The investigative Indian Express story sarcastically captioned “Their Common Wealth†with the sub-heading “Father-daughter, mother-son, twin sisters, uncle-nephews, husband-wife ... welcome to Suresh Kalmadi's Organising Committee familyâ€. Their salaries per month range from Rs.33,500 to Rs.2.12 lakh. The story said that the list of employees of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games, chaired by Suresh Kalmadi, includes at least 38 of the top brass who are related to each other. N.P. Singh, Joint Director, General Administration and Workforce who heads the Committee said that it was “coincidence that so many of them are inter-related.†Like our politicians, government and other functionaries holding key offices have also started advancing alibis to defend their patently nepotistic actions.
The Badals acquittal in the disproportionate assets case has not come as a surprise. The way the case was conducted by the prosecution through the seven years it had become evident that the Badals were going to get a “clean chitâ€. The prosecution witnesses, mostly government officials, turned hostile. Even the senior Vigilance Bureau Officers including the two key investigators IG R.K. Uppal and SSP Surinder Pal Singh did not support the prosecution. Surinder Pal was reinstated after retirement on September 30 last year. He joined as officer on special duty in the VB the next day.
In his judgment, Rajinder Aggarwal, Special Judge observed: “Had the case been investigated by these officers properly, it would not have ended in a fiascoâ€. The court ordered prosecution of both the officers for perjury and misconduct.
The above two instances are the examples of how the dynastic politics is taking the form of family rule in the country. The family rule, in turn, leads to centralisation of all levers of state power which are then used to protect and promote the ruling families vested economic and political interests.
Punjab is not the only state plagued by the ills of family politics culture. It is taking a cancerous form. We have the Devi Lal clan in Haryana who imposes family rule whenever it comes to power. In Bihar, it is Lalu Yadav. In Maharasthra and Tamil Nadu, it is the Thakres and the Karunanidhis respectively and so on.
It is not a coincidence that when politicians families capture power they convert politics into business. They start misusing their power by acting on the old Punjabi saying “Anna Vande Reorian Mur Mur Apnian Nu†(A blind person keeps distributing benefits among his own kin) caring little about the common man's interests. This often leads to scams and amassing of disproportionate assets. Lalu and Chautalas are facing court cases for amassing disproportionate assets. The Badals have been acquitted mainly due to their misusing the state influence to make prosecution witnesses, mostly government officials turn hostile.
Parkash Singh Badal propounded his theory of centralization of the state and organizational power in 1985 during the talks on the proposed Rajiv-Longowal accord in 1985. Badal was aggrieved by the non-fulfillment of the assurance given him by the Akali Dal president, late Sant Harchand Singh Longowal to make him the Chief Minister and later the Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala expressing his inability to accept his demand for Deputy Chief Ministership.
On return from Amritsar after attending the Akali leaders meeting, Badal told this correspondent on June 18, 1985 that “Akali Dal and SGPC leadership do not want Akali rule in Punjab as their own significance/importance will fade when an Akali Government is formed. They will then have to seek favours from Akali Chief Minister. Hence, both the office of Akali President and leadership of Legislative wing should be combined for stability of an Akali Government. Otherwise, conflicts would arise between the Akali President and CM within a year of coming to powerâ€.
After becoming Chief Minister, a realistic Badal put his theory into action by combining the leaderships of Akali Dal and its Legislative wing. He was farsighted enough by not only establishing his control over the SGPC, which plays a crucial role in Sikh politics, through his proteges but also imposing his family rule in Punjab. The father is Chief Minister, the son Deputy Chief Minister and President of the Akali Dal and half a dozen close family members bestowed with lucrative portfolios as members of his cabinet.
What has happened in Punjab is an indication of what India's future political picture might be. The disease of family rule is spreading like a cancer in Indian politics. Notwithstanding such aberrations, the country is still making progress thanks to the peoples hard work and their patience of tolerating our politicians.
One is reminded what a Russian diplomat of the erstwhile Soviet Union was rumored to have once observed about the functioning of the Indian system. On returning to his country he said “I was an atheist. But after my stay in India, I have started believing that there is God.†(IPA Service)
India
FAMILY RULE IS BECOMING A NORM
BADAL’S ACQUITTAL BY COURT IS A GRIM REMINDER
B K Chum - 2010-10-04 10:20
From single party rule to coalitions; from coalitions to dynastic politics; and, from dynastic politics to family rule. This is the route Indian politics has traversed during the 63 years of Independence. The lucrative route is now temptingly branching out to other arenas also. The trend is illustrated by two stories the media carried last week. One was about the appointment of relatives in the Organizing Committee of Commonwealth Games published by Indian Express as its front page lead. The other was the acquittal of the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his family members by a Mohali Special Court in the disproportionate assets case registered against them in 2003 when the Capt. Amarinder Singh-led Congress government was in power. The Badals acquittal was also conspicuously given front page treatment by the media.