As the electoral bonds case was taken up for hearing, the nation was distracted by the treatment meted out to Ms.Mahua Moitra by the Ethics Committee, whose chairman stooped to a new level of questioning Ms. Moitra on her personal life and past relationships just to stop her from raising genuine and serious issues affecting the nation on the Adani-Modi nexus. I remember mentioning Adani’s influence on Mr.Modi to my father a few years ago, somewhere around the time when there was an explosion close to Antilla, the residence of Mr.Mukesh Ambani.
Ms.Moitra must have realised now that politics in India is a difficult terrain to navigate and that she will require all the strength to face this challenge and come out unscathed. It is only becoming more and more obvious that mediocrity is more acceptable in politics. A woman like Ms.Moitra, who exhibits courage and gumption to take on powerful adversaries who she believes are a threat to national security, is targeted by misogynists and mediocre stooges with no calibre. These are new methods to shut down a woman who is not just intelligent but also articulate. Ms.Moitra must remember that people like Mayawati have been elected to be the Chief Minister of a state, and a close associate of Madam Jayalalitha feels confident enough to plunge into politics and not many voters in India understand the difference between voting for good educated candidates and voting for the party based on its symbol alone. This system can be improved only if the right to vote is awarded to those who have completed high school as a minimum qualification, a condition that can be fulfilled if people in remote villages and tribal areas demand access to schools and basic education.
I am particularly happy that Mr.Rahul Gandhi has used his time to work his way up by interacting with people at the grass-roots level and has gained first-hand knowledge of the state of the nation. He is a clean and well-meaning politician, and I hope this electorate gives him a chance to prove his authentic political legacy and merit and bring this nation out of the rut that it has gotten into unwittingly over the last decade. As an article in Hindustan Times commented that Rahul Gandhi does not have the body language to become a Prime Minister, it is my personal opinion that we do not need a chest thumping Tarzan, we need someone who has watched two assassinations in his family and yet has courageously chosen to spend his time working for the nation.
What about allegations of “cash for votes” paid to uneducated, illiterate, and gullible voters living in low-income housing and makeshift homes? Is it true? Where do political parties get their money to pay the bribes? The data that the Apex Court has asked for only refers to how much each party has received but does not seek to disclose to the public who donated how much and to which party. It is a flawed approach serving no purpose, and I believe this matter was taken up now only because India is getting ready for general elections next year and electoral bonds may have been encashed and the hearing could be just a formality to reset the system before the introduction of electoral bonds.