After weeks of silence on the 2G scam, during which he once again let the policy go adrift and kept the country in the dark, the Prime Minister has spoken:
“I wish to state categorically that I have nothing to hide from the public at large and as a proof of my bona fides, I intend to write to chairman of the PAC that I shall be happy to appear before the PAC if it chooses to ask me to do so. I sincerely believe that like Caesar’s wife, the Prime Minister should be above suspicion.”
Obviously Dr. Singh had to invoke Caesar’s wife and not Rama’s wife Sita, as Lord Ram belongs to staunch-rivals, the BJP. Far from being a masterstroke (as the Congress inner circle believes), the statement further confirms the public’s long-confirmed suspicion that the thugs behind the scam will be free:
a) By focusing the attention on himself, the PM appears to deflect the spotlight from A Raja and the DMK
b) By categorically denying the opposition’s demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee, the PM has paved the way for a further deadlock of the parliament.
The second bullet point worries me. The parliament’s next session in the budget session, and it would be interesting if the Government can get the finance bill through. The CAG report on the CWG fiasco is also expected by then, and the opposition is sure to step up the pressure for the JPC. Something has to give in – the Prime Minister might simply snap and resign, and the country must brace itself for a shock mid-term poll.
As an aside, it is interesting to see how participants of a social institution work in tandem to destroy its credibility. The repeated stalling of the business of the house serves no one’s interest, save the parliamentarians: the allowances and the goodies keep on coming, without any accountability. The only parallel I could think of was sportspeople fixing matches and breaking apart the sanctity of the sport – if you are a Pakistani cricketer, there’s a fat chance you’d be prosecuted for your crimes.
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