Cancellation of VVIP chopper deal proves govts guilt

Photo: VVI P chopper deal

The decision to cancel the Rs 3,456- crore VVIP chopper deal is clearly dictated by the Congress
Partys need to present a clean front. Unfortunately, it is a case of too little, too late. For, the bulk
of the money has already been paid. Three choppers have already been delivered. Now
cancellation of this deal proves Central Governments guilt.
Indeed, cancellation is the ploy of the weak and vulnerable. Had the ruling party been convinced
of its own innocence in the matter, it would have not only insisted on getting the ordered
choppers but on getting the names of the bribe-takers also so that it could prosecute them here in
India and extract the bribe amounts from them.
Above all, the procurement of choppers for the use of the VVIPs was need-based. Cancelling the
deal would mean that the President, Prime Minister and other high-ranking dignitaries would
have to rely on the old, slow and often troublesome choppers. The government should have
insisted on the refund of the huge amount paid in bribes to Indians to procure the order, but not
to cancel the delivery of the remaining nine choppers.
The panic decision to cancel the deal outright is not wise. For, not only does it stand to forgo a
substantial part of the money already paid, but it would have to go without modern and fully-
equipped choppers. But a government neck-deep in corruption seemed to be unconcerned about
the loss of taxpayers money. Cancellation of the deal in effect would mean that neither
AugustaWestland, nor the Indian bribe-takers would feel under any pressure to return the money
they had been paid directly or indirectly by the Indian Government.
In the earlier defence deals in which bribes had been taken, for example, the Bofors guns and the
HDW submarines, the government had threatened to cancel the deal but stopped short of doing
so. In fact, when it threatened to cancel the Bofors deal, the top executives of the Swedish
gunmakers landed in India to name the bribe-takers and it was the Rajiv Gandhi Government
which had shunned them. It was because the highest in the government already knew who the
real bribe-takers were. In the AugustaWestland deal, though the Indian media has been amiss in
not following the story more diligently, reports from Italy suggest that the documents filed in the
ongoing trial of the company executives have yielded some tantalising information.
Cong has no plans to recover from rout
Photo: Sonia Gandhi Manmohan Singh
The Congress leadership with Sonia Gandhi as party president and Manmohan Singh as head of
government has fallen apart. The induction of Rahul Gandhi as vice-president has not been of
much help with the Congress getting routed in the assembly polls. The Congress has no plans in
place to recover from the rout. Rahul Gandhi claiming that they have plenty to learn from the
Aam Admi Party (AAP) only proves the point.
Their biggest shortcoming is lack of communication skills, which the AAP definitely has in
plenty. On the other hand the party is also adopting devious means to stop BJP from coming to
power. In the midst of all this the party has forgotten to address the core issue of corruption.
Congress desires to stop anointment of Modi as prime minister following 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
But this could come at great cost to the party as has happened in Delhi assembly polls political
catastrophe. The Congress and its allies, didnt show sensitivity to the genuine frustration of the
people with rampant corruption, unbearable inflation and feudalistic arrogance of the
representatives of the people.
Meanwhile, The AAP took advantage of the situation. However, the blame for the rise of the
AAP has also to be shared by the BJP leadership in equal terms. It was only towards the end of
campaign, with defeat looming large for fourth time in a row that the BJP decided to declare its
chief ministerial candidate in Harshvardhan. The problem with the BJP is that it considers itself
as the natural harvester of disaffection against the Congress. The AAP in Delhi exploited this
mistaken conception to their advantage. The AAPs volunteers reached out commendably and
were seen as selfless, not self-serving. The BJP has to watch against this shortcoming in its
organisation.