Oct 10, 2012

Pocket Money [285/365]

So we all saw how a grandiose plan to bring an end to corruption in the time-honored tradition of non-violence and non-cooperation degraded to Team Anna breaking up. 

Kejriwal announced that he would launch his own party and released a teaser of his party's manifesto.
The politicians guffawed at how a simpleton like Kejriwal would take on the combined riches of the BJP and Congress. All hell broke loose when he starting spewing venom against the high and mighty. Caught first in the cross-hairs, was Robert Vadra; son-in-law of the (Sonia) Gandhi family and 'an ordinary businessman'.

The allegations were serious enough to cause concern. One of India's largest real-estate companies DLF had apparently given a massive sum as an 'unsecured loan' to Vadra, who in turn purchased properties that were undervalued at less than 10% of what they cost in the market.
50 crores is barely loose change and is a shamefully small amount when compared to the billions of rupees that the members of the UPA government have siphoned off.
Vadra, who enjoys VVIP treatment in Indian airports, was naturally indignant. He claimed innocence and transparency. Madam would've clucked her tongue and uttered an Italian curse and every single cabinet minister ran to his aid. The speed at which the government responded to allegations against one of its citizens was admirable.

Some questions here:
  • Why rush to defend a man who claims to be just another honest businessman?
  • Would audited books of accounts that are in public domain lie? 
  • How can DLF and Vadra explain why the loans were unsecured were given and why the properties were not accounted for in the books until 3 years later?
  • Is what DLF did an acceptable standard practice?
We may never know the bitter truth here either, but the reality is Kejriwal has set the cat amongst the pigeons. He has opened a can of worms and it sure isn't going to be smelling likes roses for a while.
That said, I doubt if Kejriwal can claim to be a saint himself. He has battled charges of misusing funds in the recent past but ofcourse being the media's darling, you'll not find any dirt on him even if you trawl google. But then we can overlook minor infractions like this and seeing how he has taken the political path to clean up a really messy situation I don't know if coming into the ring spitting and slinging mud was the best way forward. 

Ideally, the activist turned politician should have build a water tight no-nonsense manifesto before engaging in a sludge-match. He did have the aces but when you are taking on the most powerful son-in-law in the country, you are playing with nukes. Nonetheless, there could be a method to the madness, and the Haryanvi is surely playing to the youth who have begun to see him as a role model and a 'guy like us'.

In Round 1 of Mr manicured Armani tux vs rest of India, the mangoes and bananas got much unwanted attention.
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