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The disturbing fact is the brazen selectivity. The government is using the law as a weapon to destroy opponents. In the escalating political gang wars something has to give
The political mood started changing after spy cameras began exposing politicians. Often, interested politicians induced media to make these dramatic exposures. Sometimes the exposure lacked legal significance. No matter. The mission was accomplished if a targeted reputation was damaged. Whether the victim deserved exposure is irrelevant. It is the careful selectivity in targeting victims that was relevant. Removing corruption was never the goal. Destroying reputations was.
That’s how politics started resembling criminal gang wars. When criminals were elected to legislatures there was a hue and cry. Today, the distinction between them and respected mainstream politicians has blurred.
Consider Uttar Pradesh. The Congress at the Centre and Mulayam Singh’s government in UP are at loggerheads. Nothing unusual in that. What’s unusual is the way they seek each other’s destruction. Income tax authorities zeroed in on Mulayam Singh, Amar Singh, Amar Singh’s wife, Amitabh Bachchan, his wife and his son. The Jet-Sahara deal was jettisoned because security clearance was not given to the key Jet official. That hurt Sahara. Its owner, Subroto Roy, is close to Mulayam Singh.
Bachchan is one of the highest individual tax-payers in the country. His declared wealth is enormous. Yet he was hounded on trivialities like a pair of sunglasses! A senior I-T official blandly told TV that they were merely following the law. Bachchan, suave and confident, agreed I-T was merely doing its duty. He could remain cool because he was clean. If the others are smudged, why should one sympathise? One doesn’t. The disturbing fact is the brazen selectivity. The government is using the law as a weapon to destroy opponents. Mulayam Singh misused what power he could. He brazenly cut power supply to Sonia Gandhi’s constituency in Rae Bareli!
Politics fought through misuse of official machinery to hit selected opponents very soon becomes a fight to the finish. It is an old adage that one should always leave the enemy a line of retreat. That is not being done. In the escalating political gang wars something has to give. That may not wait for three years. And it could bring an ugly result. That’s why armchair critics could be wrong. This government may not last its full term.