By ensuring the resignations of its own suspected culprits in various scandals, Ashok Chavan and Suresh Kalmadi, the Congress has managed to ward off some of the criticism it has been facing since the Commonwealth Games. But what has been a much greater problem for it is the DMK’s indifference towards the very issue of corruption. The latter’s moral compass has seemingly gone so haywire that it simply does not care about the allegations levelled against its former Union minister, Andimuthu Raja, on the spectrum allocations.

There is a similarity, however, in the predicaments of the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP, with regard to their respective scamsters. The Congress has belatedly realized that the DMK’s preoccupation with Tamil Nadu politics makes it oblivious of what its members like Raja do at the national level. The former telecom minister may have joined the former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda in being the most pilloried person on account of corruption charges in recent times. But the DMK does not seem to believe that it will seriously damage its election prospects in Tamil Nadu.

The reason perhaps is that the reputation of its main opponent in the state, Jayalalithaa, is not exactly lily-white. As such, it blithely ignored the Congress’s complaints against Raja and might have been taken by surprise when the Manmohan Singh government compelled him to resign. In fact, the DMK has been so astonished that it has been unable to react to the Congress’s decision virtually to snatch the portfolio away from the DMK and hand it over to one of its own ministers, Kapil Sibal. This is probably the first time in the present era of coalition politics that the No. 1 party has forced an ally to retreat on the issue of ministers.

The BJP’s problem has arisen from Yeddyurappa’s similar obsession with his home state of Karnataka. Ever since he sneaked into power by enticing Janata Dal (Secular) and Independent MLAs via the so-called Operation Lotus to join the BJP and thereby acquire a majority, the chief minister’s sole intent has been to remain in power by hook or by crook. When the beneficiaries of Operation Lotus began deserting him, he managed to survive a trial of strength in the assembly with the Speaker disqualifying the defectors. Even the Governor, H.R. Bhardwaj, who has been relentlessly criticizing chief minister, had to beat a retreat when the disqualifications secured the judiciary’s approval.

So far, so bad. But legislative majority was not the end of the story for Yeddyurappa. Now his land deals have forced the BJP to move against him if only to ensure that its campaign against the Congress is not undermined. But Yeddyurappa is seemingly not interested in his party’s larger objectives. Having become the BJP’s first chief minister in the south, he is not in a hurry to give up his post. The reason perhaps is that his base of support in his own community of Lingayats and the financial clout of his friends, the Bellary brothers, of whom two, Janardhana and Karunakara Reddy, are ministers, give him a sense of invulnerability. His belief apparently is that even if his party turns against him, he can survive.

It is obvious that corruption is playing a larger role than ever before. Even if the national leaders of the major parties are relatively free of the taint, it is the regional chieftains which are giving them headaches. What is more, the strength of their local base forces the national leaders to move with caution. The BJP is aware that antagonizing Yeddyurappa may make it lose its southern foothold for quite some time. The total lack of political commitment of these politicians also makes it difficult to deal with them. Yeddyurappa has been a part of Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy’s government earlier, and may not hesitate to team up with him again.

For the BJP, a setback in Karnataka will mean that another state may slip out of its grasp. As it is, it is playing second fiddle to Nitish Kumar in Bihar and to Prakash Singh Badal in Punjab. In Jharkhand, too, it is more dependent on Shibu Soren’s JMM for survival than the latter is on the BJP. Yet, turning a blind eye to Yeddyurappa’s suspected misdeeds will hurt the party more than calling for his resignation. (IPA Service)