The Hindu Business Line : On questionable questions

In a sensational sting operation, MPs of various political parties were caught on camera taking money for carrying out the most basic task for which they were elected to office — raising the peoples' concerns and problems in Parliament. While this has proved the proverbial tip of the iceberg, bringing to light other misdeeds, the Bihar Chief Minister, Mr Nitish Kumar, has had his hands full clearing up another, far bigger, mess. Rasheeda Bhagat appraises the situations in New Delhi and Patna.

THERE are two important developments in the political firmament. The first is the settling in of Mr Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister of Bihar, bringing hope not only to the beleaguered and battered State but the rest of the country as well. The second, much more exciting and sensational, pertains to 11 MPs caught, in a sting operation, accepting money for raising questions in Parliament.

Taking the second first, in a sensational hidden camera operation titled `Operation Duryodhan' and carried out by cobrapost.com and Aaj Tak TV channel, 11 of our venerable MPs were caught on camera taking money from an undercover reporter for asking questions in Parliament. Topping the list were six MPs from the BJP, followed by three from the Bahujan Samaj Party and one each from the Congress(I) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

An interesting detail is that Mr C. P. Lodha of the BJP had the most "reasonable" price to offer for his service; six questions for a mere Rs 15,000. But if you go by rate per question, then Mr Y. G. Mahajan, again of the BJP, was most cost-effective, at Rs 2,333 per question. The costliest MP was the RJD's Manoj Kumar, at Rs 1.1 lakh for eight questions.

What is surprising is that the BJP, which claims to be a "party with a difference", had the maximum number of MPs willing to accept money for carrying out the most basic task for which people elect politicians to office — raise their concerns and problems in the legislative body. But, of course, it would be unfair to interpret the number of `stung' MPs as a measure of corruption levels in their respective parties.

Obviously, the operators would have selected the softest targets. We don't know if any MPs from the Left Parties were approached, but it is to their credit that not a single of these MPs is from the Left contingent.

The English daily DNA quoted the cobrapost.com Editor, Mr Aniruddha Bahal, who headed the sting operation, as saying that he had got the idea following one of his columns, where he had said it would be interesting to watch an MP raise a question such as: `Why was Gorilla International blacklisted by the Railway Ministry despite having bid the lowest for the Tsu Tsu diesel engines?' For this, he received a notice from the Lok Sabha Secretariat to substantiate his allegation! He responded by writing to the Lok Sabha Speaker, Mr Somnath Chatterjee, that this was not a comment on an actual event in Parliament but just a "story idea".

Thus began `Operation Duryodhan' in April 2005 and went on till November 2005, during which multiple meetings were held with the MPs, most of the time through middlemen. The TV footage showed some of the MPs and the middlemen becoming suspicious, but the greed appears to have overcome their fear and they did accept the money.

One did catch a snatch of the telecast on Headlines Today, and it was shameful to watch a couple of MPs making lame attempts to refuse the money, saying half-heartedly and with a smile: `Iski zaroorat nahi hai' (this is not necessary) even while accepting and putting aside the envelope with money. Narendra Kushwaha, of the BSP, said, "Hope you are not taping all this. Do not get me into trouble." But he, too, accepted the money.

Saying that the whole operation was "not an easy task," Mr Bahal told DNA that the RJD MP, Mr Manoj Kumar's middleman — a `Tripathi' — was "a colourful character and his ponytail and vermilion-smeared forehead could mislead everyone. However, he was a master of the trade and even suggested that when the `packet' was delivered, the code should be `Gulab ka Phool' (rose petals).

While this expose has had the entire country chuckling and the politicians cringing, the serious response from the political parties concerned and the two Houses of Parliament — the sting operation included one Rajya Sabha MP too — is indeed heartening.

While the BJP and the Congress(I) responded immediately by suspending their MPs, the BSP followed suit. The RJD said it would take "stern action" against its MP. Meanwhile, both Houses have asked the MPs caught on camera not to attend Parliament till the enquiry was completed.

Even more shocking is the admission by the BJP President, Mr L. K. Advani, that after this sting operation he had come to know of "many other questionable deeds" of MPs, such as sub-letting their garages and rooms, and misusing their air tickets and gas coupons. Addressing the BJP Parliamentarians, he described this revelation as "sad and shameful," and warned them of strict action for any misdeeds.

Bihar update

Crossing over from New Delhi to Patna, Mr Nitish Kumar has set about the task of clearing up the mess in Bihar's governance with all seriousness. On Sunday, he hosted a lunch for officers from the Bihar cadre in New Delhi and, while this has led to speculation that he may ask some of them to return to the State, a top bureaucrat in Patna denied that this was the reason for the meeting.

"The message he has sent out to the bureaucrats of Bihar through this meeting is that the Chief Minister has regard and respect for them and values their contribution. This is the first time in 15-20 years in Bihar's history that a CM has attempted anything of this sort," he said.

But the task before the new CM is daunting and there are several challenges to putting the State back on the rails particularly vis-à-vis development and law and order . On Mr Nitish Kumar's first few days in office, Dr Shaibal Gupta, member-secretary of the Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), says: "It is too early to say that he is making a difference. But what one can say is that after years of absence of governance and an authentic CM who would function from the Secretariat, look at the files and other aspects of governance — something that Rabri Devi did not do — it is good to have a CM who comes to the Secretariat at 9 a.m. and works there till late in the evening."

Even though it is good for Bihar to have, after almost eight years, a Chief Minister "who is firmly in the saddle and who can analyse the State's affairs himself without having to depend on anybody else," Mr Nitish Kumar has a rough road ahead. "First of all, he will need to develop a strategy for people below the threshold level, and by this I mean not only the 42 per cent of the people of Bihar who live below the poverty line, against the 26 per cent BPL in the rest of the country."

While this is the biggest challenge, what is achievable is doing something immediately for that "small percentage of Bihar's people who are already a part of the national economy and the national market and have the potential to get integrated into the national and international economic grid."

Dr Gupta explains that even though this strategy might benefit a much smaller group, "it creates the right kind of hype about the quality of governance, which has hitherto been missing in Bihar."

He says the extent of work and funds required to match Bihar's development to national parameters are so huge that it can be compared with the "Marshall Plan of rebuilding Europe after World War II."

He adds that the President, Mr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, has envisaged a 10 per cent GDP growth rate for India by 2020. "Of course, the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, is more optimistic that 10 per cent growth is possible even in the next few years. But to catch up with the rest of the country, Bihar will have to grow 15 per cent every year for the next 15 years."

According to a study by the ADRI for the 12th Finance Commission, this would entail an outlay of Rs 38,000 crore to be spent in Bihar each year in both the private and public domain. "The magnitude of the capital infusion required for Bihar is so huge that the question before Mr Nitish Kumar is: Where is this money going to come from," he adds.

The much-needed land reforms, which had eluded Bihar and which are mainly responsible for the Naxalite menace in the State, as well as the law and order problem, also have to be addressed. Again, the latter would require a huge infusion of funds to modernise the police force, equip it with the required weapons, modern communication systems and other infrastructure.

But in the short haul, what Mr Nitish Kumar has managed to do, adds Prof Gupta, is to infuse a confidence in the "bureaucracy and the chattering classes that things will change in Bihar now. His presence in the Secretariat inspires confidence; he has got the Cabinet working and will now have to put in place the operation of a command system."

A common story you hear in Bihar pertains to the total annihilation of the command system in Bihar during the Lalu Prasad era of 15 years. Senior bureaucrats grumbled that with Mr Lalu Prasad giving direct orders to a junior policeman or even a daroga, the authority of the SP and the DSP was systematically eroded.

The buzz now in the bureaucracy is that Nitish has promised the police a free hand and no political interference, provided they do an honest and effective job. But the question is whether the State's rusted administrative system will respond to this new challenge.

(Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in)

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