Legal luminary Fali S. Nariman remarked that no one can say BJP leader Subramanian Swamy is not interesting. “He is more than interesting; he is acutely controversial.”
Mr. Nariman was speaking on Sunday at the launch of Dr. Swamy’s biography Evolving with Subramanian Swamy written by his wife Roxna Swamy.
The book launch was followed by a panel discussion moderated by senior journalist Priya Sahgal. On the panel were Mr. Nariman and senior journalists Tavleen Singh and Rajdeep Sardesai.
ADVERTISEMENT
Coming just days after the latest Cabinet reshuffle, the one question that was foremost on everyone’s mind was why Dr. Swamy did not find a place in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Cabinet.
Mr. Nariman said the reasons lay in Dr. Swamy’s 2009 book Corruption and Corporate governance in India, Satyam Spectrum and Sundaram . “In his book he advocated, that if we were to impose a penalty 99 times the bribe taken, it would not be worthwhile for people to be corrupt even if the detection is low. This is the reason why he is not in the Cabinet,” he said.
Ms. Singh said Dr. Swamy had won himself a powerful enemy in the Cabinet, ensuring that he does not find space.
ADVERTISEMENT
Speaking later, Dr. Swamy said he never had any discussion with the Prime Minister on the issue and neither was he disappointed on missing out.
Mr. Sardesai said, “you may or may not want Dr. Swamy as your friend but certainly you do not want him as your enemy.”
“I had developed my idea of Lutyen’s elite in the book, a distinct aristocracy of intelligentsia, which rules India. The whole agenda is to make people non-person; to wipe them from public consciousness,” the author explained.