Corruption is not new in India. Politicians who control the funds consider corruption as their birthright. Raising the bogey of corruption has been a constant endeavour in the press these days. Then what happens? Half-hearted investigations are done, a few names are bandied around and the powerful people buy their peace. How? Because Indian politics is according to columnist Minhaz Merchant collusive, where the ruling party and opposition, though they may be foes in parliament, collude when serious charges of corruption are raised against the political class.
Crusader for stopping corruption Arvind Kejriwal came out in public with allegations of corruption against the president of the main rightist opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The president is a gentleman by the name of Nitin Gadkari, a man with staunch Hindu credentials. He has been accused by Kejriwal of running a ring of companies registered in fictitious addresses. And who are the directors of his companies? One is his driver, another is his accountant, and many others. A ring of companies known as Purthi Group owns several other companies into which funds have been invested, the source of which is not known.
What is shocking and disturbing about the revelation is that Gadkari, a senior member of the opposition party, is in collusion with another party which is a part of the governing coalition. That would mean that both government and opposition are colluding on bleeding the country’s money and resources. More developments will come as the press unearths more murky dealings. Till then one can only wait and watch.