leaders have come to bat for the beleagured chief but it is
only sound and fury.they have not successfully cleared the misconception
by cogent argument.As correctly pointed out by you it is paradoxical
that the BJP is silent on this .obviously they have also some skeletons
in the Vadra cup board
It is unfortunate that senior congress leaders have jumped in to defend son-in-law of the first family, not even an MP or a member of congress. Salman Kurshid is reported to have said that he can even die to protect Soniyaji. What a pity that the oldest political party consists of only sycophants who do not have their independent identity. They shudder to think as to wahat would happen to them if the first family is maimed. Gandhiji rightly said that purpose of congress was to get freedom and since the objective is fulfilled, it should be dissolved.
Competitive Sycophancy in Congress on display! Who can please Madam-G the most ? Even law minister of India is batting for team-Vadra !
The Congress leaders and ministers are doing a disservice to Sonia ji. Their type of involvement and silence on the basic facts and issues raised, is working against their top leader. Their stand and statements have given credibility to Kerjriwal and others, that these allegations are correct.
The stakes are high here -- the way the dealings were done in this particular case is usually the same way hundreds of crores of rupees are accumulated by many politicians in power, cutting across party lines -- this explains the dangerous silence by the Opposition parties. The Hindu is doing a good job in educating the public about the dealings that happen at the highest level. The ugliest nexus between politics and business needs to be fully exposed in detail if India's resources like land, minerals, etc are to be saved from going into a few powerful people's hands.
This episode exposes the double standards of India's ruling class, especially those from the Congress party. Mr Vadra seems to have done what every other political family has done till now and gotten away Scot free - use political connections and facilitate smooth transaction of business for friendly partners. But thanks to the rise of information and the means to disseminate them, hiding such sweet-heart deals is no longer so easy. What is hypocritical about Congress is that Mr YSR Reddy was found to have encouraged the same style of crony capitalism resulting in massive allocations of state and public resources in mining and land to friendly parties. However the CBI charged that Jaganmohan Reddy received inflated investments from the same people who got land allocated, but only after he broke away from Congress. Now Congress leaders are falling head over shoulders to defend the same tactics by a member of their leading family.
[Perhaps the favour is now being returned.] LOL. Scumbags all, the lot of 'em.
So true: "The unfortunate truth is that a lot of the political noise on graft today is just that — noise." So saddening. How I wish more people - like lawyers, auditors, bureaucrats, etc. - join and strengthen the the Ramon Magsaysay winner and his party.
The Hands are the symbol of congress men.The helping by the Hands do
start at home and ends there.
T.S.G
You have presented a very objective fact-based editorial. It is very sad that Congress and BJP are vying with each other indulging in corrupt practices and effectively shielding each other.
If you suggest every political party is scratching each other back then could you explain the laid back attitude of the fourth estate? What about The Hindu in particular? Is it right to question everyone's motive (it is sign of times where we assume that everyone is criminal unless proven otherwise) and speculate in innuendos? I expected better from The Hindu editorial; yes you have every right to question political/public entities but am sure you would agree that ascribing rumors to their motives is not the best course.
Hope you will have more investigative reporting in future.
If some politician or his relatives want to make money through real
estate it would be very easy for them, as they would be privy to a lot
of classified information about possible growth places, on which they
can bet years in advance. Some kind regulation should be brought in to
counter this issue, like on the lines of insider trading guidelines.
This media scrutiny is a very good thing for the country until we get
such laws. But in Vadra's case, I just read from the further Q&A
clarifications given by DLF (not the brief statement given earlier)
on their website, where they have explained all the transactions with
Vadra, it looks like the transactions were done above board and at
market values. Yes, still we cannot rule out if Mr.Vadra hasn't bet on
some privy information about possible real estate boom places.
it is a quid proco arrangement. Between the two there is little to
choose, perhaps the degree and depth apart from dynastic politics.the
rot runs deep in this country, may be society and its ethical values
must be researched and we go deep into it. to begin with in states like
tamilnadu corruption has seized to be an election issue. the malice may
spread to other parts of india
A well balanced editorial. Perhaps Mr. Vadra can repeat what Robert Clive told to the British Parliament:'I am amazed of my own moderation'.
That most politicians from all political parties, by and large, are
'birds of the same feather', and that they carry out their 'shadow
boxing' in Parliament for entertainment of their own and that of the
'political class' is too obvious. How can a pot call the kettle black,
or one who lives in a glass house throw a stone?
IF all the 'Old Guards' are too set in their unacceptable ways and
most current members are neck deep in it, IS THEIR ANY ALTERNATIVE, to
starting afresh with new stringent checks and balances, to cleanse
India's political scene to safeguard the country for current and
future generations - however long it might take?
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to
do nothing.” (Edmund Burke:1729-97). IS IT HIGH TIME FOR ALL GOOD
CITIZENS, to set aside all differences and, TO JOIN HANDS TO REBUILD
INDIA? Isn’t this THE MOST URGENT REFORM the country needs?
Why does the media, including the Hindu, use the BJP as a political punching bag? Would one be wrong to say that it is to divert the attention from another political party which is believed by many as a corrup outfit. Will a "corrupt BJP President" automatically make the Congress party President' s family clean? One expects better from the Indian media.
It is quite improper to give the "FIRST FAMILY" honour to Sonia Gandhi's family.According to our constitution, President of India is the first citizen and thereby his family should be the first family. Although Sonia Gandhi is playing a pivotal role in the UPA government and in the INC she and her FUTURE PRIME MINISTER son never dare to take a responsible position in the government, instead they prefer to play behind the curtain which is more safe and unnoticed. Hence they should have better knowledge than any other person about all the scams and Vadra should have a silent support of both in his unholy relationship with DLF. If I am not mistaken the present revelation is only a tip of the iceberg. If a proper enquiry is made by a nuetral agency(not CBI) about all the scams during the tenure of UPA, the true picture of the nexus between Madam G family and the corporates involved in all the scams will be emerged. We, Indian people can hope it, although it has the least chance to happen.
Corruption the big bang monster is serving only the 1% masters and
rest public is tired of it. Both Congress-BJP are caught exposed in protecting with helping hands this corruption monster.
Kejreiwal political alternative is new and untested but is able to fill this gap in public space against corruption battles.
Why Kejriwal & Prashant Bhushan have been zooming only on
"Corruption during UPA regime"(2004 to date? Earlier when RSS and
BJP supported their movement,they created the "maya" that public
angst against corruption has come into the street!Now that Kejriwal
is starting a new party,IAC is playing a diabolical game of starting
"Vadragate",euphemism for "DAAMAAD-GATE",designed to blacken the
faces of Congress and BJP!That way their new party will be hailed by
many!
It has to be conceded that the editorial "So many helping hands" has provided a much better insight into the Vadra episode than all the reports so far carried by the media. While what baffles the common man is that the person whose reputation has been badly affected by the serious allegations has not chosen to file a defamation suit in court, the editorial has deftly drawn the readers' attention to the eerie silence maintained by the BJP, which, normally, would have seized the opportunity to pounce on its arch rival. There seems to be a lot more to it than meets the eye.
I am indeed happy that The Hindu has dared to write something against the allegations against the First Son-in-Law. The fact is that India is a very corrupt country and almost all politicians in India are involved in one corruption or the other. So politicians both within or outside the ruling party have a mutual interest in protecting one another. The ruling party has control of the main investigating agency, the CBI and those going beyond the
Lakshman Rekha' will be investigated or harassed by the CBI. Is it any wonder that we see so many politicians who have looted crores from the country walking free and even appointed as Cabinet Ministers or to parliamentary panels? Messrs Kejriwal and Bhushan have been openly threatened by Congress Party bosses for daring to cross the 'Lashman Rekha'. Even the media generally remains muted under the circumstances. So much for India being a democracy and a free society.
All politicians are one when it comes to corruption. People are on their own.
From the first para i was pretty amazed to see THE HINDU writing something critical against CONGRESS but soon my amazement vanished and i realized that as usual THE HINDU has used this issue also to blame BJP.Alas the cheap popularity criteria "GO AGAINST BJP" works always.
I am not supporting BJP or any political party but a reputation as tall as THE HINDU should at least dare to say a something impartial in these issues such as 2G,COALGATE,ROBERT VADERA etc..etc.
I am eager to see "THE HINDU" getting fairer in broaching CONGRESS related scam.
Can editor explain his real motive..is it how you aim for BJP bashing. In your newspaper it was clearly stated that Ms Anjali was seeking favour for herself and since then she is silent, then how come gadkari is tanted. Please check your facts and you need to understand 2g and Coal gate scams are still much much bigger scams then this. Rest everyone wish to investigate from 1993 for each scam..i ask why not 1947?
"you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours" - this has been the policy
of these 2 parties - but ultimately who is bothered of INDIA ? A sad
commentary of INDIAN politics !!!
Please Email the Editor