Tu tu, main main

The war of the lists is on in dead earnest. And it8217;s becoming a mite difficult to keep count. In its desperation to wriggle out of the ...

The war of the lists is on in dead earnest. And it8217;s becoming a mite difficult to keep count. In its desperation to wriggle out of the corner it finds itself in after the Pump Scam revelations, the BJP is threatening to pull out, when it is not actually pulling them out, lists to nail the Congress.

There was the list of Opposition heavyweights, mainly Congress leaders, along with the letters of recommendation they sent to Petroleum Minister Ram Naik for petrol pump allotments. That list was followed by another string of names, make that two, or is it already three? There8217;s the list of Congress-related beneficiaries from Karnataka and another one detailing Congress beneficiaries in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, BJP MPs have also embarked upon a signature campaign demanding the prime minister cancel all allotments since 1983 8212; an unsubtle ploy to rake up yet more dirt under the Congress carpet. So what must one make of this competitive mud-slinging?

As a strategy to blunt criticism and deflect it, as a diversionary ploy, the Congress Lists may come in handy to the BJP. Only in a limited sense and only in the short term, though. One, while all indications are the Congress was guilty of using the minister8217;s 8216;discretionary quota8217; to favour its own, the BJP clearly went a step further. Ram Naik set a 8216;system8217; in place and proceeded to manipulate it at his discretion.

Two, in the longer term, this attempt to duck behind Congress8217; guilt reeks of bad faith, and bad politics; it may even undo the goodwill the NDA government has reaped from the prime minister8217;s prompt cancellation of allotments in the wake of revelations of the scam.

For several years now, the nation has watched with growing dismay as crucial debates, inside Parliament and outside it, have degenerated into a slanging match between the Congress and BJP. On too many occasions, the BJP8217;s best defence has been 8212; but the Congress did it too and it did it first.

In this scenario, Atal Bihari Vajpayee8217;s decisive intervention came as the proverbial breath of fresh air. It signalled hope of a break from the stunted debates of the past. It promised there was systemic reform at the end of this particular tunnel. The ardour with which the BJP is presently digging out dirt on its rival may be an indication that, notwithstanding the prime ministerial gesture, things are depressingly back to usual.

Story continues below this ad

But there is a brighter side to this unholy drama yet. As political parties exhume the skeletons in each other8217;s backyard, a public cause is being served. The free-for-all may go some distance towards providing the people of this country the Freedom of Information that their legislators have refused to enshrine in the statute book so far. As the muck-raking goes on, therefore, just sit back and soak it in.