Tale of two Prime Ministers: Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not hold any press conferences during his ten-year rule. He hardly sat with opposition leaders to ponder vital issues. His attendance in parliament was minimal. All these things were construed as an expression of arrogance. No. It was not. How can a prime minister be open to people who have so many things to hide? Electoral bond details have indicated what he was really hiding from the nation

The damage to the polity caused by the electronic bond scam is yet to be estimated. As of now, we only know of a definite quid pro quo between the ruling party and the corporates. To what extent vital concerns such as health, national security, and common welfare were abandoned in order to extract money is yet unknown. We can compare the institutionalization of extortion through investigating agencies with that of an organized racket. The only difference is the former’s legal nature. We can only wonder how a democratic government could resort to such methods! They need some elaboration. Investigating agencies would identify the clients, raid them, put them in jail, and extort money to let them come out of prison.

An interesting diversification in the functioning of the same agencies that were running the extortion racket under the Electronic Bond scheme were raiding and nabbing leaders from opposition parties. These actions had the clear motive of strengthening the ruling BJP. The benefits were not monetary but political. MPs and MLAs were forced to shift loyalties. Many states witnessed the change of governments. Agencies overtly engineered defections. The stories of Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar have similar story lines. There are many others.

However, the twin tasks of coercing business people to donate and forcing leaders to join the ruling party had the same objective of creating an authoritarian state. The change of the administrative apparatus into a coercing instrument of the ruling party required an overhaul of the administrative apparatus to make it function like a gang. Though the term is harsh, it exactly describes its functions in Modi’s regime. Have a look at the modus operandi in the liquor policy case. One of the liquor manufacturers is arrested. Initially, he denies any quid pro quo with Arvind Kejriwal and tries to solicit favors by purchasing electoral bonds and donating huge amounts of money to the BJP. He gets some favor such as bail, etc. But he has to do something more. He becomes an approver and testifies against Kejriwal and his associates. After his testimony, Kejriwal, a sitting chief minister, is arrested. Is anything in it different from a mafia operation? Only protection money does not ensure his freedom; he has to politically kill a chief minister as well!

The whole process of electronic bonds had been designed to circumvent the rights of voters and run an extortion racket. It disproportionately empowered the ruling party and made opposition parties weak in terms of finances. It destroyed the level playing field in elections. But all these things were being done through investigating agencies. Overnight, a constitutional apparatus was transformed into an unconstitutional apparatus! The judiciary does not seem to have any clue as to how agencies are reverted to their previous status.

The concentration of money power in the hands of the ruling party hugely affects elections and, consequently, the nature of polity. However, it alone cannot choke the democracy. We have examples of how money power could not defeat the power of the people to elect representatives of their choice. The classical example is 1977’s victory for the Janata Party. There are also examples of penniless candidates defeating wealthy and powerful opponents. A complete destruction of democracy required control over election machinery as well.

It must also be noted that electoral bonds were much more than an ordinary money-collecting device. In fact, it was performing the role of currency in a parallel power system. The currency could purchase all the things, including government contracts, policy changes, etc., that were unavailable to the beneficiary in a functioning democracy.

Could this sort of institutionalization of corruption work in isolation? It does require a distorted governance model to avoid all kinds of accountability imposed by the constitution. It also has to throw democratic norms into the air. It requires the destruction of every institution that ensures accountability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not hold any press conferences during his ten-year rule. He hardly sat with opposition leaders to ponder vital issues. His attendance in parliament was minimal. All these things were construed as an expression of arrogance. No. It was not. How can a prime minister be open to people who have so many things to hide? Electoral bond details have indicated what he was really hiding from the nation.

The collapse of institutions has been part of discourse for quite some time. However, it lacked proper understanding. People took the simplistic view that the ruling BJP and its mentor, the RSS, have been capturing bureaucratic institutions one by one. Now, there is a clear picture. The Enforcement Directorate takes orders from the top to arrest people. It can put them in jail for any period of time, thanks to the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The prevention of money laundering is such a sacred job that any fundamental right could be put on hold. Ironically, this sacred duty is performed by an ED officer who might join the BJP to become an MLA. Former deputy director Rajeshwar Singh is an example. He left the job while the assembly elections were going on in Uttar Pradesh and contested to win a seat in Lucknow. While in service, he was involved in raids on opposition leaders.

Collapse of institutions is interlinked. Look at the SBI. It was doing the role of a cash counter in an extortion racket. The bank tried hard to withhold details of electronic bonds until the Lok Sabha elections were over. It only shows that no institution could withstand political pressure. Should we not appalaud former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for upholding the sanctity of institutions? He got his ministers investigated and even sent them to jail. In his regime, we did not find agencies running after opposition leaders. Was it not spectacular?

(The author is a senior journalist. He has experience of working with leading newspapers and electronic media including Deccan Herald, Sunday Guardian, Navbharat Times and Dainik Bhaskar. He writes on politics, society, environment and economy.)