Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Agusta Westland Chopper SCAM: Chopper scam foils Cong bid to shed ‘corrupt’ tag


Party Worried As Charges Coincide With Rahul’s RIse
New Delhi: The VVIP helicopter scam threatens to undo the Congress’s efforts to turn the public gaze away from a string of scandals marring UPA’s second term in office by a renewed focus on governance and leadership ahead of the 2014 elections.

Worry lines were back in evidence with allegations of kickbacks from an Italian firm snowballing and the Congress defending the government by relying on defence minister A K Antony’s “Mr Clean” image and the promptness with which a CBI inquiry has been ordered close on the heels of the arrests in Italy.

The Congress’s reactions, betraying a gnawing worry that the scam could be a setback to the sense of purpose generated by the party’s brainstorming at Jaipur last month that saw Rahul Gandhi take charge as vice-president with another sapping corruption debate looming ahead of Parliament’s Budget session.

The sustained civil society and the Opposition campaign on corruption exposes had paralyzed the Manmohan Singh government and extracted a heavy political cost. It is only recently that the PMO has made concerted efforts to break the debilitating policy logjam by resolving inter ministerial battles over clearances and mandates.

Post-Jaipur, there was a bid to junk the “old ways” of denial and inaction with the Congress left with little more than a year to win back voters who might be turning against the party. The ‘Jaipur chintan’ crystallized the agenda to turn the page.

Now, the concern is that the energizing effect of Rahul’s elevation may again lose momentum as the Centre gets ready for another slugfest with the Opposition.

The graft allegation can shadow the decisiveness the government is looking to project in the context of the recent hanging of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru that was a bid to strip rival BJP of an issue. Insiders fear the chopper row can mar the approaching Parliament session, making it more difficult for finance minister P Chidambaram to lift the gloom with a Budget that was expected to counter the blues.

Things had looked like falling in place for Congress after it successfully blunted saffron aggression on corruption following exposes on BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s shady business deals. With news coverage moving from scams to saffron bickering, Congress seized the opportunity by effecting a generational change and outlining its future agenda in Jaipur.

In sorry contrast, the Congress on Wednesday appeared to be in firefighting mode again. Party spokesman P C Chacko accused the BJP of resurrecting the corruption bogey to disrupt Parliament despite the Centre having swung into action a year ago when reports of irregularities first surfaced.

“The BJP has nothing in its agenda to oppose the government. So, it is creating the smokescreen of corruption in the helicopter deal (that was initiated by the NDA),” he said, adding, “We want to pin down the BJP propaganda on corruption. So we ordered the CBI inquiry.”

That graft could be a spanner in the works for a larger ‘secular’ consolidation over the BJP’s newfound love for Hindutva in the context of charges of “saffron terror” leveled by home minister Sushilkumar Shinde. The Left bloc launched a strong attack on UPA and demanded the chopper deal be put on hold — areversal of fortunes after Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday threatened to throw the “communists” out of India during the Tripura poll campaign.

That helicopter allegations have followed the leaked telephonic conversation alleging collusion between the public prosecutor and a top corporate accused in the 2G scam, compounding the Congress woes on graft front.
COURTESY:
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOIM/2013/02/14&PageLabel=13&EntityId=Ar01300&ViewMode=HTML

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