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ANY lingering hope that the UPA-2 government, under the joint leadership of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would somehow pull itself together and start seriously engaging with the many challenges facing the country, is now distant memory. The favoured strategy of silence (hope that the crisis will blow over); stout denial of any wrongdoing; sacrificing a few pawns, ostensibly to signal a seriousness of resolve; and finally, blaming everyone else, in particular the opposition, of disrupting the constitutional order, now has few takers. Evidently, Congress strategists, prefer to live in a state of denial, unable to comprehend that past political behaviour and culture, reminiscent of an era of single party dominance, no longer washes with a changed electorate.

If proof is required that the government, and the party, is still wedded to its old ways, despite the fiasco of both the 2G scam and the (now cancelled) appointment of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner, P.J. Thomas, we only have to look at the handling of the latest Wikileaks revelations, in particular those relating to allegations of vote buying in the 1998 vote of confidence in Parliament.

It is not that the allegations come as any surprise. After a furore in Parliament, they were investigated by a JPC constituted to go into the matter. While the JPC report did not hold anyone specifically guilty of engaging in bribery to buy votes, it did recommend further investigation and a FIR was registered. The fact that so far little progress has been made in the case, despite its serious ramifications, only indicates a lack of resolve on part of the investigation agencies. The Wikileaks revelations, which mention a Congress MP and his ‘alleged’ associate, only add further grist to the mill.

Yet, rather than admit that the revelations, whether or not admissible as evidence in court, damage the credibility of our parliamentary system and thus need to be expeditiously probed, the official response, including from the prime minister, is denial of any wrongdoing. First, it is claimed that the cables reported in the Wikileaks are not authentic, since their existence has not been officially admitted. Then it is argued that the cables, whatever their veracity, at best reflect the ‘opinion’ of a diplomatic official and thus cannot be taken as reflecting the truth. Finally, since the various individuals named in the cables have denied the conversation reported, the allegations deserve no further attention.

It is the nature of response that causes concerns. Various Congress spokespersons have argued that since the JPC had been unable to arrive at any firm conclusion and moreover, the matter pertained to the previous Lok Sabha, it does not concern the present house of Parliament. But far more disturbing is the justification advanced by the prime minister.

His assertion is that since, despite the allegation of vote buying being the subject of furious debate during the 2009 elections, the Congress increased its seat tally and was returned to power, and the opposition parties, both the BJP and the left, suffered a serious erosion in their numbers, its conduct has been ratified by the highest court in the land, the people. By this logic, not only should we absolve Modi of any wrongdoing in his handling of the 2002 Gujarat carnage, but equally, that the late Rajiv Gandhi should be held complicit in the Bofors scam. He, after all, lost the 1989 elections.

As much as the specifics of the various cases that have of late dominated public discourse, we need to be concerned about the manner in which our political class, across party divides, reacts when questioned about its actions. Just as the Congress and UPA need to ponder over the implications of their handling of the 2G scam, the appointment of the CVC, and now the vote buying scandal, the BJP and the left too need to introspect about their response to the land grab scandal in Karnataka and the use of party cadres to inflict violence on the opposition in West Bengal.

Even more, they need to rethink the strategy of constantly disrupting Parliament and refusing to engage in debate unless the government first accepts their demands. Little do our parties realize that both their tactics and behaviour reflects less a substantive difference over policy choices and more a willingness to sacrifice the ‘morality’ and ‘legitimacy’ of means to ensure desired ends, in the process further eroding the credibility of our political process and political institutions.

It may well be that the UPA-2 government will complete its full term in office. That is a matter of Parliamentary majority. But that its top leadership has squandered away its greatest asset – ‘credibility’ – and simultaneously been complicit in damaging the ‘integrity’ of our institutions, is no longer in doubt.

Harsh Sethi