On my morning walk, I am asked all kinds of questions. The latest one went thus: “If elections were held tomorrow, do you think the BJP (or NDA) would return to power?” The reply, “I certainly think it would”, was received with discernible glee by the questioner, in this case a hardcore BJP supporter.

As though the succession of scams and scandals rolling out of the UPA-II's cupboard was not enough to tarnish the image of the Congress-led government, particularly the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, we now know from the cables sent by US diplomats in India to Washington, made available to The Hindu by WikiLeaks, the murky behind-the-scene details of the cash-for-votes scam that had rocked the country in 2008.

The most damaging of these cables pertains to the controversial winning of the trust vote in Lok Sabha over the Indo-US nuclear deal.

Five days before the crucial vote, says one of these cables, Congress MP Satish Sharma's aide had brazenly shown a US diplomat two chests filled with cash of about Rs 50-60 crore, which had been made ready to buy MPs to ensure that the Manmohan Singh government won the trust vote. This would push through the Indo-US civic nuclear deal. For the BJP and the Left Parties, which had raved and ranted in July 2008, after some BJP MPs had done a “sting” operation and displayed huge bundles of cash on the floor of the Lok Sabha, this expose has come as manna from heaven.

The Parliamentary probe into this scandal had come to nought, and then came the general elections which returned the UPA to power once again. The WikiLeaks bombshell has now electrified the Opposition which is, for the first time, demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister. One feels sorry to say this, but the latest Mr Clean from the Congress stables is losing his sheen at an alarming speed.

When the trust vote was won in July 2008 and the Singh government survived, the aam janata had little doubt that foul means were used to do so. And yet, by and large, the people were willing to give the benefit of doubt to the “gentle doctor” on the premise that he was not involved in this political hara-kiri, and that political wheeler-dealers in the Congress and allies like the Samajwadi Party were involved in the murky affair.

PM's weak defence

Then came the elections, and as Dr Singh argued in defence of his government in Parliament, the people's court decided to return the UPA to power. While doing so, said his statement, they increased the Congress' tally from 145 in the 14th Lok Sabha to 206 in the 15th one. At the same time, it punished both the BJP and the Left Parties by reducing their seats from 138 to 116, and 59 to 24, respectively. Of course, nobody expected him to say on record that this was not a reward for the UPA government's integrity but gratitude of the rural, disadvantaged masses for schemes such as the agri-loan waiver and MGNREGA.

Scams galore

Anyway, within a year, UPAII had run into trouble with tremors over the 2G Spectrum scam. Even though it took some time for it to blow over and claim the scalp of the then Telecom Minister, Mr A. Raja, more than anything else that he said or did not say, the one image that will stick in public memory is that of Dr Singh placing a comforting hand on Mr Raja's back as he was coming out of Parliament — this, after it was certain that he was involved in such a huge scam.

Then came the CWG Scam and the furore over the appointment of Mr P. J. Thomas as the CVC, despite objections from Lok Sabha Opposition Leader, Ms Sushma Swaraj, who was on the three-member committee to appoint the CVC. Dr. Singh maintained a stony silence while the matter festered and the Opposition fumed and screamed; finally the Supreme Court had to act by quashing his appointment.

What does Mr Prime Minister do? He disarms a defiant Ms Swaraj hollering for the UPA's blood by calmly claiming “full responsibility” for Mr Thomas' appointment. It was “an error of judgement” he demurs, and rather graciously she backs off, saying the matter was over. Just as we wondered if we had judged the man too harshly, as though to announce his transition from a bureaucrat to an astute politician he quietly passed the blame for this fiasco to Mr Prithviraj Chauhan, who was then the Minister of State for Personnel. Mr Chauhan, in turn, passed the buck to the Kerala government.

Nation's image

The nation can clearly see that the sense of injury and hurt that our Prime Minister displayed not too long ago when charges of corruption were raised against his government (“coalition politics” was then the excuse given by him) have, slowly but surely, given way to a kind of steadfastness… a stony response that seems to say: “Do what you will, accuse me of whatever you please, I am here to stay.”

So the initial “I have no knowledge of these purchase of votes. I am not involved in any of these transactions. I have not authorised anyone to purchase votes” at the India Today Conclave on Friday morning, changed to “We didn't purchase votes”, and the “Congress was not involved”, in Parliament later in the day. So, were your allies involved, Dr Singh, is the next logical question.

But on one aspect of the whole sordid drama of July 2008, Dr Singh is bang on. The image of India has been impacted, tarnished.

Whether he is personally clean or not, is no longer an issue. A leader who presides over a rotten empire, has no business to dig his heels in and give the nation lectures on how electoral reforms are required.

First, it was coalition politics that was to blame and now it is the electoral system. Next it will be a billion plus people who will be blamed for helplessly watching on the sordid drama of staggering corruption in public life.

( >blfeedback@thehindu.co.in and >rasheeda@thehindu.co.in )

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