Three examples stand out in the opportunism exposed by Bofors. First, the inscrutable case of V.P. Singh. He rose to become prime minister by cashing in on allegations against Rajiv Gandhi in the Bofors case. Once in office, his passion against corruption disappeared. To queries about the case, he would mumble the stock reply: "Let the law take its own course."
Recently, V.P. Singh stated that Rajiv Gandhi was not involved in the Bofors corruption. He made common cause with the Congress against Mulayam Singh. Nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with offering tacit support to a Congress led by Sonia Gandhi. But why somersault on Bofors? Doesn’t he owe the public an explanation about why he considered Rajiv Gandhi guilty earlier and innocent now? Failing that, shouldn’t people consider him as opportunistic as the worst defector?
Then there is Ram Jethmalani. After the Bofors story broke, he fired 10 blistering questions every day. He not only called Rajiv Gandhi corrupt, he even used choice epithets about his lack of intelligence. The epithets were published in the media, and were never contradicted. But a few years ago, he got silent Congress support to contest the Lok Sabha poll against Atal Behari Vajpayee in Lucknow. After that, he never looked back. He has become a staunch supporter of Sonia Gandhi. He too did not hesitate to give a certificate of innocence in the Bofors corruption to all members of the dynasty. What happened to the 10 questions a day? Was he mistaken then or is he mistaken now? Or is he mistaken all the time?
Finally, there are the Marxists, always spouting morality. In 1989, all the Marxist MPs resigned from Parliament in loud protest against Bofors. Today, after exposure of the government’s brazen moves to protect Quattrocchi, they can only bleat: "Government should extradite Quattrocchi!"
Enough of middle-class heroes! Give us Buta Singh any time. At least, he’s not nauseatingly hypocritical!
(Puri can be reached at rajinderpuri2000@yahoo.com)
