Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
cian to further their own separate business and other interests, cashing in on perceptions of
their apparent proximity to power by taking favours and peddling their apparent (but not
always real) ability to influence decisions, with or without the politician's knowledge. For
example, it is not clear how much Priyanka and the other Gandhis knew or were linked to
Vadra's deals. Their scarcely credible response was that, since he had been a businessman
before his marriage, he was legitimately pursuing his career.
Such cases rarely stay in the headlines for long because leaders of the main political
parties, usually follow a code that they do not attack each others' top leaders and their
both the leading parties, though the BJP did attack the Gandhis over the Vadra allega-
tions. 'There are ethics in politics. Never attack family. The Congress never attacked Atal
Bihari Vajpayee's son-in-law Ranjan Bhattacharya … Have we ever said a word against
them? They have a private life of their own,' said Digvijaya Singh, a seasoned politician
and general secretary of the Congress, after Arvind Kejriwal publicized Vadra's business
mouth about Ranjan Bhattacharya,' he added. Bhattacharya, a popular figure on Delhi's in-
ner political social circuit, is married to the daughter of a close woman friend of Atal Bihari
Vajpayee, the former BJP prime minister, and is recognized as Vajpayee's foster son-in-
from working as a hotel manager to an owner of hotels and other real estate between 1998
and 2004 when the BJP was in power.
Jail, Bail and Lucrative Jobs
Politicians have rarely been jailed. In the rare instance it has happened, like in the Lalu Ya-
dav case, the politicians involved have usually, like him, been freed on bail. The Sukh Ram
telecom case dating from the early 1990s illustrates how India's colossally slow legal sys-
tem and its seemingly endless avenues for appeals delays judgements for many years. This
was one of the first examples of major graft linked to the allocation of natural resources in
'circles' became highly controversial because of the tender terms and quotations, notably
bids made by Himachal Futuristic Communications (HFCL), a company that had links with
Sukh Ram, the telecommunications minister, and was based in his home state of Himach-
al Pradesh. Ram also had links through another company with the son of the then prime
minister, Narasimha Rao, whose political base was in the Andhra Pradesh state capital of
Hyderabad. Money totalling Rs 3.6 crore was found concealed in bags and suitcases when
Sukh Ram's residence was raided in August 1996. He was eventually convicted in 2002 on
a 1997 charge for various degrees of involvement in the award of two telecom contracts. In
