Tainted system

Image: PJ Thomas

Corruption has scaled unimaginable heights in the reforms era driven by private capital seeking to manipulate public policy.

NOVEMBER 2010 could well go down in the history of independent India as a watershed month in terms of corruption exposes and the social and political impact they made. Revelations about multiple corruption scandals took in their sweep politicians, governments, the administrative and defence services as also national and international corporate houses and generated a sense of disquiet across the country.

In the process, political heavyweights such as Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan of the Congress and Union Minister for Telecommunications A. Raja of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) were forced to resign, while Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition party at the Centre, fought a fierce tactical battle to continue in office.

The silence and inaction of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in responding to allegations of corruption in 2G spectrum allocation involving A. Raja was questioned by the Supreme Court itself. Both Houses of Parliament came to a standstill from day one of the winter session, with the Opposition demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the allegations on 2G spectrum allocation.

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