The BJP’s list of Rajya Sabha nominees may go some way in explaining why New Delhi’s latest political storm has left so many so underwhelmed. In the past few days, the first session of the 14th Lok Sabha was rocked by the issue of the ‘‘tainted ministers’’. The BJP-led Opposition’s loud outrage over the inclusion of the chargesheeted trio of Laloo Prasad Yadav, Jai Prakash Yadav and Mohammed Taslimuddin in the United Progressive Alliance government led to the recording of an unpleasant first. For the first time in the annals of parliamentary history, the motion of thanks to the president’s address was adopted without a debate or the prime minister’s reply. Through it all, the best defence the UPA government could summon was this: the NDA government had chargesheeted ministers, too. In other words, the Congress charged the BJP with invoking conventions it had itself not followed. Now, by including Dilip Singh Judeo and Murli Manohar Joshi in its list of Rajya Sabha nominees, the BJP has just conceded another round to the Congress firefighters.The tragedy is just this. The issue of probity in public life has become a petty knockabout between the two parties. Every now and then, it takes political centrestage. The audience is assured of a furiously ticking scoreboard. A lot of sound and fury later, the respective shouting brigades on both sides take a well deserved break. The issue recedes till the next compelling photo-op provokes the next outing. In the present instance, even as the BJP promises to carry on with its campaign in the Budget session, it is safe to conclude that the issue will remain irresolute. If there should be any doubt, or hope, on that count, a look at Dilip Singh Judeo’s CV should be enough to stamp it out: the gentleman from Chhattisgarh, just rehabilitated on his party’s RS list, is the former minister of state for environment in the NDA government, who was forced to resign after he was caught accepting cash on camera. Only months ago, in November 2003, visuals of Judeo raising bundles of currency notes to his forehead accompanied by soundbites in which he compared money to God, played before a revolted nation.The debate on political corruption has been rendered sterile by the compromised positions of those who take up the cudgels on both sides. Time was, when a whiff of scandal would lead to a resignation from a ministerial post. Now, we must all debate and discuss the degrees of separation that lie between a ‘‘political’’ offence and a ‘‘criminal’’ one.
