NOT ALL CRAWL WHEN ASKED BY CONGRESS TO BEND
The Congress is so used to institutions and agencies of the state crawling before the party's high command when asked to bend that its outrage over the Comptroller and Auditor-General's office refusing to whitewash the Great 2G Spectrum Robbery under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's watch is understandable. Ever since the 2G scandal came to light and irrevocably tarnished the image, such as it is, of the UPA Government, more so the Prime Minister, the Congress has been desperately trying to prove that no wrong was committed and no loss incurred by the nation. Mr Kapil Sibal, who took charge of the Telecom Ministry after Mr Raja had to depart in disgrace, has been relentless in his efforts to pick holes in the CAG's report on the 2G Spectrum loot. So much so, he now claims that no money has been lost and that any presumed loss is at best notional. He has also rubbished the CAG's assessment that up to Rs 1.76 lakh crore was lost by the exchequer due to Mr Raja's decision to sell 2G Spectrum at ridiculously low prices to his cronies who then went on to mint money out of the cut-price bargains they had bagged. Mr Raja stands accused of misusing his authority; the Prime Minister stands accused of presiding over the loot. The shame that Mr Raja has invited upon himself is for the DMK to deal with. But the fact that Mr Manmohan Singh's claimed honesty and integrity no longer appear to be unimpeachable cannot but bother the Congress: The party finds itself battling the same demons that caused its humiliating defeat in 1989 and tarnished the First Family's image indelibly. Corruption has returned to haunt the Congress and the party is desperately trying to claw its way out of the corner into which it has painted itself. Hence Mr Sibal's mocking dismissal of the CAG's report as so much fanciful fiction. Hence also his — and his party's — pathetic attempt to ridicule the Opposition for doing its job. Arguably, this is also the reason why the Congress is so reluctant to agree to the demand for the setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to inquire into the 2G Spectrum scam.
But the Congress has terribly miscalculated while strategising its defence. It obviously believed that it could bully the CAG's office into revising its estimate or even disowning the report that is now being studied by the PAC. In the least, it had hoped that some of the mud slung at the report would stick and thus diminish its credibility if not destroy it entirely. What it had not bargained for is that the CAG's office would respond in equal measure and stand up to its bullying tactics. Now that the CAG's office has done so, the Congress has reacted predictably, slamming the institution for defending itself against unwarranted attacks on its integrity! The Congress must realise that not all bureaucrats are spineless biological wonders and every agency or institution of the state is not as pliable as the CBI or the IB whose officials are only too happy to do the bidding of their political masters. Thankfully, India has been spared the subversion of every institution and agency of the state by a party bereft of all scruples and denuded of ethics. This holds out the hope that those guilty of looting India will not go unpunished. Mr Raja will hopefully stand trial. And the Congress will have to pay for its sins of omission and commission.
