Cancellation of VVIP chopper deal proves govt’s guilt

Photo: VVIP chopper deal

The decision to cancel the Rs 3,456- crore VVIP chopper deal is clearly dictated by the Congress

Party’s need to present a clean front. Unfortunately, it is a case of too little, too late. For, the bulk

of the money has already been paid. Three choppers have already been delivered. Now

cancellation of this deal proves Central Government’s guilt.

Indeed, cancellation is the ploy of the weak and vulnerable. Had the ruling party been convinced

of its own innocence in the matter, it would have not only insisted on getting the ordered

choppers but on getting the names of the bribe-takers also so that it could prosecute them here in

India and extract the bribe amounts from them.

Above all, the procurement of choppers for the use of the VVIPs was need-based. Cancelling the

deal would mean that the President, Prime Minister and other high-ranking dignitaries would

have to rely on the old, slow and often troublesome choppers. The government should have

insisted on the refund of the huge amount paid in bribes to Indians to procure the order, but not

to cancel the delivery of the remaining nine choppers.

The panic decision to cancel the deal outright is not wise. For, not only does it stand to forgo a

substantial part of the money already paid, but it would have to go without modern and fully-

equipped choppers. But a government neck-deep in corruption seemed to be unconcerned about

the loss of taxpayers’ money. Cancellation of the deal in effect would mean that neither

AugustaWestland, nor the Indian bribe-takers would feel under any pressure to return the money

they had been paid directly or indirectly by the Indian Government.

In the earlier defence deals in which bribes had been taken, for example, the Bofors guns and the

HDW submarines, the government had threatened to cancel the deal but stopped short of doing

so. In fact, when it threatened to cancel the Bofors deal, the top executives of the Swedish

gunmakers landed in India to name the bribe-takers and it was the Rajiv Gandhi Government

which had shunned them. It was because the highest in the government already knew who the

real bribe-takers were. In the AugustaWestland deal, though the Indian media has been amiss in

not following the story more diligently, reports from Italy suggest that the documents filed in the

ongoing trial of the company executives have yielded some tantalising information.

Cong has no plans to recover from rout

Photo: Sonia Gandhi Manmohan Singh

The Congress leadership with Sonia Gandhi as party president and Manmohan Singh as head of

government has fallen apart. The induction of Rahul Gandhi as vice-president has not been of

much help with the Congress getting routed in the assembly polls. The Congress has no plans in

place to recover from the rout. Rahul Gandhi claiming that they have plenty to learn from the

Aam Admi Party (AAP) only proves the point.

Their biggest shortcoming is lack of communication skills, which the AAP definitely has in

plenty. On the other hand the party is also adopting devious means to stop BJP from coming to

power. In the midst of all this the party has forgotten to address the core issue of corruption.

Congress desires to stop anointment of Modi as prime minister following 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

But this could come at great cost to the party as has happened in Delhi assembly polls – political

catastrophe. The Congress and its allies, didn’t show sensitivity to the genuine frustration of the

people with rampant corruption, unbearable inflation and feudalistic arrogance of the

representatives of the people.

Meanwhile, The AAP took advantage of the situation. However, the blame for the rise of the

AAP has also to be shared by the BJP leadership in equal terms. It was only towards the end of

campaign, with defeat looming large for fourth time in a row that the BJP decided to declare its

chief ministerial candidate in Harshvardhan. The problem with the BJP is that it considers itself

as the natural harvester of disaffection against the Congress. The AAP in Delhi exploited this

mistaken conception to their advantage. The AAP’s volunteers reached out commendably and

were seen as selfless, not self-serving. The BJP has to watch against this shortcoming in its

organisation.