A 'Politicians' Crusade against Corruption

So, this past Saturday I had an opportunity to meet the president of Janta Party and a visiting Harvard economics professor, Mr. Subramaiam Swamy (thanks to my friend, Nishil). Lately he is been in the news not for the economics or more surprisingly, for political reasons, but for his crusade against the corruption. He is the one who initiated the inquiry into the now famous 2G scam.

He spoke in great dept about how he came across the fudged allocation process for issuing the licenses for the 2G spectrum. Considering the gathering was not large, he didn’t hold any bars in making sarcastic remarks against the ‘lady from Italy’, the ‘powerless Prime Minister’ and the ‘pathetic prince’. His views on the Krunanidhi clan were also not great and rightly so. For all the scams and misappropriations the clan has undertaken since being in power are just ridiculous. But it was his supportive remarks for ‘the fat lady from Chennai’, Ms. Jailalitha, that I started thinking that it is not the public servant, but the politician, Mr. Swami who has started this crusade against corruption.

            Don’t get me wrong, what he is doing is indeed great for the nation as a whole, but then just like all the other things in India, his crusade is also politically motivated. Just so I don’t ‘misunderstand’ his mission, I asked him why did he choose 2G scam and not any other, as there is no dearth of corruption scandals in India. His reply was this scandal had a National security angle to it, which was quite understandable. But just like all the other politicians he ended up making a speculation. “Make me the head of the CBI and I will undertake all the corruption cases”.

            It was indeed a pleasure to meet him. Needless to say he has a vast amount of knowledge and is a great communicator. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a great leader and an intellectual person, but his political ambitions trump his prior two qualities. 

Breaking News: Before ending his speech, Mr Swami, predicted that come August, ‘one very highly placed minister’ in the current UPA government will be the guest of honor at Delhi’s most happening place, the Tihar jail.