By Swati Deb
NEW DELHI: The growing corporate-politician nexus has come to the fore once again in Indian politics. This time around players may be different but as in any game participation is important even though tempers could run wild and come out in the open defying true sportsmanship behavior.
The Samajwadi Party’s flamboyant leader Amar Singh pushing his corporate agenda – especially in favour of his bosom friend and business magnate Anil Ambani is probably just a tip of iceberg.
Amid the hectic maneuvering by the Opposition and the government to carry the day for them in the crucial trust motion on Juy 21-22, Singh's relentless tirade against Petroleum Minister Murli Deora is easily seen as helping his friend Anil in his feud with elder brother Mukesh.
Anil Ambani and Amar Singh is of the view that under the family settlement, RIL was supposed to supply gas at an agreed price of $1.65 to $2.25 mmbtu to RNRL and for Dadri power project. ADAG claims that under the same settlement, gas has to be supplied first to his company and only the surplus then can be supplied to a third party. RIL has contested this claim.
It’s a typical difficult tight rope walk for Congress as the party and a galaxy of its leaders are not only close but benefactors of Mukesh Ambani’s generosity and prior to that to his father Dhirubhai Ambani.
It’s worth mentioning that senior Ambani’s friendship with Rajiv Congress is also well known and many petrochemical projects for Reliance Industries owe their successful tale to that friendship.
The contribution of corporate sector could not be denied in the fast development of India. In the present the role of corporate sector is to increase trade and to make the industrial scenario pleasant and it is performing well.
Chairman of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani's calling on Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh has only confirmed the importance of their role. While, there's no ground to suggest that any nexus between politicians and corporate houses should smack of corruption, there is another side to the tale.
VP Singh's relation with Rajiv Gandhi would not have gone so sour if not Singh as Finance Minister had ordered raids and probes against the late Dhirubhai Ambani. It’s a different matter today that the business tycoon's sons – Mukesh and Anil are locked in a fierce politico-corporate battle. The nexus is neither new nor is an offence on the face value. But the politicians have been misusing their relations.
The extensive role given to government machineries for long in providing services from grocery ration to promoting economic development has left the opportunity for gross abuse of public resources for private benefit - both by the businessmen and those in government offices.
The decades of license raj only tightened the official grip over the system as business people were compelled to 'cultivate' their men in the corridors of power to move their files. And who else could have done that job better than the netas – more mercurial you are, more benefits you can reap.
Now Singh says, unlike the Left, Samajwadi Party will not make the Government’s life miserable. “The only issue on which we have very strong opposition is allowing FDI in retail. On the other hand, we are open to insurance and pension sector reforms,” says Singh giving a clear indication that things would move differently for corporate sectors as the left’s “financial ideology” will not hamper economic reforms process.
Importantly, Singh is not alone in the growing neta-corporate nexus that is adding grist to overwhelming political sordid details.
The corporate-politician nexus of course spans across the political spectrum. Many a politician has come to grief while willingly embracing the scourge. Nevertheless and sadly, the political parties do need these characters today as much as they did before.
The extensive role given to government machineries for long in providing services from grocery ration to promoting economic development has left the opportunity for gross abuse of public resources for private benefit - both by the businessmen and those in corridors of power. Either the license raj or the post economic reforms, the business people are somehow compelled to 'cultivate' their men in the corridors of power to move their files.
Netas could do that job better than anyone else – more mercurial you are, more benefits you can reap. The tribe that Amar Singhs belong would also include the likes of the Late Pramod Mahajan of BJP, K Subbirama Reddy, Murli Deora and a few others. This class of politicians is called money-spinner for their respective parties and their rise up the ladder comes easily.
The Late Mahajan, may his soul rest in peace, allegedly shared Tata Indicom’s plans with his friend Mukesh and brought in Reliance to the mobile phone ‘warfare’. Mahajan came down to Navi Mumbai to launch the cell phone and even utilized the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee – arguably citing wrong reasons to participate in a video conference for a strictly commercial venture.
N. Vittal, the former Chief Vigilance Commissioner, in his famous diagnosis, identified five types of people in the venal game - neta, the politician and Lala (the industrialists) figuring prominently. Former BJP Minister Arun Shourie has said lapses in Benami Transaction Act is one reason for not being able to bring an end to political corruption. “No politician has ever been subjected to exemplary punishment for corruption and that’s said,” he said.
