T N Ninan: Convenient 'truth-telling'

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi talked of a "Jayanthi tax". He was taken to be referring to Jayanthi Natarajan, the environment minister in the Manmohan Singh government, and the implication was obvious: a "tax" had to be paid for getting her green signal for projects. Ms Natarajan protested, but did not sue; indeed, her own party dropped her from the Cabinet. More recently, while campaigning ahead of the Maharashtra assembly elections, Mr Modi talked of a "Naturally Corrupt Party", taken by many to be a reference to the NCP or the Nationalist Congress Party in the state. The party has not sued either. Indeed, TV commentators while discussing why the NCP offered unconditional support to a Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state have said quite openly that the party wants to ward off inquiries into scams involving NCP ministers in the previous government. Has Mr Modi ventured to give voice to common perceptions, and in the process done some truth-telling?

Prithviraj Chavan has done his own truth-telling - about his predecessors who, according to what was reported, should have gone to jail if Mr Chavan had acted correctly. Mr Chavan certainly tried to clean up the state administration - sometimes with success, as with the building-permission racket in Mumbai. But the general impression is that the clean-up act was like tackling the Augean stables; unlike Hercules, Mr Chavan was not equal to the task. For instance, it was during Mr Chavan's chief ministership that a state economic survey made the headline-hitting charge there had been no increase in the state's irrigation capacity despite expenditure of Rs 70,000 crore. That pointed at the deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar of the NCP. Later, the government issued a white paper that controverted the survey. Also, Mr Chavan has taken refuge in the familiar escape route, of saying he was misquoted. But like Mr Modi, is Mr Chavan trying to tell it like it is? Ditto with Arun Jaitley, who has ostensibly ducked but given away quite a bit with his response to a question on whether a United Progressive Alliance heavyweight had a secret bank account in Liechtenstein.

The problem is that the man in the street knows the facts, but the political parade rolls on as though the emperors are fully clothed. All of Tamil Nadu knew what was going on in terms of land grab and cash accumulation during Ms Jayalalithaa's first term in office, two decades ago - that is why she got voted out. That she also got caught on criminal charges is more a reflection of her inexperience in dealing with cash (sending messengers every day from her home to the bank with wads of notes to be deposited in chosen accounts, and thereby leaving a tell-tale trail). Many of India's politicians have a record now of getting surprisingly rich surprisingly fast, but few if any leave such obvious cash trails.

So why don't more allegations get properly investigated? The answer has come through disclosures of how directors of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) consort with the accused in high-profile cases. If people are being brought to account, regardless, it is because of the interest that courts now take in prosecutorial matters. Take this away and politicians will once again feel immune to the law. Remember that there is as yet no chief information officer (under the Right to Information law), no regular chief vigilance commissioner - and no lok pal. For all practical purposes, there is also no CBI director. Seventeen months after Vinod Rai stepped down, we wouldn't know that a new comptroller and auditor general is in place. Truth-telling at election time is fine, but how about putting systemic checks in place?