Democratic India has just chosen or has been made to choose by excited well dressed ,made-up, camera friendly anchors to subvert their democracy. The most powerful person in India, who will judge,and then employ the verdict will be an omnipotent Lokpal who in turn will be selected by a motley group of prominent persons—whose claim to prominence in most cases have been decided by the government. The President of USA, arguably the most powerful man in the world, is elected. The most powerful person in India will be selected. The selection committee is hand picked, not elected. In plain terms, the common law abiding, tax-paying, vote giving, conscientious ordinary person in India, will have no say in this process.
The privileged have quietly increased their privileges.
The talking point between cocktails and cashew will be the nonchalant—“Were you there??”!!!!! For absence” there “ of course will mean that you sadly are not qualified to smell the latest Chanel…….
However, this may be very unkind to a lot of persons who are genuinely disgusted with the current levels of corruption and find this the only avenue left to voice their protest.And there are a lot of people like that.
My serious concern is whether or not they are being taken for a ride or not? Look at the sequence of events. Anna Hazare starts his fast. Within a day the government starts talking with them.Within a couple of days ministers (not State but all powerful Central Ministers) come to him and starts talking. Anybody who has ever participated in protests like this know that to get ministerial level talks take between 7-10 days at least. Let’s grant that owing to the frailty of Anna Hazare, the government fast-tracked the process.
Sonia Gandhi issues a statement in 46 hours!!! Totally unbelievable. Sonia Gandhi rarely makes a statement in the Lok Sabha!!!! Manmohan Singh starts talking sympathetically. Usually the government starts talking tough right from the start to scare away the immediate associates. Here, there was a distinct attempt at cajoling, an overdose of sugar AND honey!!!.
Finally the strangest part of it all. Government gives in within 4 days!!!!! This is a miracle. Was the government afraid of the movement as the cheering Kejriwals will like us to believe? Did India win the day as some headlines will have us believe? A few thousand candle lit protestants, a couple of screeching TV channels, a few SMSes and Facebook twittering made the mighty Central government concede defeat?
This undue alacrity as a settlement—the astounding Governmental eagerness to concede demands---all indicate a foregone decision, a strong pointer to stage management.
So why will the Congress UPA Government do this? What could be the likely gameplan? Even the Opposition parties were overwhelmed by the speed of the flow of events—managing only a weak whimper from the Left and BJP.
I suspect that the likely target was Sharad Pawar. Now that investigations are revealing his connections to the 2G scam companies, the frequent Food Crises which resulted in a runaway food price elevation, the murky IPL financial imbroglio—all of which has resulted in body blows to the Government one after another. Pawar still retains his private ambition to be Prime Minister by becoming the balancing power in the UPA. Mamata Banerjee leaving a seat for the NCP in the State Elections is highly significant in this equation. The Government does not have the guts or gumption to drop Sharad Pawar. Therefore have a committee of NON-ELECTED body like the LokPal to do this. Everyone knows Anna Hazare’s dislike of Sharad Pawar. How much more stunning and Grand scale will it be if the LokPal in an opening salvo targeted Sharad Pawar, a member of the Ministerial Committee and sacked him!!!!! What great shame it would be for Pawar and the NCP??? AND what great enjoyment for the Congress party…. Surely Pawar considering his malignancy and his age will NEVER form a threat anymore to Rahul Gandhi and the Congress…….
However the wily old fox preempted them by resigning from the ministerial committee and is busy shoring up his defenses.
But this LokPal concept will be enough to hound Pawar and keep him in line for some time till the next round of elections. It is a win-win situation for the Central Government. They come out as a responsive, sensitive ruling group, and they can show that they are active against corruption.That is why I believe that all of the last 4 days of Jantar Mantar action was orchestrated.
We are all watching an enthralling political game. Unfortunately our moralistic beliefs, our dream of stamping out corruption, the idealism of our candle holding evening processionists are the packing box cover. The REAL GAME is inside!!!!!!
