Here he comes again

The BJP is a victim of its own self-image, the latest instance of its difficulties being the induction of Sukh Ram into the Himachal Pradesh Cabinet and his son into the Rajya Sabha. The hypocrisy it forces on the BJP is probably more damaging for the party than if it were to admit outright that the compulsions of its slim mandate are such that, just as it is unable to implement its full agenda, it is unable to keep at arm8217;s length tainted but flourishing politicians. Of this, unfortunately, there are only too many. By inducting Sukh Ram into the new Himachal Cabinet 8212; after doing in the state what others tried to do to the BJP in UP 8212; the party seems finally to have overstepped the line between what is acceptable, even if only reluctantly, and what is clearly not. And yet the BJP Government at the Centre is able to say through the President8217;s address to the joint session of Parliament that it is intent upon addressing the decline in ethics in government. Really?

Long anxious to establish itself as theparty of principle, the BJP is being forced by the compulsions of power to perform contortions which make its attempts to take the high moral ground increasingly pitiful. The UP drama and Kalyan Singh8217;s notoriously large and infamous Cabinet that followed was one outstanding example. Then it was argued that UP was a one-time aberration by a party which was the victim of a Governor unmindful of constitutional propriety, after all. Sushma Swaraj went on prime-time TV after the elections to explain that whereas the other parties had been mixing flour in salt, the BJP was merely mixing salt into flour, which does not ruin the dish: the BJP8217;s minor accommodation of suspect characters did not detract from the party8217;s overall principled character. Next came the Jayalalitha drama, in which the BJP initially scored points for not giving in to her outrageous implicit demands, even at the cost of having to admit that the party was a long way from having a majority in Parliament. But this was promptly neutralised by theAIADMK man in the Law Ministry, Thambidurai, making his notorious statement about the corruption cases against Jayalalitha.

Up until now, many have been willing to give the BJP a long rope, partly because of an aura of martyrdom that it has successfully cultivated, partly because a genuinely weary electorate thirsts for stability. But Sukh Ram represents an extreme that even unusually forgiving voters may, and should, find difficult to stomach. It is worthwhile to refresh memories about his antecedents. This is the Minister who was found to have over Rs 3 crore lying about in his house as ordinary mortals would keep their loose change. On being summoned to face an investigation, his convenient heart condition gave a British seaside resort instant fame in India. Is it now churlish to wonder whether this severe heart condition will not interfere with his efficient functioning? Lest it is forgotten, this is the self-same Sukh Ram who figured prominently in the BJP8217;s white paper on corruption in the erstwhileCongress government. If the BJP plans to be no more a stickler for clean politics than any other party then it should stop pretending otherwise, or be prepared for punishment.