Thursdays clashes between Congress workers and the police outside the Orissa Assembly have yet again brought the limelight on a man who has been reviled by public at large for his various acts of omissions and commissions but in whom the Congress leadership seems to have immense faith Jagdish Tytler.
While it was ironical that the Congress was protesting against the Naveen Patnaik governments alleged involvement in mines and coal scams,an issue that has bedevilled the UPA regime,a bigger irony was the fact that protesters were led by Tytler who himself is under CBI scanner for his alleged links with arms dealer Abhishek Verma. Incidentally,another protagonist of the show,state Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik,had to resign from the JB Patnaik Cabinet in 1986 after the Orissa High Court described him as a habitual bribe-giver in a case relating to a mine he owns. These remarks were expunged later under Supreme Court directions. And these are the leaders the Congress is banking on to dislodge a well-entrenched Naveen Patnaik!
Tytlers case throws up many questions. Why is it that the Congress cannot dispense with a leader with a not-so-glorious past? There is nothing to write home about his administrative or organisational skills,nor does he have the mass base. If it is loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family,how was it earned? While there are no answers forthcoming,you can bank on the Congress to keep on sermonising about probity and propriety in public life.
dk.singh@expressindia.com
