Santosh Hegde, the Lokayukta who is well - respected and trusted to do his job, walked out of a media conference for a few minutes with tears in his eyes. This immediately brought back memories of another eminent man of justice, Nani Palkhivala. Speaking of India, Palkhivala had said: “This is a country where kings gave up their thrones and went into the jungle to uphold their dharma. Where have those values gone? Now we are a nation with a first class Constitution and third class leadership.” Today, our leaders go for a holiday no matter how much adharma they might have committed.
Columnist T. J. S. George in his article Good men can only cry… has recorded Nani’s emotional moment thus: Palkhivala was appearing in a TV feature and there was a rising tone of emotional disquiet as he replied to a specific question as to what sort of freedoms he would like to see curtailed. He cited the Kerala High Court judgment banning bundhs and said that such restrictions were essential. “Only in this country,” he said, “people think democracy is freedom to do what they like.” Sadness began contorting his face as he said, “Sometimes I wonder what sins I have committed in the past to be born in this country.” And then suddenly the floodgates burst open. Nani Palkhivala wept uncontrollably on TV.
In a nation with people of selective morality whose myopic voting habits elect leaders who “unselectively” loot us, good men will always cry.
Citing that may be the mining report may have been leaked as his phones were tapped, Santhosh Hegde’s voice started to crack and soon tears streamed down his face. He got up and left. The very sight must strike fear in our hearts. When the Lokayukta himself is in tears, it means the citizens have reasons to weep. May be Santosh Hedge too, like Nani Palkhivala, is wondering what sin he had committed in his past life to have been born in a nation that is so paradoxical.
Yes, indeed when Palkhivala and Santosh Hegde shed tears, it is because of the state of the nation. But when politicians shed tears, it is mostly when they lose personal power. CM Yeddyurappa, on his return from holiday, may get emotional and shed tears once again but that’s because he feels that his stay as Karnataka’s CM has been troublesome and unsteady.
No, his tears will not be shed because Karnataka “could” have become a model State, or because it could have become the most well - laid out State in terms of infrastructure, industry and agriculture. No, he will cry because he feels everyone is trying to snatch his CM’s chair and not letting him enjoy his seat of power in peace, believing he has done nothing new that the previous governments haven’t.
Politics, for a while now, has been a business endeavour and not a service. It guarantees success in business unlike an entrepreneur who may face failure. That is why we ask, has anyone ever seen a poor politician? Take our own city. Politicians own some of the biggest schools and colleges. Local politicians, who just 10 years ago were riding around in a scooter, are driving in BMWs and Benz cars costing no less than Rs. 50 lakh today. Which business can give this kind of return on investment?
The Karnataka Election Watch (KEW 2008) reported that the increase in the assets of candidates across political parties in Phase 1 of the election stood at a staggering 677 %. In Phase 2, the average increase was pegged at 465.6 %.
According to Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami, Karnataka’s MLAs topped the list of richest elected representatives and their assets have increased by 297 per cent in the past 5 years, as of 2011! Yet a politician is only asked to show his asset and not the source of income that created that asset.
Every politician is a businessman first and just like how MBA has become the standard qualification for corporate jobs, politics has become the standard qualification for “fail – proof” entrepreneurship.
The new trend in politics is to become an investor. Go to a Minister for permission to start an industry, he asks for a share instead of bribe. This is both good and bad — good because he will help you get contacts, bad because if he is a greedy partner he will milk you for more than what it’s worth. But worse of all, this kills the enthusiasm of a real entrepreneur.
An entrepreneur works hard, takes loans and tries to set up an industry but a politician or a corrupt government official with no financial constraints and no red tape hurdles, automatically jumps ahead. This situation is becoming rampant with the children of politicians, bureaucrats and other government officials trying to start businesses with ill - gotten interest - free money and contacts.
In the decades to come, most small and medium - scale industries will be held by such people while the talented ones will continue to fight the uphill task or worse migrate to the United States.
After all, how can any entrepreneur tolerate sights of conflict of interest wherein a sugar mill baron is the Agriculture Minister of the nation? How can anyone tolerate it when the Telecom Minister’s brother has a huge industry around telecom? What are we to do when Minister for Urban Development has 23 companies in which he or his family has business interests.
Media is the new love of politicians. Jayalalithaa has Jaya TV, DMK has SUN TV and Kalaignar TV. In Karnataka, Kumaraswamy’s wife is launching a few channels. Media is a capital - intensive business yet politicians have no problem entering the fray? How?
It is time the Lokayukta went after all businesses that have close association with politicians and find their source of income to grow their business. Because all the wealth that is created in political circles is by breaking the backs and hearts of many entrepreneurs and growth of such politically - connected wealth is at the cost of already existing businesses. May be along with Santosh Hegde, many businessmen too will have to shed tears wishing they too had at their disposal the same brim-full ATM machine — the State treasury.
In this country, intelligent men know better than to stay, while the cunning ones know very well how to play and all the good ones can do is cry.
