| Published on 23-07-2008 In General |
| Viewed 1492 times |
| Is this an Honourable victory for Dr.Manmohan Singh? |
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Written by
Girish Nikam |
Is the victory of the UPA Government in the Confidence vote an honourable victory? This question will remain always just like P.V.Narasimha Rao's victory in 1993, when he had won the confidence vote.
In 1993, there were only whispers about votes having been bought. There were no TV channels to conduct a sting operation then. 2008 however was different. Even as the Congress and the other UPA allies celebrate their victory, a CD of the sting operation conducted by the CNN-IBN, which lies in the safe custody of Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, when it is revealed may just be a cause for much regret, if not shame for the UPA.
Rajdeep Sardesai, considered one of the best TV journalists in the country, and Managing Editor of CNN-IBN has set a new standard in TV journalism, by resisting the temptation of telecasting the sting operation. His and his channel's decision to hand over the tapes instead to the Speaker was taken apparently despite tremendous pressure to telecast it.
The sordid though not so shocking episode, considering that every one was aware that horse trading was going on, is certainly going to echo for quite some time to come.
Though several questions of propriety and even legalities may have been raised about the BJP MPs displaying wads of currency notes on the floor of the House, after apparently having been paid off allegedly by Samajawadi Party leader Amar Singh in league with Congress leader, Ahmed Patel, fact is any other party also would have been tempted to do it.
The more important question which now needs a serious attention is to get to the bottom of the allegations made by the BJP MPs and to pin down the culprits. If as the UPA leaders allege, it was a frame up, then the BJP leadership would find itself in deep trouble. However, before jumping to such a conclusion one needs to ask whether a respectable and professional TV Channel like the CNN-IBN, which has never been seen by the BJP as its friend, would collaborate in such a "frame up".
Whether it is the accused Samajawadi Party leader Amar Singh or Railway Minister Lalu Yadav both of whom have dismissed this scandal as a "cooked up story", their defence can also not be taken on face value, just like that of the BJP MPs who are making the allegations.
The onus is therefore now on the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who finds himself a target of his own party, CPI(M), to decide quickly on a mechanism to conduct an impartial enquiry and come out with the findings in the quickest possible time.
He also needs to look into the allegations made earlier in the day by the BSP members about a CBI officer trying to influence their decision to vote, in favour of the Government.
Any delay in conducting these enquiries will have a long lasting adverse impact not only on the MPs but on the entire system of parliamentary democracy. Chatterjee has shown remarkable guts in upholding the values and dignity of the Parliament, by taking the harshest action of expelling the MPs involved in cash for query scam. And now he will have to show equal determination to find out the truth in this Confidence vote scam.
Meanwhile, it is also a test for good journalism, especially in the light of some dubious sting operations which has harmed the image of the TV news channels. Of course, Sardesai made it clear that they had not yet "completed the story", when the BJP MPs decided to reveal about it, on the floor of the House. In fact it was Leader of the Opposition, L.K.Advani who revealed to the media that a "very prominent news channel" was involved in the operation. That is what forced Sardesai to come out in the open and own the story, and also decided to hand over the tapes to the Speaker. It is to be seen now, how "incomplete" the story was. One of the key questions which remains are, whether Sardesai's reporters, two of them were involved, has managed to catch the accused on camera and how much conclusive evidence the tapes contain.
That will determine how "honourable" was this confidence which Prime Minister Dr.Manmohan Singh was bestowed with in the Lok Sabha. Either way this will go down as the most "dishonourable" confidence vote taken by any Prime Minister in independent India's Parliamentary history, simply because of the behaviour of the MPs, and more importantly the Prime Minister was not allowed to even reply to the debate. The BJP in particular has a lot to answer too for being responsible for the sad state of affairs witnessed in the House.
The bigger question now is, whether Manmohan Singh has really acquired the legitimacy to go ahead with the nuclear deal, by winning such a confidence vote. |
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