Break this ‘bond’ of corruption

The nexus between the donation and contracts awarded has certainly eroded trust and weakened the democratic process, exacerbated the inequality as it eliminated the level playing field and majorly benefited (to the extent of more than 90%) the BJP. The impact of crisis that it has brought in will continue to be felt

Corruption has many manifestations. Transparency International defines corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis, says the global movement working in over 100 countries. The organisation which focuses on issues with the greatest impact on people’s lives and holds the powerful to account for the common good, brings out a Corruption Perception English (CPI). India ranked 93 in 2023 and shares the shame with Maldives and Kazakhstan. It may slip down further with the Electoral Bond Scheme.

As details of the unconstitutional electoral bond scheme are emerging, it is increasingly becoming clear that it is nothing but an outright corruption. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the bond had all aspects of pre-paid, post-paid and post-raid payments to the BJP. The BJP, starting from Home Minister Amit Shah down to Sambit Patra sought to throw the ball back in Congress court saying the grand old party got proportionately more money than the ruling dispensation. Their maths is based on the fact that the Congress had fewer MPs than the BJP. Moreover, for the BJP everything is fair in polit(r)icks, as we have been observing for over a decade now.

Irrespective of political leanings, one must (yes, must) admit that the EBS has broken all records of corruption with the BJP leaders trying to defend their Bonds with lies, damn lies and concocted statistics.

I attempted to analyse this bond among the various constituents of the EBS wholesale scam by comparing it with chemical bonds. According to the Geeks for Geeks learning platform, “Chemical bonding is the attractive force that holds various constituents (atoms, ions, etc.) together and stabilizes them through the overall loss of energy. As a result, chemical compounds are dependent on the strength of the chemical bonds between their constituents; the stronger the bonding between the constituents, the more stable the resulting compound.

So, the Electoral Bonding can be described as the attractive force that holds various constituents (the company, the government agency, and the BJP) together and stabilizes them through the overall loss to democracy. (As a result, the parties concerned are dependent on the strength of the monetary bonds among their constituents; the stronger the bonding between the constituents, the more stable the resulting benefits).

I said the scam is wholesale because it is not just not limited to the giver and taker. It involved your money and my money – the honest tax payers’ money. Bribes in a different form.

And going back to the Transparency International, this Bond has eroded trust, weakened democracy, hampered economic development, and further exacerbated inequality, poverty, social division, and the environmental crisis.(Environmental? Remember the Silkyara tunnel crash?)

The nexus between the donation and contracts awarded has certainly eroded trust and weakened the democratic process, exacerbated the inequality as it eliminated the level playing field and majorly benefited (to the extent of more than 90 per cent) the BJP. The impact of crisis that it has brought in will continue to be felt. The Substandard drug scam and the related pharma company donations is just an example.

As YouTuber Akash Banerjee says, it is not merely about Aayega Toh Modi or Jaayega Toh….or Ab Ki Baar Char Sou Paar sloganeering. The larger question is about the basic tenets of democracy.

The past ten years have not been exactly exemplary for democracy in India. The muscle and money power has led to nearly one-party rule and decimation of the opposition with the ruling BJP trying all methods – Saam, Daan Dand and Bhed with its target for Congress-Mukt, and later Opposition Mukt, Bharat.

We have witnessed the government agencies targeting mainly the non-BJP politicians and business houses which do not support BJP. Once the ED/CBI/Income Tax comes into the picture, the opposition are forced to join the BJP to escape the cases. Look at the classic case of Maharashtra politician Chagan Bhujbal whom the ED targeted. Then he joined the BJP alliance and the ED had the cheek to inform the court that Bhujbal’s case file was itself missing!

Ajit Pawar’s is yet another classic case. None other than the Prime Minister had himself made serious allegations against the NCP leader’s alleged scams running into Rs 70,000 crores. BJP leader Devendra Mohan threatens to send Pawar to jail where the NCP leader would ChakkiPeesing, Peesing and Peesing. But there has been no word about the case against Pawar after he joined the BJP alliance. The BJP had serious charges against Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswas Sharma and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar. Both are in the BJP fold and their sins are forgotten. These kinds of cases are also nothing short of corruption.

Toppling elected governments by engineering defections is also a form of political corruption apart from being undemocratic.

Now let us turn to the election campaigning. That the BJP has been on an election more for 2024 right from 2019. Post Covid, it was the Amrit Kal and later the Viksit Bharat Yatra and G-20 with PM Modi leading the campaign. It was all the way Modi, Modi and none other than Modi kind of campaign. Then we had the Modi Guarantee messaging all across. All possible hoardings along the roads and at fuel stations have been plastered with only Modi’s pictures and his promises and guarantees and have been occupied by Modi. At each and every event that the PM attended, he himself spoke of the past 10 years and the coming 25 years or so holding the Viksit Bharat carrot. He made use of the entire official machinery and the government kept advertising even after the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force till, of course, the Election Commission stopped it. The MCC was announced on March 15 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi continued his campaign at a big media house event. Modi said Aaayega Toh…prompting the audience to respond: Modi. There was not even a murmur from any quarter, let alone the election commission. All hell would have broken loose had any non-BJP ruling party leader indulged in such an activity. Modi had even announced in the Lok Sabha that the BJP would cross 370-mark and NDA will win more than 400. But at the media event he said he has already set his eye on 2047!

This is where the nation has to ensure a strong opposition, not merely to stand against the BJP on a firm footing but to challenge any wrong that the ruling dispensation practices. And this is exactly why the opposition has to work collectively for the sake of democracy.

The way the major media houses are being silenced by the government is also nothing short of corruption. The submission by the media is also another form of corruption. I dare say this in the context of what Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar at a media house event - Fearless informed independent media is the safest assurance to nurturing democracy.

Dhankar also said: As the fourth pillar of democracy, media credibility lies solely within its own control. It should be effective and there ought to be no hindrance in its way while upholding high standards. Its smooth functioning is the collective responsibility shared by the media, government, and society. Media serves its cause best by being objective and not get involved in politics. It should take all care and precautions so as not to become a battleground for partisan politics.” Dhankar was right. But does his BJP or the government allow the media to function objectively? Or is it a case of more-loyal-than-the-king.

The vice president asked: How can we have in a vibrant robust democracy like ours that the media will give wings to any kind of misinformation it has to be neutralized? Then he went on to say - Informed public is the spinal strength of democracy. Misinformation can be ruinous. Media is a natural watchdog to contain and curb such freefall of misinformation and falsehood.

All these words are very pleasing to one’s ears. But if you view them in the context of Dhankar's predecessor Venkaiah Naidu said, you get a different feel altogether. Naidu had time and again spoken about sensationalism, irresponsible reporting and misinformation which the BJP is encouraging. At an AIR FM station event he expressed his concern over the tendency to exaggerate and sensationalise news and said that “it is tantamount to misinforming the public”. “At times, such misinformation can cause panic,” he said and added “be closer to the truth and stay away from sensation”.

Everybody talks of breaking the bond of corruption. Can the media not take the role and show the mirror to politicians of all hues instead of ignoring corruption by some and blowing it out of proportion by the others. There is a difference between self-proclaimed patriotism and partisan reporting.

(The columnist is a Mumbai-based author and independent media veteran, running websites and a youtube channel known for his thought-provoking messaging.)