It's a long haul for the Lok Pal

It's a long haul for the Lok Pal

Chandan Mitra

With the impending installation of a Lok Pal the crusade against corruption will record a victory of sorts. But this may be more symbolic than material.

BS Yeddyurappa is gone, a victim more of his own naivete than criminality. The BJP was left with no option because of the relentless reiteration of charges against him, particularly in Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report. Having taken the high moral ground against rampant corruption in the Manmohan Singh Government, Mr Yeddyurappa had become an embarrassment to the BJP, the proverbial Achilles’ heel that undermined the party’s credibility. It can be argued that the loss of credibility was largely confined to the TV audience than among Karnataka’s electorate as a whole. Under Mr Yeddyurappa’s leadership, the BJP not only consolidated its position in the only south Indian State where it has a significant presence, but from all accounts the outgoing Chief Minister also provided good governance, which resulted in its winning a succession of by-elections apart from panchayat and municipality polls.

His supporters pressed for dissolution of the Assembly and mid-term elections, which they insisted would return him to power with an enhanced majority. Although it’s pointless speculating what would have happened if such a course had been chosen, there is little doubt that Mr Yeddyurappa has emerged as the tallest political leader in Karnataka today. Many believe he has been more sinned against than sinning and, so his ‘martyrdom’ at the hands of his critics including the State’s Rambo Governor could well yield political dividends.

The larger issue, however, does not relate to the persona of Mr Yeddyurappa. He is not the first Chief Minister to demit office in such circumstances, nor will he be the last. But two attendant matters need serious attention. First, the battle to reduce if not eliminate corruption in public life will go nowhere if the accused are not seriously prosecuted and sentenced. Here the problem is that charges against alleged wrongdoers are often vague and cannot stand legal scrutiny. Does anybody seriously believe that Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav will be sentenced to jail for his role in the fodder scam? Or Ms Mayawati, in the disproportionate assets case? I am not even sure whether A Raja will spend many years behind bars; the last time he will probably see the inside of a jail will be the day he is released on bail, which as an under-trial he, sooner or later, is bound to get.

The second disturbing facet of the anti-corruption crusade is that businessmen whose role in corrupting the bureaucracy and the political class is at the root of the malaise, are not even discomfited by the judicial process. One must wait to see how the courts deal with corporate houses in the 2G Spectrum scam, but judging by the bravado exhibited by big business organisations indicted by the Karnataka Lokayukta, it is unlikely that any corporate honcho will spend time behind bars.

This is not to suggest that the current anti-corruption upsurge in the country will go nowhere. The awareness generated by the likes of Anna Hazare and Baba Ramdev has compelled the political class, the judiciary and even a reluctant Government to act. It has severely dented Mr Manmohan Singh’s image as a squeaky clean administrator. In this charged atmosphere there is little doubt that the agitation for prompt enactment of a tough Lok Pal Bill will gain further momentum. Apparently, the Government proposes to introduce its version in Parliament on August 3 and even assuming it will be sent to the Standing Committee concerned, chances are that it will be passed in the forthcoming Monsoon Session itself. There will be a lot of pressure on political parties to seek changes in the official Bill because Anna Hazare’s people will go on a fast from August 16.

I may be forgiven for being cynical but frankly I don’t believe that the installation of a Lok Pal in the echelons of power will have a significant impact on corruption. Indians have a genius for circumventing the toughest laws and the lackadaisical pace of investigations coupled with our Byzantine judicial process may well ensure that things do not materially change. This is not an argument against instituting a Lok Pal with wide-ranging powers. As we saw in Karnataka an empowered Lokayukta can claim a Chief Minister’s scalp although his removal alone is unlikely to help recover the losses incurred by the State’s exchequer in recent years.

However, symbolic achievements of an ombudsman can go some way in acting as a deterrent to the rising tide of misappropriation and defalcation of public funds. The problem, however, is not with anti-corruption laws or institutions: India has enough of them, starting with the Prevention of Corruption Act, CAG, CVC and so on. My scepticism stems from the corruption of the Indian mind, expressed most venally by corporate greed and the electorate’s insatiable appetite for benefaction during elections.

Political parties are compelled to spend mind-boggling sums at election time to gratify their supporters and voters at large. It is common knowledge that in many States these days, voters demand direct cash payment in exchange for a promise to vote. A Lok Sabha election is conservatively estimated to cost a candidate upwards of Rs 5 crore, going up to Rs 50 crore in some States. Additionally, parties need to accumulate massive amounts to fund their organisational machinery, hire planes and helicopters for leaders and put up a show of affluence, for otherwise the electorate doesn’t take a party or its candidate seriously.

Where does this money come from? Obviously, individual donations can comprise no more than five per cent of a big party’s kitty. The rest has to be raised from business houses and surely they don’t cough up out of ideological conviction or fancy for somebody’s face. There is a quid pro quo, often unstated but in many cases explicit. Political fund raising is not confined to election time alone. It is round-the-year activity, especially for parties in power in the States as well as the Centre.

Arguably, political funding happens in a similar way in mature Western democracies too. It is worth recalling that one of the reasons for Mr Barack Obama’s success in bagging the Democratic presidential nomination was his phenomenal capacity to raise campaign donations. Even in relatively corruption-free Japan, a Prime Minister was once forced to quit over the Lockheed scandal.

In other words, the battle against corruption is a long haul. I recall accompanying a candidate on his campaign in rural Tamil Nadu in 2004. His open Matador had to stop every 500 metres to accept garlands from groups of women assembled on the roadside who were duly paid one crisp Rs 100 note each by a factotum. These groups collected a similar amount from all such road shows, which cost around Rs 15 lakh per day to candidates in the run-up to polling day. Stringent monitoring by the Election Commission has eliminated such public celebration of corruption but only succeeded in pushing this underground. So, if the country’s soon-to-be Lok Pal is to succeed in his mission, he may have to tackle mindsets and not just politicians.