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In-Depth Information
upset Chidambaram's efforts to halt the slide in the country's economy. A few days earlier,
she had launched the Bill as part of the Congress party's platform for imminent assembly
elections in the state of Delhi (which the Congress lost badly). She chose to do this on the
birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi, who however might not have approved because he be-
lieved in constructive economic growth policies, not well-meaning but wasteful handouts.
(Sonia Gandhi's ill health was also evident on the day she introduced the Bill in the Lok
Sabha because she had to leave parliament and be taken to hospital for tests before the le-
gislation was voted on and passed.)
Rahul Gandhi Wakes Up
Rahul Gandhi's impatience with old-style politics was best demonstrated a few weeks later
when he burst unexpectedly into a Congress party press conference in Delhi and denounced
a government plan to pass legalisation that would have nullified a Supreme Court order is-
ary ordinance, pending permanent legislation, so that Lalu Yadav, the regional leader from
Bihar, could stay in parliament while he appealed conviction and an imminent sentence on
a massive fraud case dating from the 1990s. Gandhi described the ordinance as 'complete
nonsense' and declared that it should 'be torn up and thrown out' - which it was, a few
days later, when the cabinet reversed its decision to introduce the measure. Sonia Gandhi
was clearly not pleased with her son's political guerrilla warfare, and Rahul said she had
told him 'that the words that I used were strong'. With hindsight, he added, he felt 'maybe
my words were wrong but the sentiment I felt was not wrong'.
The most significant remark that Rahul made when he invaded the press conference was
that 'if we want to fight corruption in this country, whether it's us the Congress party, or the
BJP, we cannot continue making these small compromises because, when we make these
small compromises, we compromise everything'. In other words, he considered his mother,
her advisers and the cabinet had gone too far with such compromises when they decided to
protect Yadav by introducing the ordinance quickly, before his jail sentence was announced
a few days later.
For decades, maintenance of political power has provided an excuse and a cover for the
gradual criminalization of governance. Gandhi seemed to understand that this had crippled
the power of institutions and wanted to change course. It was an implicit criticism of both
Manmohan Singh and his mother, who had presided over a highly corrupt government and
party and had made 'small compromises' such as keeping corrupt politicians in the cabinet
so that their parties would continue to support the coalition government.
