By Papri Banerjee
Picture Source: Wikipedia
The India Against Corruption Movement was rolled out sometime in 2010, under the leadership of Anna Hazare. In retrospect, we need to examine what the objectives of the movement were and whether they were fulfilled. And if not, who benefited and who lost the most from this movement.
On the face of it the Movement began with a call for the end of political corruption in general and to specifically install a Jan Lokpal – an ombudsman who would have powers to arrest and charge government officials accused of corruption.
Baba Ramdev was the first choice to spearhead this protest but he was eventually replaced in favour of Anna Hazare, a veteran social reformer, due to the former’s closeness to the Sangh Parivar which would have reflected badly on the movement. It helped too that Anna Hazare also brought with him a large middle class support base.
Though the movement was ostensibly against political corruption in general, and the appointing of a Lokpal, it soon became apparent that it was aimed at removing the incumbent UPA government led by the INC and installing the Modi government instead. Let us consider the evidence for this. There are four important areas in which this is manifested.
One : The way many of the main players in the movement ended up being rewarded in one way or another, post the Modi Government coming to power.
Consider these key players in the Movement: Baba Ramdev, Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi and Vinod Rai (the then CAG, who made the allegations of corruption and the notional loss to the exchequer from the 2G Spectrum Allocation).
Let us consider where they are today.
Since Modi came to power, Ramdev’s company has received more than an estimated $46 million in discounts for land acquisitions in states controlled by the BJP, according to a Reuters review of state government documents, interviews with officials and real estate estimates. It gained access to other land free of charge. The firm, Patanjali, has also received something of an official stamp of approval from a newly created ministry and BJP leaders.
Arvind Kejriwal who launched his own political party after swearing, “I will never fight elections in my life. And I don’t want to hold any post in my life. I have no political ambitions”, is the CM of Delhi for the second time running. You don’t hear anything about corruption or Lokpals from him anymore.
Kiran Bedi is now the governor of Pondicherry appointed by Modi after swearing she was apolitical and against corruption no matter which party indulged in it. Not a peep out of her any more about corruption either.
Vinod Rai was made the Chairman of the Banking Board of India by the new NDA Government.
Two: Corruption charges against the UPA / INC were made on flimsy evidence while various instances in which Modi’s actions were questionable, with enough evidence to warrant scrutiny, were simply ignored, or buried.
Consider the notional loss which Vinod Rai accused the UPA of being guilty of inflicting on the exchequer. It has now been thrown out of court as being totally without evidence.
What about other cases in which the UPA was accused of corruption? No case has thus far resulted in a conviction of anyone in the INC in spite of a BJP government, keenly aggressive to prosecute, at the helm for over six years.
Three: After shuttling between the Delhi state government and the center, the Jan Lokpal Bill is sill pending with the Kejriwal Government so many years later. Where is the urgency with which it was pursued when the UPA was in power? Or was it only a means to bring down that government?
Four: Aside from all of that, there is evidence of RSS support and funding to the Movement. which further erodes its credibility and proves it was simply a vehicle for the political ambitions of various key players in it who used it to bring down the UPA and install themselves and their patrons into power.
Thus, we have compelling grounds to conclude that far from being India Against Corruption as it painted itself to be, the movement was in truth RSS Against UPA (INC). The Movement failed pretty dismally in its publicly stated aims but achieved unbridled success in the unstated, actual purpose.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed within this article are the personal opinions of the author. AlignIndia does not take any responsibility for the content of the article.
Papri Banerjee teaches English Literature at an Indian University. With her expertise in socio-politics, history, gender equality, art and literature, she is a keen observer of the world around her and bases her opinion on an unbiased rational reflection. She can be reached at paprimampibanerjee@gmail.com